Wonko Labs

[Tipp]

And it gets hacked, ...****...! I placed this in the electronics section because it's more electronics related then computer related. We're focusing on both the hardware, and somewhat software, aspects of the circuit here. But more hardware. Srsly.



I've been wanting to tinker with something like this for a while now. I was given a USB wireless adapter for the Nintendo DS/Wii and wanted to see how much I could squeeze out of such a relatively cheap device.

I first had to overcome a significant obstacle: the adapter is designed for proprietary Nintendo devices ONLY. This means that you can only connect to Nintendo products. To overcome this, I first popped open the case and found what chipset was used. It turns out that this product is a rebranded Buffalo WLI-U2-KG54-AI. Armed with this knowledge, I downloaded the Nintendo drivers to see how the software interfaced with the hardware. After some extensive research and trial and error, I found out how to modify the drivers to release the adapter from it's Nintendo captors.

I saved and installed my driver, and tested out the adapter by sticking it in a USB port. It recognized as a Buffalo USB Wifi adapter, and proceeded to flicker into life. I disabled my integrated laptop wireless, and probed for access points using the new adapter. Much to my surprise, I received a slightly stronger signal then using my inbuilt wifi. It connected perfectly, and I was granted a solid, stable connection.

I didn't want to stop here, though. This wasn't enough; it needed something more, so I wanted to try adding an external antenna. This would allow me to attach high gain antennas to my laptop and scout for long range wireless access points.



I pulled a Reverse-polarity SMA connector off some old wifi gear. After carefully making sure I'd found the internal antenna points, I tinned the ground pads of the adapter with solder and carefully attached 2 ground points towards the rear of the board. Using a small, very thin piece of solid core copper wire, I cautiously soldered one tip to the solder pad on the board, and the other to the center conductor of the SMA connector.





After making sure the connector was firmly attached, as to avoid being torn off by torsion applied by adding/removing an antenna, I began reassembling. I lined the plastic case with grounded foil tape to prevent unnecessary noise from entering the circuit. Electrical tape was applied over this to prevent shorts.





I placed the lid halves together and covered the exterior in foil tape connected to USB ground. I realize this is most likely overkill, but it certainly won't damage anything; too much protection is better then too little in this regard. I wrapped the finished unit in electrical tape to make it look better, since foil tape isn't very pretty.







Now, the most important question: Does it work? Well, yes! In fact, it works far better then I anticipated, but not in the ways I hypothesized. I expected to see good gains from my large 10dBi external AirLink antenna, but in fact I got the highest gain from my 4" direct mount AirLink antenna! Further observation seems to point towards inefficiencies and wasted transmit power through the large antenna, resulting in access points I could see, but not transmit too. Also, due to the cheapiness of the antenna, I'm doubting it matches the proper 50 Ohm impedance which the circuit was expecting. This resulted in null access points which are out of my range. The little antenna, however, had no problem talking to routers over 300ft away through walls, a hill and a road (Aka, my neighbour ). I used this signal, as well as my own home network, as a test, since I live in the boonies and there arn't many wireless networks close to me.



As you can see, my integrated laptop wireless has a signal strength of approximately -75dBi at home, which isn't that bad, but it's not particularly wonderful either. My modded USB adapter with the 'high gain' Airlink antenna shows a signal of approximately -69dBi, which is a -6dBi improvement over my integrated. Adding a 4" Dlink antenna shows a signal of about 60dBi, a boost of around -9 or -10dBi. Once I add the 4" Airlink antenna, the signal jumps to >-45dBi, an improvement of over -15dBi! This is a -30dBi gain over my integrated wireless, and is very significant! Leaving the adapter with no antenna, the signal plummets back to about -71dBi.

Pros:
- Greatly improved wireless range and performance.
- Antenna upgradability: can add a reflector, etc.
- These Wifi adapters are ALL over the place, at least around here x.x

Cons:
- Requires a steady hand and some good soldering experience.
- Probably not legal.
- Cheap! Cost me 0$.
- Can easily damage your equipment if done incorrectly.

In conclusion, this project required some very precise soldering and planning, even though it doesn't quite look that way in the large, highly magnified photographs. Incorrectly performed, this modification could severely and permanently harm your wireless card, or even your computer. In my situation, I was able to yield quite satisfying results with the equipment available to me. This project gave me a fair bit of experience in driver writing and modification, as well as RF circuitry and engineering. I had quite a lot of fun, and it was well worth the work!
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[boom_man]

nice, should instructables it.

also try using can and parabolic antennas.
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"On that very date, the troubled, depressed and overall having-a-shitty-life emo kid decided that life has utterly pwned him, so he decided to permaban himself from life." ~ Encyclopedia Dramatica on jloveb

[DedoGoons]

Did he ever sell these? I have not seen them for sale.
Using two white 6AA adapters instead will do the trick. You can even use two black 12AA adapters, but then you have a monster light.

Sigbjoern

[hectorloshuk]

Well done with the lights, Brucey has done a good article on wash/wipe headlights and Ive got mine out of the car so if you need any help or pics just ask.

Paul

[hectorloshuk]

Is this going to be a closed-source commercial project? If so there is probably not much benefit in posting a lot of details
If open-source, the sooner you publish what is available the more help you will get.

[hectorloshuk]

Dave you couldnt have picked until 48 hours after 4:29pm on 7/2 which is when Byron picked.

But generally if someone has obligations for the next month or so, kindly let us know so that such situations dont occur

[hectorloshuk]

I thought we were doing this Minnesota Vikings-style, which means that I could draft anytime after Waleed drafted, as both Byron and I were on the clock. Were both in effect "rushing to the podium" to get our pick in at the same time. I dont think the second person should have to wait another 24 hours for the original owner...