I've been going crazy these past few days because my siblings purchased a new router and its signal isn't nearly as strong as the old one. I won't go into the details why this change was necessary though, you don't need to know that hehe. As for the new router, it's a TP-Link TL-WR740N, which has favorable reviews. It's cheap, it has bandwidth management, and it's Draft N compliant. Downside is, the antenna is non-removable, so you can't change it. Now ever since it came on, I've been getting disconnected left and right. I guess I can't completely blame it, as my laptop's miniPCI wireless network adapter is almost 8 or 9 years old. Nonetheless, I didn't experience this with the old router (D-Link). So how do you improve your router's wifi signal strength without spending a lot of money? Easy.
Introducing:
The Alien-thingy parabolic DIY wifi antenna booster!
Well, that's really not what it's called, but that's what my nephew likes to call it. I searched Youtube and out pops this video about a crazy DIY wifi antenna booster that supposedly worked, and worked well! I was intrigued. All it took was cardboard, scissors, tape or glue, aluminum foil, and a little perseverance (I have a lot of that!). Here's what it looks like:
Anyway, my nephew didn't believe that this thing works, so I took a snapshot of the signal difference using
inSSIDer. Here's the snapshot:
So there you have it, concrete proof that it works! That's the poor man's way of improving wifi signal strength using everyday materials and a little perseverance and patience. For you DIY freaks out there who would like to give this a try, here's the link:
Free Antennas. If, on the off-chance that you don't have the patience, I'll make one for you (for a small fee, of course), easy-peesy!
Check you guys out next time, take care and happy new year!
jon
