Have you ever wondered if you can boost WiFi signal and improve the speed of your internet connection? This article will share tips that can help you boost wifi signals with ease.
A few years ago when I bought a long-range wireless router for my home use, I was initially disappointed with my selection of the Wi-Fi router just two days after using it. The reason being that the signal strength was so weak I could hardly connect and browse the Internet from the next room.
But before I returned the router, I checked on the net for any configuration or tuning that I should have made on the router which I may have not known and may have helped to extend the signals, and I did find options that helped me to boost WiFi Signal.
After a few hours of troubleshooting, it turned out to be something so simple that I easily overlooked, and the boosted my Wi-fi Speed. Mentioned below are some of the tips and tricks to help you extend the range of your wireless router and boost WiFi Signal, both at home and office, with almost negligible cost.
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How to Boost WIFI Signal with Aluminum Foil – Step-By-Step
To boost WiFi signal with aluminum foil;
- First, get some glue or tape, aluminum foil, and a small box – the box in which the router was shipped would be best for this
- Place the box on its side with the flap on that side open, and the other three flaps tucked in or cut off
- Next, put the router in the box – simply place it on the side with the open flap
- Then, wrap the inside of the box with aluminum foil, extending it to the edges of both sides of the box – ensure to cover at least an inch or two of the outer part of each side
- You can use the glue or tape here to secure the foil to the outer part of the box
- Try to make the foil have a curved shape while wrapping the inside of the box – it doesn’t necessarily have to be squared like the box
Alternatively;
- You can wrap the router itself with the aluminum foil in a way that it looks like a crown
- Cut the foil to look like a regular book page
- Double or triple this cutout
- Next, flatten it and wrap one side of the router from the end of the front half to the back, ensuring to cut holes for the antennas
- Raise what’s left of the foil at the back in a standing position to look like a crown on the router – it should surround it in a curved shape from the side to the back
- Repeat this for the other side of the router and use tape to join them in the middle
- The final look should resemble a split-open drink can resting on and surrounding the back half of the router with holes for the antennas
- You can use more tape to secure the foil to the router
If your router is mounted to the wall;
- Get a bigger box and cut out one side of the box, allowing it to have flaps in each direction, at least 2 inches long
- Wrap the cutout with the foil along with the flaps
- Ensure to wrap it to the back as well – it doesn’t have to cover it completely; it should just cover the back of the flaps
- Cut out holes for the router’s antenna in one of the flaps
- Then place that side on the router, allowing the antennas to go through the holes
Wireless range extender tips
Check the location of your router: The location of the router is very important. If you need wireless connectivity in almost every room of your house, then relocating your router to a central location of the house is going to help you a lot. The router should also not be placed near another radio transmission emitting device such as cordless phones, wireless speakers, etc as those devices can interfere with the router’s transmission and eventually weaken the signals.
Boost wifi signal using tinfoil: You will be amazed to see the difference that an ordinary tinfoil can make to your wireless signals. Simply put tinfoil behind your router as if you are redirecting all the signals in a particular direction and you will notice an immediate boost in the signal strength. This is very simple to understand but a little tough to make it work. You will have to spend some time with your tinfoil shapes before you get it right and successfully boost WiFi Signal.
Tip: Keep your laptop somewhere close by but not too close so every time you tweak with the parabolic tinfoil, you can watch the signal strength indicator in your laptop to see if it worked. If you need help with the shape of the tinfoil, check out parabolic tinfoil printout.
Install a different firmware: Using Linux based firmware called DD-WRT can provide you a lot of features that usually don’t show up in your router’s admin console. If you don’t understand what this means, just don’t attempt it. Upgrading the firmware need experience and you could also end up leaving your router useless. Be careful!
Install a different antenna: Yes, that’s right. You can change the default antenna with a better uni-directional antenna to extend the range of your router or you can build a wireless router antenna yourself. Remember that uni-directional antennas focus all the signals in a particular direction while Omni-direction covers all the directions. If you are going to place the router in a central location of your house, ignore this tip.
How Does Aluminum Foil Boost WIFI?
Aluminum foil acts as a reflector, reflecting WiFi signals and making them travel farther. The foil stops signals from traveling in one direction and focuses them in the other direction, i.e. stops the signal from traveling to the back of the router, out the window, or onto the street, and focuses it into areas in the house instead.
In simpler terms, the foil acts as a flashlight, directing the WiFi signal. This way, the strength and range of the signal become stronger and focused in the desired direction, which would bring about faster internet speed. However, it is essential to note that this trick is only advised when experiencing dead spots or spotty signals.
When done right, this trick can be the perfect solution to your WiFi problems. Otherwise, you might end up making matters worse. However, it is also known to have a few downsides, even when done correctly – a major one being overheating as a result of voltage buildup. This happens when the foil interferes with the internal cooling system of the router.
How to Boost WIFI Signal on Router Without Antenna – Options to Explore
To boost WiFi signal on router without antenna, you can migrate to another channel by accessing the WiFi network settings through your laptop or smart device. If your router comes with a built-in touchscreen, you can simply use it to switch channels, and if your router is smart, it will automatically change channels when necessary. Otherwise;
Use a laptop;
- Launch a browser, type in your router’s IP address, and tap enter – you can find the IP address noted on a sticker on the router or in the documentation. It should be something like .
- If you see a warning screen, click Proceed to continue
- Type in the router’s username and password
- Navigate to Advanced >> Wireless >> Wireless Settings
- Next, toggle off Smart connect or Auto-connect
- Then, click on the dropdown next to Channel: to switch channels
- You can select any between 1, 6, or 11 as these are usually not as crowded as others
- If you have 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands available to you, you can change the channel on both bands
- Click Save or Apply to save your changes
Alternatively, you can use a WiFi analyzer;
- Download and install the WiFi analyzer tool on your PC from the windows store
- This analyzer tells you how to switch channels after it identifies overlapping signals on the same channel that cause interference
Or a WiFi scanner;
- Download and install a WiFi scanner
- Launch it and select your WiFi network name from the list displayed
- Under the SSID panel, you should see what channel your WiFi network is on from the Channels column
- Select Details to see other available channels and how occupied they are
- Select the least occupied channel and save your changes
Extender
You can use a WiFi extender to boost your WiFi signal without an antenna. To do this;
- First, ensure you have updated your router firmware
- Position the extender next to the router
- Locate the extender’s WPS button, press and hold it for 5 seconds
- You should see the WiFi light on the extender blinking
- Wait at least 2 minutes, then press the router’s WPS button
- Wait another 2 minutes
- The extender should now be connected to the WiFi, and the WiFi light should be solid
Positioning
We recommend placing the router in a central position to boost your WiFi signal distance and strength in different areas. To get the best results from this trick, you should place the router away from walls, obstructions that might disturb the signal, and other appliances/electronics.
Frequency
You can switch between the bands for a better WiFi signal if you have a dual-band router. For example, if you are on the 2.4 GHz band, try switching to the 5 GHz band. The latter is better and provides faster internet speed and wider coverage with less interference.
Intruders
You might have some intruders using your WiFi if your password is weak or the network is open. These intruders can overload the network, affecting the WiFi signal strength and speed. To stop this, you can get tools that give you better control over your WiFi signal. With these tools, you can see those connected to the network and the devices sucking up the bandwidth.
WiFi Mesh
You can switch to WiFi mesh for an evenly distributed signal around your home or office. The mesh network uses an interconnected network of mesh WiFi modules to spread the WiFi signal instead of just the router doing all the work. Another advantage is that network sharing is not linear. Instead, each module retains its potency by locating the most suitable path to relay the signal.
QoS Tools
Quality of service tools can help direct or control each app’s bandwidth. Most modern routers come with QoS tools to help users boost their WiFi signal. With these tools, you can specify priority and time of priority for all apps or services, i.e. you can prioritize Netflix streaming over file download. This would make file downloads a bit slower and improve the streaming experience. You can find the QoS settings in the Advanced Settings of your router interface.
Other ways to boost wifi signals
• Adding a wireless repeater can extend the range of your wireless network without the need for any wiring, so you can boost WiFi signal this way.
• Try changing the channel on which your router is broadcasting. Depending on the model, your router could be capable of broadcasting on different channels. Try to change the channel to see if you successfully boost WiFi signal.
• Upgrading the firmware or drivers of the network adapter on your laptop and your router to the latest one can sometimes help as the latest firmware could fix some issue which may, in turn, boost WiFi signal. You may want to check the release notes of the firmware or driver before upgrading.
How to Increase WiFi Range from Router Settings
To increase WiFi range from router settings, you can migrate to another channel by accessing the WiFi network settings through your laptop or smart device.
If your router comes with a built-in touchscreen, you can simply use it to switch channels, and if your router is smart, it will automatically change channels when necessary.
Otherwise, you can increase your WiFi range by adjusting the router’s output power settings, allowing a larger wireless coverage range. You can do this via the web-based interface.
To get into the web-based interface;
- Launch a browser, type in your router’s IP address, and tap enter – you can find the IP address noted on a sticker on the router or in the documentation. It should be something like .
- If you see a warning screen, click Proceed to continue
- Type in the router’s username and password
How to Increase Wifi Range in Mobile (Android and iPhone)
To increase WiFi range with your mobile, you can enable the 5 GHz frequency band. Note that this will only work if your router is also compatible with the 5 GHz frequency band. To enable it on your android phone;
- Go to Settings >> Wi-Fi >> Advanced settings >> Wi-Fi frequency band
- You can select Auto to allow your device to choose either the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz band
- You can also select 2.4 GHz only or 5 GHz only
The best way to do this on an iPhone would be using the web-based interface, as explained above.
Phone Case
Another thing that can tamper with the WiFi signal on your phone is your phone case – especially if it has metal. The case covers the phone for protection, but it can also be the reason behind the bad WiFi signal. Try taking off the case to eliminate this possibility and see if the signal improves.
Updates
Asides from updating your router’s firmware, you can also try updating your device. Updating your phone’s OS is one of the first few things to try when attempting to fix any issues with the phone. Updates come with several bug fixes that could fix most issues.
Booster App
You can increase the WiFi signal on your phone with a signal booster and analyzer app. Apps like these offer a detailed analysis of your WiFi signal and some options to boost the signal. Usually, you can choose either a manual or automatic boost.
Bandwidth
With your phone’s settings, you can improve the WiFi signal by monitoring the apps or features that hog the bandwidth. You can see this by going to Settings >> Mobile Data – here, you can see the apps that use the most data and toggle off those you aren’t using. Another thing that could be hogging the bandwidth is automatic downloads. Again, you can turn this off by going to Settings >> App Store and toggling off App Updates.
To do this on an android phone, go to Settings >> Data Usage >> Menu (three dots at the top right corner) >> Show WiFi. After this, you should now have a WiFi tab where you can view the data usage. Click on the tab and select WiFi data usage – here, you can see the apps hogging the bandwidth and choose to disable Background data which would reduce the hogging.
Conclusion
In this article, we have shared some of the biggest secrets on how to boost WiFi signal with aluminum foil and other methods. You can count on these tips and tricks for improved WiFi signal strength and range.
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