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I amplified my home's Wi-Fi with aluminum foil

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Re: I amplified my home's Wi-Fi with aluminum foil

#11

Post by ohazi »

sarreph wrote: post #8

I was thinking of doing something similar a few days ago but came to the conclusion — perhaps wrongly — that the inevitable creases in a DIY aluminium foil sheet would render it ineffective as a dish, due to the scatter created. Anyone more knowledgeable able to chime-in on the effect of creases here? I couldn’t find any mention of it in the article...

speed of light / 5 GHz / 4 ~= 1.5 cm.

If you can keep the size of the largest crease/feature/defect in your foil smaller than this, you should be okay.

Re: I amplified my home's Wi-Fi with aluminum foil

#12

Post by ce4 »

godelmachine wrote: post #4

I am using my neighbors WiFi, which I can only catch in my balcony. He stays above me, but diagonally opposite, so the source is quite away. Any way I can amplify the WiFi strength? So I need the source to be around in order to amplify?

You could buy a cheap TP-Link Router with a USB-Port and LEDE/OpenWRT support, add a second wifi interface (usb dongle) and then use your neighbors wifi as WAN connection.

Good usb dongles are: 1. Alfa AWUS036NHA – $28.97 2. TP-LINK TP-WN722N OR TP-WN722NC $15.99

Benefits: have "your" wifi on a separate channel, you have your own subnet, firewalled (nat) from your neighbor's net.

Re: I amplified my home's Wi-Fi with aluminum foil

#13

Post by sarreph »

ohazi wrote: post #11
sarreph wrote: post #8

I was thinking of doing something similar a few days ago but came to the conclusion — perhaps wrongly — that the inevitable creases in a DIY aluminium foil sheet would render it ineffective as a dish, due to the scatter created. Anyone more knowledgeable able to chime-in on the effect of creases here? I couldn’t find any mention of it in the article...

speed of light / 5 GHz / 4 ~= 1.5 cm. If you can keep the size of the largest crease/feature/defect in your foil smaller than this, you should be okay.

Wow, thanks for this — I did HS-physics but much of my knowledge has since left me... :)

Would love to dig into the science behind this a bit more — I don't really know where to start — i.e. why you're dividing by four.

So as not to waste your time, is there a named phenomenon that you can link me to to learn more about this?

Thanks again!

Re: I amplified my home's Wi-Fi with aluminum foil

#16

Post by dukes_haven »

sarreph wrote: post #13
ohazi wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

speed of light / 5 GHz / 4 ~= 1.5 cm. If you can keep the size of the largest crease/feature/defect in your foil smaller than this, you should be okay.

Wow, thanks for this — I did HS-physics but much of my knowledge has since left me... :) Would love to dig into the science behind this a bit more — I don't really know where to start — i.e. why you're dividing by four. So as not to waste your time, is there a named phenomenon that you can link me to to learn more about this? Thanks again!

I would also like to know this. I don't know if there's a save function in h.news or not so leaving a comment

Re: I amplified my home's Wi-Fi with aluminum foil

#18

Post by ourmandave »

cipherzero wrote: post #7
godelmachine wrote: post #4

I am using my neighbors WiFi, which I can only catch in my balcony. He stays above me, but diagonally opposite, so the source is quite away. Any way I can amplify the WiFi strength? So I need the source to be around in order to amplify?

Lookup cantenna which was popular back in the day for catching WiFi from further away spots.

Saw a vid on youtube where a guy uses a metal kitchen strainer as a dish antenna for his laptop wifi out in the middle of farm field. The 'available networks' list shrinks and grows as he points it in various directions.

Re: I amplified my home's Wi-Fi with aluminum foil

#19

Post by Nadya »

sarreph wrote: post #13
ohazi wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

speed of light / 5 GHz / 4 ~= 1.5 cm. If you can keep the size of the largest crease/feature/defect in your foil smaller than this, you should be okay.

Wow, thanks for this — I did HS-physics but much of my knowledge has since left me... :) Would love to dig into the science behind this a bit more — I don't really know where to start — i.e. why you're dividing by four. So as not to waste your time, is there a named phenomenon that you can link me to to learn more about this? Thanks again!

Antennas are usually built to 1/2 or 1/4th the size of the wavelength. I'd imagine that's why - but am curious myself if it is something else. It's the only 1/4th fraction that comes to mind.

Re: I amplified my home's Wi-Fi with aluminum foil

#20

Post by knolan »

cipherzero wrote: post #7
godelmachine wrote: post #4

I am using my neighbors WiFi, which I can only catch in my balcony. He stays above me, but diagonally opposite, so the source is quite away. Any way I can amplify the WiFi strength? So I need the source to be around in order to amplify?

Lookup cantenna which was popular back in the day for catching WiFi from further away spots.

First thing that crossed my mind.
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