Posted on 01/03/2022 11:03:56 AM PST by Red Badger
It can be the final straw to come home after a hard day, curl up ready for your favorite streaming show only to find that the Wi-Fi is crawling and nothing will load. While the human urge to firmly hoist your router out the window is tempting, there are some tried and tested ways to boost Wi-Fi signal.
In defense of waning Wi-Fi signal, the past few years have been particularly straining for The Internet. With the world plunged into lockdown and many businesses adapting to WFH life, more and more of us have been inside and engaging with online services. But fear not, these ways to boost Wi-Fi signal should hopefully provide some light relief in desperate moments and keep your router firmly inside the home.
GET YOUR ROUTER A TIN FOIL HAT It sounds (and looks like) something dreamt up by conspiracy theorists but there has been actual research into the benefits of a tin foil hat for your router as a way to boost Wi-Fi signal. So, how did the bizarre strategy come to fruition?
ways to boost wifi signal Fashioning a foil fascinator for your router is certainly one of the more creative ways to boost wifi signal. Image credit: Xia Zhou The researchers behind the idea came across the claim that placing a soda can behind a router improves Wi-Fi as it helps to reflect the signals and beam them out in more than one direction. Off the back of this, the team set out to design a more effective wireless reflector. They used a series of tests and computational algorithms to work out what the most optimal shape would be. This led to the invention of a curly 3D-printed S-shaped wave lined in aluminum foil, which was found to be the most efficient shape at improving signals.
GIVE YOUR MICROWAVE A REST Yet another idea that sounds a little odd is refraining from using the microwave when streaming. While popcorn is the cinematic snack of choice, microwave ovens are able to upset your Wi-Fi signal as a result of the small amounts of radiation they leak.
Microwaves effectively produce a radio signal but because it broadcasts at such a high frequency, you’re not ever going to accidentally stumble across some sort of Hot Pockets Pirate Radio. The frequency they operate on, 2.4 GHz, is the same as your Wi-Fi, which is why heating up that breakfast pizza can temporarily cut off your connection on certain devices.
CONSIDER YOUR HOME LAYOUT The signal from your router is a great feat in technological innovation but unfortunately, it is easily thwarted by distance and barriers. The radio waves are much shorter compared to those used in radio transmission so will lose strength pretty rapidly, meaning keeping your devices closer to your router is an effective way to boost Wi-Fi signal.
If you’re in a big home, buying extra boosters to put in different positions around your house can help to stretch the service throughout the house. These waves also get absorbed and blocked by walls and services so, you know, forgoing all your belongings probably wouldn’t hurt either. Who needs furniture when you have the full Sopranos box set just ready and waiting?
FIND YOUR ROUTER'S SWEET SPOT While we’re rearranging things, it’s worth noting that pretty much any electrical equipment has the capacity to slightly interfere with your Wi-Fi signal including televisions and radios. So, if you’re already searching for a new spot it’s best to avoid putting it on the same surface as other devices where possible.
You’re also better off going up high than down low, as the design of most routers means that some of the signal is being directed downwards. It might keep the Painting Goblin hiding in your basement up to date on Celebrity Portrait Artist of the Year, but you’re losing out on that subterranean signal.
SETTLE FOR SD If things are really crawling, you might want to consider forgoing high definition (HD) streaming every time you watch a YouTube video or a film. As well as making it harder to load the program, this will slow down the connection to everything else in your home.
USE LEADS AND AVOID EXTENSION CABLES If you can directly plug your device to your router with a cable, such as an ethernet cable for a laptop, you’ll improve your signal strength. Also avoid plugging your router into the wall via an extension cable as this will weaken its functionality.
GET ON YOUR PROVIDER'S CASE If your Internet speed is still crawling at a snail’s pace, check your speed using an online speed test. If it doesn’t match the connectivity of the broadband agreement promised to you, it’s worth getting in touch to see what can be done.
So apparently putting Faraday cages around routers has become a thing for the 5g conspiracy nuts and there are companies out there ready to cash in.
My sides are in orbit. pic.twitter.com/mGcud5Kb70
— 🦇Ansgar Odinson🦇 (@AnsgarTOdinson) December 2, 2020 Oh, and as a bonus tip, don't buy an anti-5G Faraday router shield to place over your Wi-Fi router and block 5G. While Faraday suits and cages are awesome for powerline technicians who want to remain not dead, and really, really cool to demonstrate in front of tesla coils, they are the last thing you want to place over a Wi-Fi router if you plan on using it.
All microwaves are “wifi safe”, at least when new and in good condition..
An old worn out microwave with a door that’s warped or otherwise doesn’t close tightly will leak signal...
...and should probably be replaced.
“Before I gave them the heave-ho I was getting 20Kbps on an average day. “
Verizon DSL. Horrible. Now I have Suddenlink(SometimesLink) 250M download. When I had Comcast Xfinity, it was 750M.
I get no interference from my microwave oven on 2.4GHz.
I did try putting some water in the microwave and running it while my laptop was pinging the default gateway via a 2.4GHz wifi connection.
No packet loss at all.
Then I started pulling on the door at the top edge away from the hinge.
I was able to make it start dropping packets by pulling on the door with just a little force. Not enough to make it pop open, but just enough to distort it slightly so it compromises the shielding and allows 2.4GHz RF leakage from the microwave.
The harder I pulled, the more packet loss I saw.
As soon as I let go, the packet loss stopped.
Conclusion: A properly functioning microwave oven causes no interference to 2.4GHz wifi.
However, even the slightest warpage of a microwave oven door is enough to compromise the shield.
Therefore, if your microwave oven is causing 2.4GHz wifi interference, there is a good chance that something is wrong with it. Replace or repair as needed to remedy the problem.
Many thanks!
Happy to pitch in.
Never had a problem with the signal. I did have to replace the old router because the cat kept going down to the basement and chewing up the three antennas, got one that is enclosed in plastic with no external antennas.
The best one out there is Amplifi Alien.
You need more range, just buy another one.
Just don’t get the kit (which includes two) as you never add another.
Takes 5 min to get up and running.
Correction: If you use the kit, you are stuck with just the two and you can’t add a third.
For myself I use Ubiquiti with 14 wired connections in my home but Amplifi Alien is plenty good for those who don’t want to spend the $ to get home wired for CAT6
Around the sheep household, to up our exposure the highest damaging EMF frequencies and exposure levels possible, we leave the door open on the microwave when making instant oatmeal. It’s what’s for breakfast =o)
“SETTLE FOR SD”
Done reading there.
I’ve been struggling to get my Linksys Velop network working reliably, so eyeballed this to see what I might have missed. Where a home network should be approaching/exceeding 50Mbps, “hey, just settle for SD data rates” doesn’t exist in a palatable paradigm.
“Because computers do not typically contain cellular radios. They are available. There are also data limits applied to cellular connections.”
We may be talking completely different things here, but I have T Mobile Home Internet. My wifi router is basically a cell phone (with its own phone number). I have no data limit and it’s $60 a month. Compared to ATT DSL, which is my only alternative, it’s great.
Wifi bump.
My router is in the basement and the wifi is turned off on it. I have two access points in the house that connect to my switch via ethernet. Works great if you can run the ethernet. I had ethernet strung all over when the house was built.
I’ve to seen that! We use T-Mobile for our phones, so I’ll give that service a hard look. Thank you for the tip.
Too many thumbs on each hand, GingisK. How about "I haven't seen that"?
Is your microwave 1/2 way between your laptop and router and signal to the router isn’t great to start with? Test like that. I will guarantee interference. Dont be pulling on the door... :-)
A Federal standard limits the amount of microwaves that can leak from an oven throughout its lifetime to 5 milliwatts (mW) of microwave radiation per square centimeter at approximately 2 inches from the oven surface.
Given power drops off at something like a power of 10 at distance, and that routers are limited to 80mw in the 2.4ghz range, and that for both the router and microwave 2 vs 20 inches would be approximately 1/100th of the value measured at 2 inches and that microwaves have a very large radiating surface... QED.
We use att for internet and have to use their router. Is there away to improve that?
“I’ve to seen that! We use T-Mobile for our phones, so I’ll give that service a hard look. Thank you for the tip.”
No problem. I got referred to it by someone on FR, too.
“My router is in the basement and the wifi is turned off on it. I have two access points in the house that connect to my switch via ethernet. Works great if you can run the ethernet. I had ethernet strung all over when the house was built.”
I’m a firm believer in ethernet over wifi when possible.
Depends... some ISP’s put in good stuff and some dont.
What do you have?
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