Enhancing your WiFi

[QuantumT]

Just bought a new router, and learned how to boost the WiFi signal. Thought I'd share it.

Indoor WiFi uses a weak radio signal (I knew that), so to get the best usage, you need to know where to put the router, and how to adjust your antenna(s). The antenna(s) broadcast in the opposite angle of themselves. If they point upwards (vertical), they transmit horizontal. Like this:

So to cover the most of your house, you'll need two antennas forming an "L" shape, like this:

The best place to put the router is in the middle of the house, elevated with air around it - never hidden away, and preferably not close to any electric devises, like a monitor/screen.

Your security settings can also influence the WiFi performance. The most optimal setting to use is:

WPA2 - AES

If you choose other settings, it will slow down your speed significantly.

Hope this was useful to some of you.

 

PS. Remember that all new routers have the same default login and password, so remember to change it, or anyone can hack your network and abuse it!

Edited March 27, 2019 by QuantumT

[Sensei]

The main rule of security of WiFi is to enable MAC filtering and add your devices MAC addresses to the list. So only listed devices are able to connect to the network and the all others are rejected at early stage (even if they would know your login and password they won't be able to connect!).. Might be troublesome if guests are visiting your house, but at least they won't abuse your bandwidth. Don't reveal MAC addresses of your devices to anybody, otherwise wise hacker will change MAC on his/her modified device to match the one on the list..

Allowing guests in house to use your WiFi, LAN or computers, is also unwise, as you, nor they, have any idea what they have secretly installed on their devices..

 

ps. Wiseness is indistinguishable from cynicism.. ?

 

Edited March 27, 2019 by Sensei

[QuantumT]

43 minutes ago, Sensei said:

The main rule of security of WiFi is to enable MAC filtering and add your devices MAC addresses to the list. So only listed devices are able to connect to the network and the all others are rejected at early stage (even if they would know your login and password they won't be able to connect!).. Might be troublesome if guests are visiting your house, but at least they won't abuse your bandwidth. Don't reveal MAC addresses of your devices to anybody, otherwise wise hacker will change MAC on his/her modified device to match the one on the list..

Allowing guests in house to use your WiFi, LAN or computers, is also unwise, as you, nor they, have any idea what they have secretly installed on their devices..

 

ps. Wiseness is indistinguishable from cynicism.. ?

Maybe an electric fence, some boobie traps and some hounds too? Just to be sure! 

[Sensei]

2 minutes ago, QuantumT said:

Maybe an electric fence, some boobie traps and some hounds too? Just to be sure! 

..."unpaid bill" as an excuse to shutdown of WiFi has more chance...

 

..or make special intranet just for party guests for a few hours.. then clear up after they are gone..

 

[koti]

3 hours ago, QuantumT said:

Just bought a new router, and learned how to boost the WiFi signal. Thought I'd share it.

Indoor WiFi uses a weak radio signal (I knew that), so to get the best usage, you need to know where to put the router, and how to adjust your antenna(s). The antenna(s) broadcast in the opposite angle of themselves. If they point upwards (vertical), they transmit horizontal. Like this:...

 

 

 

I used a more crude method, I bought a set of big a33 external antenas and never had to worry about loosing bandwidth again.

[QuantumT]

1 hour ago, Sensei said:

The main rule of security of WiFi is to enable MAC filtering and add your devices MAC addresses to the list. So only listed devices are able to connect to the network and the all others are rejected at early stage (even if they would know your login and password they won't be able to connect!).. Might be troublesome if guests are visiting your house, but at least they won't abuse your bandwidth. Don't reveal MAC addresses of your devices to anybody, otherwise wise hacker will change MAC on his/her modified device to match the one on the list..

Allowing guests in house to use your WiFi, LAN or computers, is also unwise, as you, nor they, have any idea what they have secretly installed on their devices..

5 minutes ago, koti said:

I used a more crude method, I bought a set of big a33 external antenas and never had to worry about loosing bandwidth again.

This is what happens when you try to talk about simple practical things to nerds! 

[koti]

2 hours ago, Sensei said:

.. Might be troublesome if guests are visiting your house, but at least they won't abuse your bandwidth...

 

I don’t think you need to worry about guests coming to visit you  

[Sensei]

1 hour ago, koti said:

I used a more crude method, I bought a set of big a33 external antenas and never had to worry about loosing bandwidth again. 

Very unwise, as the more people on the streets around the building will be able to catch it..

 

[koti]

7 minutes ago, Sensei said:

Very unwise, as the more people on the streets around the building will be able to catch it..

 

Yes. Including me, my family and my guests  
Plus my SSID is "56 Kbps" so I'm good.

[Sensei]

3 hours ago, koti said:

Plus [...] so I'm good.

.... I love to hear such amount of ignorance...

...and tempted to prove you're mistaken.. but then you would call me per "thief"..

(I can't steal the everything what is mine..)

 

[koti]

3 hours ago, Sensei said:

.... I love to hear such amount of ignorance...

...and tempted to prove you're mistaken.. but then you would call me per "thief"..

(I can't steal the everything what is mine..)

 

I believe you. Sensei. Btw I’m keeping a seperate laptop with a clean installation of Ubuntu just for the important stuff, I’d like to see you steal from that  

[Sensei]

33 minutes ago, koti said:

Btw I’m keeping a seperate laptop with a clean installation of Ubuntu just for the important stuff, I’d like to see you steal from that   

The most important part is "who own laptop prior you" including manufacturer, distributor, seller and postman.. at any time they could open package, "upgrade" BIOS on motherboard, and you have no bloody idea about it.. OS does not matter much..

[koti]

5 minutes ago, Sensei said:

The most important part is "who own laptop prior you" including manufacturer, distributor, seller and postman.. at any time they could open package, "upgrade" BIOS on motherboard, and you have no bloody idea about it.. OS does not matter much..

Youre trying to wake my safety psychosis and believe me I have one...3 weeks ago I clicked on a rar in an email half awake watching utube at nighg and installed a trojan which I cleaned but fell asleep snd when my partner launched the PC in the morning and started to do bank wires thats when the mayhem begun. We ended up closing our company bank account, a police investigation is ongoing to catch the guy/guys, we managed not to loose any money but I lost 10 years of my life in stress. We keep a linux laptop only for bank transfers since. The whole story is more complicated and I dont want to powt details here but it boils down to me clicking on a rar in an email.

[Sensei]

Just now, koti said:

Youre trying to wake my safety psychosis and believe me I have one...3 weeks ago I clicked on a rar in an email half awake watching utube at nighg and installed a trojan which I cleaned but fell asleep snd when my partner launched the PC in the morning and started to do bank wires thats when the mayhem begun. We ended up closing our company bank account, a police investigation is ongoing to catch the guy/guys, we managed not to loose any money but I lost 10 years of my life in stress. We keep a linux laptop only for bank transfers since. The whole story is more complicated and I dont want to powt details here but it boils down to me clicking on a rar in an email. 

Good script for Netflix movie..

 

1 minute ago, koti said:

Youre trying to wake my safety psychosis and believe me I have one...

Not at all, Honey.. Not at all..

 

Quote myself (again!):

10 hours ago, Sensei said:

ps. Wiseness is indistinguishable from cynicism.. ?

 

[koti]

8 minutes ago, Sensei said:

Good script for Netflix movie..

 

Not at all, Honey.. Not at all..

 

Quote myself (again!):

 

One of these days I’ll hire an IT student with a nag for security, Im getting too old for this s. 

[Sensei]

Just now, koti said:

One of these days I’ll hire an IT student with a nag for security, Im getting too old for this s. 

LOL! They are too young to hear your moaning!..

 

[koti]

4 minutes ago, Sensei said:

LOL! They are too young to hear your moaning!..

 

Last time I checked, IT students need to eat too so they should hear my moaning  

[Sensei]

1 hour ago, koti said:

Last time I checked, IT students need to eat too so they should hear my moaning  

Don't be so cruel! They are the future of IT!

 

[studiot]

#First let me thank quantumT for  some nice pictures. +1

Last weekend I had to install a new router for a friend, these are just great to show her.

 

 

 

#First let me thank quantumT for  some nice pictures. +1

Last weekend I had to install a new router for a friend, these are just great to show her.

 

Now a few comments on security.

2 hours ago, koti said:

but it boils down to me clicking on a rar in an email.

For many Email is the biggest security threat so why not separat it out to a different computer, rather than the banking one?

As regards to visitors, Sensei's comments about a separate subnetwork are good.

There are in fact special purpose 'garden wall' routers for just this purpose.

I have fitted many of these in hotels, bars and othe public places that offer wifi.

Deep Freeze is another technique, as used in  libraries and other public or general access computer places.

The end user terminals have a target configuration which is reinstalled at the end of every session.

So no live material survives from pervious users, malicious or not.

 

Finally back to the OP and positioning routers.

The optimal position will depend upon the building practices of the country you are in.

QuantumT's pictures will do best in a US style timber frame job, where perhaps only the masonry chimney stack offers any serious impediment to the signal.
Strangely I have not found water tanks to impede the signal.

Some countries construct reinforced concrete frames with concrete intermediate floors as standard - eg Germany. In this case each floor space is best considered as a separate compartment and auxiliary transmitters placed on each level.

In the UK we usually do not have intermediate concrete floors, just timber and plasterboard, which do not impede the signal.
However there are often substantial chunks of internal vertical masonry (walls esp fire compartmenting ones) which impede the horizontal spread of signal.
I have found the best way forward is often to mount the router in the loft or attic space above two or even three floors and invert it so the signal beams downwards through the intermediate floors and ceilings. They can often be positioned so as to straddle a blocking wall somewhere in the building.

This is OK for crelatively compact, nearly cubical buildings.
But those with significant extension wings of often best treated as separte cubical blocks.
Again auxiliary transmitters are added to the router.

 

Edited March 28, 2019 by studiot

[koti]

2 hours ago, studiot said:

For many Email is the biggest security threat so why not separat it out to a different computer, rather than the banking one?

Since Linux asks for aproval before launching any binary even when hidden in a pdf or .doc file I figure its safer than Windows which does everything behind your back. The seperate laptop with Linux only for bank transfers will stay for now, at least untill my paranoia settles down. 

[studiot]

7 minutes ago, koti said:

Since Linux asks for aproval before launching any binary even when hidden in a pdf or .doc file I figure its safer than Windows which does everything behind your back. The seperate laptop with Linux only for bank transfers will stay for now, at least untill my paranoia settles down. 

 

Unix/linux will not protect you against a redirection to a fake bank website.

Some of these are incredibly realistic, especially if accompanied by a fake phone call.
There was a recording of this on the BBC this very morning.
A large number of people said they would have been taken in.

 

Edited March 28, 2019 by studiot

[koti]

1 hour ago, studiot said:

 

Unix/linux will not protect you against a redirection to a fake bank website.

Some of these are incredibly realistic, especially if accompanied by a fake phone call.
There was a recording of this on the BBC this very morning.
A large number of people said they would have been taken in.

 

It was a vbs script that installed itself onto Chrome repoacing the bank login screen, simple shite and I’ve fallen for it. Ubuntu would have given me a headsup that a script wants to be installed, win didn’t. Never mind though, it was my fault. 

[studiot]

1 hour ago, koti said:

It was a vbs script that installed itself onto Chrome repoacing the bank login screen, simple shite and I’ve fallen for it. Ubuntu would have given me a headsup that a script wants to be installed, win didn’t. Never mind though, it was my fault. 

Sure I did not say that linux apps were less secure - they are indeed often more so.

But nothing on your laptop will protect against a hacked router.

And this thread is about routers.

Not quantumt advise changing the router password and userid.

Unfortunately very few users do so.

This is especially dangerous now as most routers will respond with a login page over the www.

I have actually used false programming of a router's responses as an extra layer of protection against this.

The most insecure person is the one who builds a good castle (defence) and says "I'm safe now"

Edited March 28, 2019 by studiot

[koti]

1 hour ago, studiot said:

The most insecure person is the one who builds a good castle (defence) and says "I'm safe now"

I agree. I will still stick to my Ubuntu laptop  with tape over the camera and sound card disabled for wires for now if you don’t mind  

[studiot]

6 minutes ago, koti said:

I agree. I will still stick to my Ubuntu laptop  with tape over the camera and sound card disabled for wires for now if you don’t mind  

 

The stick and the carrot technique in fraudulent email is all too enticing.

At one time I used to be able to automatically block stuff (the blocks mentioning viagra etc are still there and working) out of every 10 mails there are always at least 2 that don't make the cut for this reason.

But threatening ones are laughable -we have isntalled malweare/keyloggers/camera monitors etc etc.
If you don't give us untraceable moneys we will harm you.

My EmailPC is too old to ever have had a camera or microphone.

So I can automatically discount anyone who has 'remotely activated my webcam'.

I also receive text only (most enhanced stuff in worse than unneccessary in a letter.)

So no hidden anything unless I need to look at the extra content of a mail (pretty infrequent)

Good security is attention to lots of different details in lots of different areas.

And for the most part, anyone can do it, if they are not too lazy.