Does Your Home Have A Weak Wifi Signal? Try An Aluminum Foil Hack
Whether you're online gaming with friends or working from home, a strong wifi signal has easily become one of the most important things in modern-day homes. Families oftentimes have multiple devices running on the same signal at once, leading to weak signals and unhappy residents. Fortunately, there is a signal-strengthening trick that is both simple and easily accessible.
For this hack, all you need is aluminum foil, which is likely already in one of your kitchen drawers. Simply take a piece of foil, bend it slightly, and place it behind your router. There, it acts as a reflector shield and allows the signal to stretch farther, optimizing its strength. Because each house and its residents have different needs, no two do-it-yourself signal strengtheners should be set up the same way. The malleability of aluminum foil allows you to customize your setup to increase the signal strength to different directions of your home.
How it works
Such an easy and cost-efficient hack almost seems too good to be true. But, the science behind it is almost as simple as setting up the contraption itself. According to Science Alert, a team of scientists found that the aluminum foil acts as a reflector shield, which creates a barrier that steers wifi signals in the direction you desire.
To set up your own wifi signal strengthener, it's critical to keep in mind the location of your router, the layout of your home, and the parts of your home you want to target with a signal boost. These three things will help you determine which direction (or directions) your foil hack should face and the shapes you need to form. To push signals toward a specific part of your home, simply create a "C" shape with the foil. Stand the foil behind the router so that the concave portion hugs it and faces the targeted area. If your router is in the middle of your home and you need to increase your wifi signal in two different directions, simply create an "S" shape rather than a "C" and follow the same steps.
Alternatives to aluminum foil
This hack is just one of many DIY projects that call for aluminum foil as the star of the show. Because of its flexibility and malleability, aluminum foil really is the most versatile and best-suited household product for this hack. But it isn't the only common product you could be using to get the most out of your wifi signal.
When it comes down to it, all you need to complete this hack is aluminum — not necessarily aluminum foil. And there are plenty of other aluminum products in your home that could double as wifi boosting game-changers. For instance, most beer and soda cans are made of aluminum. Rinse out and remove any residue in a can, cut it vertically, and remove the top and bottom. This should leave you with a sheet that naturally curls inward. Much like drink cans, many takeout containers are aluminum and, once cleaned, serve as perfect makeshift signal concentrators.