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If I were to secure my router by putting it in a plastic lockbox, would it dimish the wireless range of the router? I know a router can go through walls and floors, but I was wondering the implications of sticking it in a box.

Hennes
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hdawdack
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3 Answers3

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Well you can place the router in a box to prevent it from stealing and still get the same quality of service. The idea is simple get a standard metal lockable electrical box (outdoor or indoor type), get a router with a detachable antenna then mount the antenna on the outside of the box, and connect an antenna to the router with the appropriate pigtail. Except the fact you are also worried about getting the antenna stolen too!

If that too worries you use an

ABS Plastic Box, they are invisible to WIFI routers so you can even place the antenna inside!

aibk01
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  • This is a great answer, but it would be nice if we could add more materials one could use to make a box "invisible" to wifi. I am trying to build a weather shield for an AP and want to know what materials I should be looking at. (Does PLA also work? I might 3D print this shield.) – Stephen Smith Apr 17 '17 at 17:12
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    @stephen-smith: I added a list of various permittivity values as a separate answer. – VoteCoffee Dec 17 '20 at 15:04
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As far as box materials, PVC or ABS would be fine.

Polyurethane is one of the best. It's commonly used for radomes because it is durable, low cost, and fairly transparent (https://www.generalplastics.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DM_White_Paper_2.jpg-1024x538.png)

Avoid UV resistant plastic variants as they typically have a carbon filler added which blocks the GHz signal.

Here's a list of various material permittivity (from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relative_permittivity and https://www.researchgate.net/post/What-are-RF-transparent-materials-you-know):

  • Vacuum 1
  • Polyethylene (PE) 2.25
  • Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) 3.18
  • Polyurethane (PU) 3.96
  • Teflon (PTFE) 2.1
  • Polyethylene (PE) 2.25
  • Polyimide 3.4
  • Polypropylene (PP) 2.2-2.36
  • Polystyrene (PS) 2.4-2.7
  • Silicone rubber 2.9–4
  • Styrofoam 1.02-1.06
  • Polyimide 3.4
  • Mica 3-6
  • Mylar 3.1
  • Neoprene 6.70
  • Natural Rubber 7
  • Plexiglas 3.40
  • Glass 3.7-10
  • Water (distill) 30-88 (depending on temperature)
  • Glycerin 42.5
VoteCoffee
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    Lower is better when it comes to letting WiFi through, right? – Cullub Mar 03 '21 at 22:13
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    Also, how does metal compare to these numbers? – Cullub Mar 03 '21 at 22:15
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    @Cullub yes, lower is better – VoteCoffee Mar 03 '21 at 23:00
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    @Cullub metal is terrible for a lot of reasons beyond permittivity. It acts as a reflector and as an antenna essentially. As an antenna, it sinks power and reshapes the signal. As a reflector, it created a lot of interference noise as the wifi antenna is an ideal receiver for its own transmissions. Those effects are really hard to quantify as it's heavily impacted by thickness, shape, grounding, etc. In a best case scenario, the box is ungrounded and acts like a really low quality antenna of the wifi signal. But really, just try not to do it. – VoteCoffee Mar 03 '21 at 23:03
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    As a rough measure, diamond mesh metal (like what gets used under stucco siding on a house) is -21dB@2.4GHz and -13.dB@5Ghz, compared with glass which is -0.4998@2.4GHz and -1.6906@5GHz – VoteCoffee Mar 03 '21 at 23:10
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    That's from http://www.boggstech-consulting.com/Wilson_Propagation_Losses_2_and_5GHz.pdf – VoteCoffee Mar 03 '21 at 23:12
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Any kind of physical interference whether a wall or box can affect the signal strength of your router. Depending on how thick and the material, it will vary on the range in which you will lose.

You're best bet is to try it out and see if it works. If you're experiencing issues, you may need to look into getting a repeater as well if securing the router(s) is your primary concern.

kobaltz
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