Eight low-tech ways to revive broken gadgets

4. Weak Wi-Fi

Linda Bleck
Rice for wet phones. Hair dryers for old printer ink. Freezers for (some) iPod.

A carefully placed strip of aluminum foil can dramatically improve home wireless reception. Most Wi-Fi routers project their signal in a sphere. But if yours sits against a wall, that means some of the signal is drifting out into the yard instead of covering the whole house.

To better direct the Wi-Fi, tear off a piece of aluminum foil about a third longer than the width of your router. Fold it in half lengthwise, then tuck in about half an inch on each side, forming a sturdy frame. Finally, bend the foil into a semicircle and stand it behind your router, with the open side of the circle facing the rest of your house.

For even better results, check out this website. The weekend project will walk you through creating a true parabolic dish out of household materials.

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