Researchers discover aluminum foil actually does improve your wireless speed
Researchers at Dartmouth University have found that a 3D printed shape covered in aluminum foil can improve wireless range and increase Wi-Fi security. The project, which appeared on Eurekalert, involves placing a reflector on and around a Wi-Fi router's antennae to shape the beam, increasing range and preventing it from passing through to unwanted spaces.
"With a simple investment of about $35 and specifying coverage requirements, a wireless reflector can be custom-built to outperform antennae that cost thousands of dollars," said Xia Zhou, a Dartmouth assistant professor.
In their paper, Zhou and his colleagues tested multiple styles of directional antennas and also tested an "anecdotal" solution that involved sticking a soda can behind a router to shape the radio waves towards a target. After a few iterations, they were able to create specific shapes to increase Wi-Fi reception in specific rooms. They then created a program called WiPrint that 3D prints the exact shape needed to form the beams for better coverage and security. Once printed all you have to do is cover them in aluminum foil.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 08 2017, @10:51PM (3 children)
yeah I mean come on. I did this on a buffalo router running dd-wrt. in fact, i put the foil around some box liner cardboard/paper to give it rigidity.
if these guys just came up with it now, i should let them know I followed instructions i found off the dd-wrt forum years ago to do just this
sometimes, academia needs to come out of the tower now and then. but i guess if they did they, they might decide they can't patent what everyone tweaking their old gear already knows how to do
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday November 08 2017, @11:01PM (1 child)
But but but ... it's 3D-printed !!!11!! innovative !!!!!
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday November 09 2017, @05:11PM
Well, in fairness, the 3D printed version is a bit more flexible than the Pringles can - and, the complex designs can be shared via internet to anywhere in the planet that has enough infrastructure to run a 3D printer... so, that's a little sorta cool - just like every other thing shared on https://www.thingiverse.com/ [thingiverse.com]
But, yeah, 1 + 1 = 2 in this case, two well known things put together have the positive aspects of both; like surprise, dude, totally.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 5, Informative) by Nerdfest on Thursday November 09 2017, @01:45AM
This [wordpress.com] is the one I've used before. It can make quite a difference. This has been around for years.