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This strainer is for spyin’

Borrowed the strainer from the kitchen for an experiment of mine. The objective: to observe whether a strainer can boost a built-in WiFi antenna reception. The hardware in this case is Intel Pro Wireless 3945, with the antennas mounted internally on the left and right of the laptop’s monitor.

The strainer in this case is 20 years old with a diameter of 15 cm and a depth of 6.5 cm. It is not a true parabola, having more in common with the bottom of a test tube than a wok. Due to this, the focal point (after calculation) is located 2.6 cm from the bottom part of the strainer, quite deep to use with an internal antenna on a monitor but made mounting USB dongles easier since one does not need to construct an external arm.

The above graph shows the signal strength* before and after the strainer was moved into position. It was handheld, moved around a bit to ascertain which part of the antenna benefits the most from the boost. The Acces Point targeted is 1.5 meters away, and even then it still benefits from the additional boost. For the information, the AP uses its default antenna without modifications of any kind.

The second graph shows an neighbouring AP that can be picked up from inside the house, having to pass through concrete walls and windows. The precise location is not known but the boost provided by the strainer is most effective when it is aimed between 315 to 060 with the monitor at the focal point.

That done, the strainer was for the most part effective. The only downside is that of the design, which is not a true parabola and thus anything larger or longer than the strainer’s diameter will not fit into it in order to be at the focal point, which is inside the strainer itself as opposed to being outside like most parabolic dishes.

Next project? WokFi!

* The higher the graph, the better the signal.

Squinting Anne

Beware: she will squint at you and eat all of your noodles.

Appleseed Ex Machina

Glorious screenies! Hail 720p!

OOC

[23:32:34] <satriakid> try touching the big hole at the bottom if there is 1
[23:32:39] <satriakid> see if its wet or not

3rd floor toilet

It’s breaktime! When give the chance to break out of the monotony that is a three hour lecture, you take it. No exceptions.

Through the door we streamed out like cows out of a barn. I head up to the fourth floor with my friend in tow. On the way up, we heard something.

“What the hell?”

Looks like someone just discovered that 3rd floor toilets are staff-only.