Is this a hoax? (Wi-fi signal increased with cell)

[CarolAnn]

I found this video of how to increase the wi-fi signal of a PC, but I can't tell if it's true, or if he's just pulling my leg. Could coiling the ethernet cable around a cell phone act as a signal amplifier?

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=seqnwpukr1

[Bad_Omen]

The chap has a hold of your leg and is pulling for all he's worth.

Well done video though. He looks just geeky enough to make it look plausible. But it's not.

[DV8]

I disagree. I have heard of war chalkers using this technique for years.

Not sure how well it'd work in the country, but in the cities, where more & more people have wireless, I imaging it would GREATLY increase the available networks, which could ONLY be due to an increase in range !!

[Bad_Omen]

Sticking a USB wifi dongle in that salad bowl will help a poor signal.

Wrapping a cell phone(which has no physical connection to the PC) in Ethernet cable, which is then plugged into an Ethernet card( which has no wifi capabilities) will just make you look stupid.

But feel free to give it a shot. While you're at it I've got a gold mine and a snake oil well going cheap I'd like to talk to you about. ;)

[MadTripper]

Bad Omen hit it, no wifi through your ethernet. If you truly want to increase your signal strength, buy an antenna extender and a high gain antenna. We use them frequently to give a stonger connection throughout our buildings and also for some clients I have installed.

If you feel like being real crafty, build a Yagi using a pringles can. I actually built two using some Orinoco based cards and a #10 coffee can. We shoot our football games using a vid cam and laptop, push the signal from one coffee can antenna to the other which is attached to our network. From there it hits our media server which pushes it out to the web. Waalaa, we can stream live football games with commentary included.

Be careful, radio frequency can be dangerous when not used appropriately.

[macgeoghagen]

That soulds like some sort of fluke that sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. it is true that you can pick up a signal with just a coil of wire, but whether or not that will translate into an actual improvement in performance would have to depend on a lot of tweaking and luck. the only way to be sure is to try it out and see if you can get it to function. i estimate your only expense will be the cost of some wire to wrap your cell phone with. what do you have to lose?

[wy0mn]

All the wifi yagis I've researched have a 3mi quoted range. That makes them mostly useless out here. I'd thought about pirating connections from my place, but the distance is prohibitive. I'd have to boost the signal to lethal levels & probably still wouldn't make it... line of sight.