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I read in a web magazine that you can boost the wifi signal on a laptop by putting 2 mobile phone boosters (the thin ones that go behind your battery) on the receiver. i would assume the receiver is the laptop, so where do i put the boosters?. or do i put them on the router antenna? i know many of you may be sceptical that this will have any effect at all, but please humour me as i have a couple of spare boosters and would like to try it as i cant get a signal downstairs ( the router is upstairs) and therefore have nothing to lose by trying. many thanks for your help

Most notebook wifi antenna are located in the tft screen assembly. they normally cannot be adapted due to the space restrictions inside the tft casing and other metalwork nearby. the phone booster things are a bit of a red herring, the only way you can reliably boost a signal is to change the aerial from a 1/4 wave to a 1/2 wave or similar, this changes the current flowing in the aerial and is well known to man y radio hams etc, the increase in current within the 1/2 wavelength provides a boost in power, cb aerials for example have a large coil of wire at the bottom, then a stick forming the actual aerial itself. most of the power is wasted inside the coil, if you extend the aerial you need to reduce the coil or even better still place it in the center of the aerial (center loaded), this alters the voltage/current curve so the peak is within the aerial itself not the coil thus a center loaded aerial is more powerful. for that reason if you want to get a better signlal perhaps look for a plug in usb unit which offers higher signal gain or a replacement aerial for the router, they can be made 1/2 wavelength and thus increase the range at little cost - there are some tutorials on you tube etc on making a simply router aerial with better loading characteristics.