Improve reception with surfstick - the best tips
If you use a surf stick for internet reception, there are often problems with poor reception. You can improve reception with various tips - we even have an interesting DIY trick.
Improve reception of the surfstick - simple tips
The surf stick is a good support if you want to use the Internet, especially on the go. But it can also be used at home and ensures brisk transmission if the reception is right. If not, these tips will help:
- Avoid sources of interference: The reception of the stick is slightly disturbed by your PC and thus drops. Therefore, you should increase the distance of your surf stick to your PC, for example with a USB extension cable. Place the Surfstick with the extension in a place where there are no other electrical devices nearby. This will prevent the reception from being affected.
- The perfect place: you automatically increase the reception speed when you put the stick against a window or go outside. Outside of buildings, reception is much better, but you can also surf faster on the upper floor. Avoid basements and rooms in the middle of the building and without windows.
- Align Surfstick: Align your USB stick in the direction of a transmission tower, then increase the reception. If you do not know where the next transmission tower is, visit the website of the Federal Network Agency. There you will find a map of Germany in which you can zoom in on your place of residence. There you can see the transmission towers of your region and choose the closest one. Then align the surf stick in the direction.
- Antenna: If the alignment and extension are not sufficient, you can buy an external magnetic antenna for your surf stick. The antenna increases reception as soon as it is connected to the stick. A prerequisite for this is that your surf stick has a corresponding connection. If this is not the case, ask your Internet provider for an alternative device or a different stick.
Improve surfstick reception: Build a simple antenna yourself
If you do not want to buy an antenna or cannot connect it to your USB stick, build one yourself:
- Take a fine-mesh kitchen sieve made of metal and use scissors to cut a hole exactly in the middle. The hole must be large enough for your surf stick to fit through the opening. You can also use a knife instead of the scissors, but you have to make sure that the cut doesn't get too big.
- In the next step, wrap the outside of the sieve with aluminum foil and also cut a hole in the foil. The hole must be in the same place so that the surf stick can be inserted.
- Insert the surf stick through the hole and connect a USB extension. The cable is connected to the outside. Half of the surfstick should be in the hole. The receiver of the stick is on the inside of the sieve so that the data can reach the stick like a funnel.
- Place the strainer on a window. To do this, you can put it in a container filled with sand or stones. Align the sieve with the next transmission mast and your reception will be significantly better.
If you also watch videos with the surf stick, you should be aware of the data consumption. We explain how much data is used on Amazon Instant Video.