Thursday, February 4, 2010

How to Get Stronger Signal with Your Smart Bro Plug-its

Portable and easy to use, these are some of the advantages that the broadband plug-it modems have over other means of having an internet connection like DSL or Antenna modems. Because of this, many people are now having their internet by buying broadband plug-it modems from internet service providers. Smart Telecom, Globe Telecom, and Sun Telecom are all offering broadband plug-it modems.

 

Plug-its work by receiving and transmitting broadband signals to and from the telecommunication towers of internet service providers like the way cellular phones receive signal. However, the problem is that indoors, the signal deteriorates and the internet speed get slow. Walls usually blocks broadband signals causing its deterioration. Other obstructions like roof and trees contributes to the deterioration of broadband signal.

Here are some of my tips to make the signal that your plug-it receives stronger. For each of the tips, you will need USB Extension Cord. This cord could be bought from shops that sell computer parts and accessories like CD-R King. A cord with a length of 3 meters usually cost about 100 pesos. USB extension cords with signal booster are not required.


Tip #1: Take It Outdoors

As I had said, the walls of your house contribute to the deterioration of broadband signal. To solve these, your plug-it modem must be placed outside of your home. This could easily be done if you are using a laptop computer since it could be taken anywhere. For desktop computers, the solution is to buy a USB extension cord and place your broadband plug-it modem out through the window.

Just make sure that the plug-it modem will not be too exposed to rain or direct heat of the sun. Leaving the plug-it modem too exposed to the elements may cause it to malfunction.



Tip #2: Place It on Higher Elevation

Since trees and roof of houses also blocks broadband signal, a good solution would be to place the plug-it higher than these obstructions. For my plug-it modem, we used a pole to prop up the plug-it modem above the roof of our house. I used two 3-meter long USB extension cords to connect the plug-it modem to the USB port. This solved the problem of weak signal that we are experiencing when we are connecting to the internet.

To protect the plug-it modem, we created a housing using ice cream plastic container, plastic jar, and Styrofoam bowl. The ice cream container serves as the outermost roofing to protect the plug-it modem from rain. The Styrofoam serves as the insulator to protect the modem from the extreme heat of the sun.

These are some of the things I did to get a strong signal for my internet at home. I know that there are more tips out there to make the broadband signal being received by your plug-it modem stronger. I hope that this tips helped you.

Do have more tips? Please tell me by leaving a comment. Thanks!

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