Tinfoil?

[steve-in-kville]

Has anyone tried the tinfoil trick to boost wifi? We are using a wireless repeater to reach the far end of the house and its starting to get extra glitchy. I really don't want to use another wireless repeater. I see walmart has little USB antennas but seems like a gimmick. But then I guess tinfoil would be, too.

Ideas?

[silentreader]

Has anyone tried the tinfoil trick to boost wifi? We are using a wireless repeater to reach the far end of the house and its starting to get extra glitchy. I really don't want to use another wireless repeater. I see walmart has little USB antennas but seems like a gimmick. But then I guess tinfoil would be, too.

Ideas?

You mean as in a tinfoil hat? They don't work real well.

[Soloist]

I've used Tinfoil to create a faraday cage, but not an antenna...

[steve-in-kville]

The video I watched showed using foil to direct the signal in a certain direction thus strengthening the wifi.

[ken_sylvania]

1. - Find yourself a large Idaho potato. Wash thoroughly and rub outside with olive oil or butter.
2. - Wrap said potato in the tin foil.
3. - Bake in oven at 450 degrees F for 50 - 60 minutes or until soft.
4. - Remove foil, cut potato open and mash on plate with a fork.
5. - Slather with butter topped with salt and pepper, then add a generous layer of chili.
6. - At about this moment, and for at least another 60 minutes while you eat and nap, you will find the wifi signal more than adequate.

[Pelerin]

How is it supposed to work? I’ve seen tinfoil used to boost TV reception, but I don’t think it would work for WiFi. But tinfoil is cheap enough so give it a try and let us know.

For the corner of your house that doesn’t get reception: what all is in between the router and the receiver? I had stayed in a room where the breaker box was directly between me and the router and I’m convinced that’s why I always had with problems there.

Often routers have a transmission power setting. If you haven’t looked already, it might be worth checking to make sure that’s turned up to the maximum.

[Neto]

How is it supposed to work? I’ve seen tinfoil used to boost TV reception, but I don’t think it would work for WiFi. But tinfoil is cheap enough so give it a try and let us know.

For the corner of your house that doesn’t get reception: what all is in between the router and the receiver? I had stayed in a room where the breaker box was directly between me and the router and I’m convinced that’s why I always had with problems there.

Often routers have a transmission power setting. If you haven’t looked already, it might be worth checking to make sure that’s turned up to the maximum.

I have seen cases where just having a power strip laying on top of a computer made a wireless mouse go crazy. Delayed action, or no response. Moved the power cords and the power strip off to the side, and everything worked fine. So electrical currents can definitely mess up wireless connections. (This was in a business that was running on generator power, so there could have been some other factors as well, like maybe the hertz was way off.)