Microwave Intensifies

I did this back in 2010-13, to get better internet in my house! It was a video from a youtube, where he used cereal box with aluminum.

I have put my router in a 4 m parabol antenna, with this the signal has also improved somewhat, it only prevents me from using the sofa that is next to the router.

On the Effectiveness of Aluminium Foil Helmets: An Empirical Study

Remember windsurfers? You put them on the single antenna of your old linsky router.

I unironically do something similar to this. In my area, the only options are a dogshit local WISP, Starlink/other satellite, or (where possible) cellular.

I am one of the "lucky" people who are able to use cell for my internet, however whether it's the cell company having a craptastic network, software/hardware bugs on the my customer equipment, or a combination of both, there is only ONE cell tower I can connect to which yields a useful connection.

All other towers result in the equipment failing to connect to the tower, connecting but failing to get an internet connection, or only yielding download speeds 5Mbit of less.

I have found that by shoving sheet metal around my ISP's equipment, I can quite easily block off the non-functional towers and ensure they're never connected to. I don't think speeds are any better, but it does help with reliability.

I wonder if it's not only boxing the other towers but also boring the signal to the one you are aiming at, because you put a big mirror behind
- Both to some degree, realistically. I used an old collander as a signal reflector for a wifi dongle on the end of a USB extension cable and was able to boost the signal up to about 4x, or maybe half the range of the purpose-built and highly directional Yagi antenna I eventually bought to replace that kludge.

It will probably reflect some of the radiation. Wifi reception will be poorer behind the aluminium and possibly better in front.

A cheapskates version of a directional antenna.

Indeed, although this type of thing was more common with older wifi generations, so I'm not surprised kids these days wont know.
For example: We cut the top off an old beer can, poked a hole and stuck it onto the antenna to have stable download speeds across a courtyard.
- We used to do this with antennas for tvs (those circular ones) It used to work in rains too
- I remember like 15 or 20 years ago the popular thing was printable papercraft doohickeys that you'd cut out and glue together with aluminum foil on the backside that were like little satellite dishes that mounted on the antennas that were supposed to boost/aim your wifi signal. I gave them a try, but if they made a difference it wasn't big enough to be noticeable.
- Reminds me of the diy antenna made out of copper wire, an empty CD spool and a single CD on its back. Those antennas could work as far as 1km if there was no obstruction, or 400m through light obstructions. It was awesome.

Yeah, but that makes the waves more choppy and stormlike which increases degradation of the equipment on the other side as the waves collide more strongly against it.
I still have a soft spot for troll physics. Needs more magnets, though.
- How do they work‽
I sell fans, this is true
- I sell the truth, that is my fan. Mits off! You now owe me $5.
- Makes download speeds great, but upload drops off a cliff
- ...never stops buffering.
What astounds me is despite being a crappy drawing, the person drew that fan with proper perspective and proportion.
The moving parts could disturb MIMO
- So better use a fanless Dyson fan? 🤔

Long live the Pringles cantenna

Wardriving intensifies
~~pringles can is too small for 2.4ghz cantenna,~~ it's near cutoff frequency but just barely, you need 10cm-ish diameter can or shorter 16cm-ish can
- I once made one of these with a bigger can and mounted it on an old 10' satellite dish. Managed to get Wi-Fi across several thousand yards without issue

Keeps out the conspiracy-based posts and only lets facts through.

This can actually be beneficial if your router is right at the corner of your house. The foil acts as a reflector for some of the radiation that would've been wasted, and thus improves the signal quality within your house.

To actually be beneficial as a reflector, the foil would need to be a specific distance from the antenna, which should be a certain fraction of the wavelength. Source: I used to make parabolic reflectors out of milk cartons about twenty years ago.
- This is basic interference physics.

Directs the wifi.

In all different directions...
Back in my day, we used a Pringles can.
- When I was a kid we would connect a coat hanger to the TV to get the news from 2 towns over
- We still do. It's a fun trick.
- I used to steal Wi-Fi with an outdated Linux installation DVD.
- Didn't say anything about the effectiveness.............

Not as effective as the anti-5G wire cages.

I stumbled onto these on Amazon last night actually. The user submitted video reviews are insane. I was screaming. I got to the head scarf that blocks the 5Gs and I had to stop.
EMF BLOCKING BASEBALL CAP
- Oh that's just magical lol