Having an internet connection is an absolute necessity nowadays, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic when students need to attend online classes and employees need to work remotely. However, not many have a strong internet connection due to one reason or another, and it can be quite an inconvenience, especially when users need to have real-time calls or attend live-streamed meetings.
But with any problem that we may face, we can always trust Malaysians to find a solution that will make life easier.
Netizens on Facebook are swearing by this trick to apparently make their internet speed faster by placing aluminium foil around their internet routers.
Several netizens posted photos of their creative contraptions with some placing their routers inside a box lined with foil, while others simply placed their modem in a large metal bowl.
They even used internet speed tests to demonstrate that the hack actually works, with some seeing up to 10 Mbps increase in speed.
According to Science Alert, it was discovered that this hack is legitimate! Scientists say that using a reflector shield of aluminium foil acts as a ‘virtual wall’ to help shape the flow of indoor wireless signals, potentially giving your home network greater coverage and speed.
“Through this single solution, we address a number of challenges that plague wireless users,” says computer scientist Xia Zhou from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.
“Not only do we strengthen wireless signals, [but] we [also] make those same signals more secure.”
A router is not to be confused with a modem. According to Hello Tech, a modem connects you to a wide area network (WAN) or the internet while a router connects your devices to your local area network (LAN) or WiFi network, allowing devices to communicate with each other wirelessly.
Basically, a modem is your gateway to the internet, while a router is a central hub for your devices.
Have you tried wrapping your router in aluminium foil to increase your internet speed? If not, would you give it a try?
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