• 9point6@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Funnily enough this may actually have a positive impact

    People used to create tinfoil, tin can or wok based reflectors for WiFi to guide the omnidirectional signal into becoming a directional one.

    I think the reflective part of some mirrors is essentially tin foil, so it probably would have a mild boosting effect in the direction of the mirror

    Edit: in fact if OP’s fan has a rounded metal cage on it, you could take the front half off and you’ve basically got a WokFi setup there, with added danger

    • 🐑🇸 🇭 🇪 🇪 🇵 🇱 🇪🐑@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Also if it’s close enough, the metal of the fan itself serves as a pretty decent antennae. You can accomplish the same by taping a fork to the box!

      It’s the silliest little lifehack yet wrapping a wire around a fork, then wrapping the other end around the router works so well

    • over_clox@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      You’re not wrong. Matter of fact, you’re absolutely right!

      Back around 2011, I used a pie pan and USB WiFi dongle to snag the neighbor’s WiFi. My pie pan contraption basically tripled the signal strength, and I never had a single dropout. 👍

    • umbrella@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      i have used a long tin can, similar to a pringles can before to steal a neighbour wifi back in the day. this is legit

      • 9point6@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I’ve heard about this but not had loads of time to read into how it works and how effective the algorithms are. Do you happen to know about it in depth? I’ve wondered for a while how much efficiency is actually improved by the beamforming and what the limitations are

        Like I’ve read about cantennas that fire 802.11g over several hundred meters, which in my understanding is obviously is out of reach for regular WiFi antenna even with beamforming algorithms (or is it? I actually don’t know)

        • Bytemeister@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Read up on Yagi antennas.

          Essentially you are stacking waves. If you have an array of trasmitters, you can have them send a constructive signal or a destructive signal as a signal “wave” passes them. Using this property, you can change the shape of the wave propagation. Think of it like throwing a stone in a pond, and then throwing in a second or third stone at the exact right moment to combine the ripples, creating a stronger wave in a particular direction depending on when and where you throw the stones.

          • 9point6@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Man, I’ve always wondered how yagi antennas actually managed to produce a directional beam vs something like a dipole. Your comment has really made it click for me, honestly big thanks! Very clear 5-9

            • Bytemeister@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Yep. Now imagine each element on the yagi antenna is its own antenna that can be triggered by a controller, instead of just being one big “dumb” antenna. Now by timing the “firing” of each antenna you can create a directional beam in pretty much any direction.

          • Natanael@slrpnk.net
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            1 year ago

            We use it for talking to distant satellites, but then we also combine arrays of large directional dish antennas with beam shaping algorithms

      • kbotc@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Yep, and the fan moving in back almost certainly will fuck up beamforming as reflections are fairly important to get the beam to do object avoidance and if your reflective surface is angled and moving quickly…