Whether you've got a monster mansion or just a small place with thick walls, you might see that your WiFi signal starts dropping off when you're farthest away from your router. The WiFi signal is powerful stuff, sure, but every wall and obstacle it hits gives it a bit of interference—meaning you, trying to stream Netflix on your laptop from your bedroom, might not have the strongest signal. Good news, though: There's an easy (and super cheap!) way to give your WiFi a sizeable boost: Grab your printer and a roll of aluminum foil.
Need a little extra power from your wireless router? Just turn to that wonder of mathematics and physics: The parabola.
The same shape that gives headlight reflectors their magic can boost your WiFi signal just enough to get great coverage across a big house or through dense walls.
But don't worry—you won't have to do any kind of calculations for this project. FreeAntennas.com has prepared a printable template to create a reflector the perfect size and shape for your router's antennas.
- PRINT THIS: Windsurfer Parabolic Reflector Template
Just print this PDF onto cardstock, cut it out and assemble it according to the directions on the paper, making sure you glue a bit of aluminum foil to the back of the reflector piece.
It's a bit unslightly, sure. But so is your router. With this boost, you can hide them both away in the far recesses of a cabinet in your office.
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I love it! It's ghetto-fabulous!
one small problem.. even if i was willing to accept ugly.. my router doesnt have antennas on the outside of the box.. they are built in.. then what?
The easiest way to improve signal quality and strengh is to avoid interferences particularly with other wifi devices (neighbor for instance).
Simply check the channel your device is using and the others channels occupied and change for a free slot !
Many Android/iPhone/Computer apps can provide you the information. Then simply go to your router configuration menu and make the change !
So I made one of these out of boredom and tested the difference before installation and after. Before installation my laptop was getting 20% signal strength on the other side of my apartment from the router...after installation signal strength was 80%. This is pretty awesome!
That's awesome, CAPacelli! We love hearing that our readers are getting good use of these links!
I get an error message when linking to the pdf file. Can you check the links?
That's awesome, It reall is a great idea!
portable wireless router