Extend Your Wi-Fi The Easy Way: No Configuration Required

The proliferation of Wi-Fi enabled devices around my home (phones, tablet, games console) finally drove me to doing something about my Wi-Fi reception. Like most people my modem is under a desk in a corner of the house. The Wi-Fi router is beside it, and looks like this:Predictably Wi-Fi reception drops rapidly towards the back of the house. I looked into getting a Wi-Fi Extender like this:

But apparently they can be tricky to configure. I also looked into a second Wi-Fi router, but I assume then you have two Wi-Fi hotspots? And have to configure your devices to connect to both? Icky.

Then something occurred to me. See those 3 antennas on the back of the router? What are they doing exactly? I assume they're all receiving in a spherical (or perhaps conical) space, but seeing as all 3 are stuck under my desk they're not achieving much. I noticed they unscrew easily and you can buy a coaxial cable like this...


...from online stores like rfshop.com.au. Specifications are:

Connector 1	RP SMA Plug (Female pin)
Connector 2	RP SMA Jack (Male pin)
Cable Type	240 series
Length	10 metres
Ohms	50 ohm (TV coaxial is 75 ohm)

So I ran one of the antenna up into the roof cavity and guess what? Now I get great Wi-Fi reception, even out in the garden! I still have only one Wi-Fi hotspot, and there was no configuration required. A bit unconventional, perhaps, but an idea for all you Do-It-Yourself-ers out there.