Want to boost your wifi signal? Put your router in a pie pan.
[Editors note: comments are closed on this post due to crazy spam.]
I’m totally serious. A pie-pan, a collander, or any other dish-shaped metal object.
In changing desks I had to disconnect all the cables, and when I started everything back up I couldn’t keep a wifi connection. I still don’t know what changed, since the router was in exactly the same place and no new electronic devices had come into the house. Normally I can get 11 Mbs in the living room, page load was a little faster than dial-up would be. After the change I could barely get connected at 5.5 Mbs, forget about loading a page. The router is at the back of the house, about fifteen yards from both the couch and the shed office, in opposite directions.
In my search for a solution I came across a page which suggested using a mesh strainer as a booster. So I tried it.
The results were immediate. I went back into the living room and my connection speed was 36 Mbs. Thirty-six. Not eleven. Not five-point-five. Thirty six Mbs. I walked all the way to the street. I went out to the office. Page load was like lightning. I used a pie pan for most of the day yesterday, but decided this morning the strainer worked the best. The collander didn’t work at all. Maybe it was too big.
Well, that was exciting until my signal fell off sharply that evening. I checked for people siphoning off my bandwidth. (Which happened to my brother recently. The next-door neighbor was running a website building business on Tony’s wifi signal. He couldn’t even connect to the internet.) Nobody was using my signal, which is what I expected given where I live.
I changed the position of the router, then took it out of the strainer entirely, and the signal crashed. Put it back in, and it jumped back up to 11 Mbs, but the signal strength was still very low.
I thought maybe my neighbors had gotten a new phone or some other electronic device which was interfering, so I changed the channel from 11 to 10, with no difference. I fiddled with some other settings, but I’m timid about changing things because I don’t know what I’m doing. I changed the channel to 7, and BOOM! Bandwidth explosion.
Right now I’m sitting at 36 Mbs and signal strength is good. My signal has NEVER been this strong on the couch. It’s nice. Even though it looks like something a hillbilly thought up, I’m keeping my router in a strainer.
Are you sure this will work?? Personally I dont really see any logic behind this. However, its worth a try. I am a victim of poor wifi speeds and am desperate to improve speeds.Will report progress ASAP. Abhishek, http://www.dibugs.com
Abhishek, although I did have to change the channel to get the great signal I now enjoy, the metal dishes did measurably increase the signal before the channel change. I think it has something to do with the waves bouncing off the dish shape, like a radar dish. Though the pie pan and the strainer had similar results, I chose to stick with the strainer because it was easier to prop up. Can’t wait to hear if this works for you!
Good to know! I don’t know what signals will be like in the new house.
its something out of a sci-fi novel or something.
I have to admit, I thought you had cracked.
Tried it-it works. Great even.
Really? Isn’t that weird? Loved the five links meme!
Wow! Who knew?~~Dee
Seriously, I know! You know, it works great in the house, but I still have trouble in the shed. I think it’s the thick rock walls blocking the signal.
Don’t you have a cool idea that uses rabbit ears.
Look for anything that might be sucking up your transceiver signal. Trees with high water content and lots of leaves and limbs will suck up and absorb signal strength. anything else can cause EMI
Electro magnetic Interference. Ballast in light fixture, electrical components that are not Grounded correctly can cause signal interference and weird background noise for wired and wirless networks.
Never tried a Pie Plate but I have heard of some pretty weird antenna configs when I worked for DELL.
Hey, Tommie, you found me! It was great seeing you guys Saturday. I’m giving away that other computer tower. If you want it, you can have it. Shoot me an email.
Don’t be a stranger!
Sounds good , I couldn’t pick it up until Sun. If you have any tech stuff, questions etc: I am Dell trained and A+ Certified
Cool beans. Sunday will be good, because I’ll be out of town till then.
LOL what a great tip, I am off to find a strainer immediately!
Who knew?!
Who discovers these things? That is a trip! I just might have to pick up a metal strainer to see how this works!