WiFi Explained – Dude, Where’s My Signal?

How come my neighbour can steal my internet, but I can’t browse YouTube while on the toilet?

The age old question of signal issues irks most of us, it was also a problem for PhD Physics student, Jason Cole. Unlike the rest of us, he was determined to find out why – putting his knowledge to good use, he mapped out his apartment, assigning refraction values to the walls and applied ‘Hamholtz equations’ to model the electromagnetic waves.

Interested in the nitty gritty full information? If so, you can find it all listed in his blog which reaches a seemingly obvious solution. If you want the best signal for your house, put your wireless emitting device in the middle.

The basic findings of his research found that the centre is best, but putting your router in the corner of the apartment might be suitable – although signal was only achieved by “judiciously shifting around your laptop” as explained by Engadget.

What’s the tl;dr? If you want the best signal for your home wireless solution – put your router in the middle of the house.

Image courtesy of Jasmcole.com