Can Your Router AIM Your WiFi? - BeamForming Explained

Pre-Order the DROP THX Panda Wireless headphones today at dro.ps/techquickie-panda
How does beamforming work, and does it actually deliver on its promises?
Thanks to Joel Crane for the assist in the video! Check out his blog at www.potatofi.com/
Download Wireshark, click on "PCAP" beside your device of choice - the readout will tell you if beamforming is supported under "IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN management frame
clients.mikealbano.com/
Techquickie Merch Store: www.lttstore.com
Follow: / linustech
Leave a reply with your requests for future episodes, or tweet them here: / jmart604

[@cattysplat]

I find a mixture of cursing, kicking the router and praying to various deities can sometimes boost my wifi signal.

[@spakeschannel]

2:57 And where is that link you promised, huh?

[@mhersaribekyan1487]

Linus Tech Tips EXPOSED

[@npthomson]

I think this is the one they mean: clients.mikealbano.com/

[@Montisaquadeis]

Yeah they NEVER post links in the description to anything they talk about which yeah is annoying

[@Saigonas]

OH NO

[@mikaeo23]

@@Montisaquadeis well, it was sort of posted, kinda. it was under the potatofi link

[@theultimategamer95]

Ayy, I've always wanted to know the answer to this!

[@Rreyyaaann]

But was there a point 🤔

[@realcartoongirl]

bird pfp

[@laurabrown1474]

In Modern Living Rooms Everyone Using "SoundProof Curtains" That Stops Outside Noise by 80% (25 Db) Tested. Check Here: livesoundproof.com/best-soundproof-curtains/

[@NickRoeder]

@@Rreyyaaann Curiosity

[@platypusoj7321]

3:06 is a bit misleading, technically beam forming does refer only to the directional transmission, but the same array of antennas can and does achieve directional gain in receiving, via maximum ratio combining. That basically means that while your client is not transmitting a stronger signal in the direction of the router, the router is "listening" in the direction of the client, and receives it stronger than it receives interference coming from other directions.

[@emilyforcademd5785]

Aviv Simchony So is that part the Verizon ad?

[@teslaspark9563]

This is a quick and great explanation of a very small part of communication systems 🙌

[@bombastinator1887]

That was awesome! I knew nothing about beamforming. Makes me think of other Home network stuff that might be cool as well. Base2 ethernet stuff (MoCA and powerline ethernet) seem to come up as questions a lot as do mesh networking and the value of backhaul for multiple node households (which seem to be most of them lately). Another one that seems to come up is WiFi appliance age. Some devices seem to get less reliable as they get older.

[@jaredz9507]

I bought the tp deco from your reviews and it supports beam forming and mannnnn it makes a difference. Best network upgrade I've done

[@JeremyAndrew182]

When I saw AIM I thought, who still uses that? The all caps through this old guy for a nostalgia loop!

[@trix333ninja]

This is the best techquickie i have seen in a while. Short, informative and actually technically advanced as well. This is what i believe this channel should be and not all that click bate titles and hollow content without any real value. This was a good one.

[@ChargedPulsar]

Very nice to the point video, thanks! Subbed.

[@eTiMaGo]

Related to this, what's the best way to orient the antennas on your router, especially those that have 3 or more!

[@tims4654]

I have a Creative sound card, and it came with a "beamforming mic". Does my moth have to support beamforming for t to work?

[@Fabian3331234333]

Okay explained. You can find more information by looking up sdma (Space Division multiple access) and MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output).

[@seasong7655]

This becomes more feasable with higher frequencies, because antenna size also gets smaller and more antennas can be fitted inside the router. So it's more for the new 5GHz wifi, and it's also used in 5G.

[@killisecond]

Thank you for consulting an expert this time. Some of your previous WiFi'ish videos have given my tech soul immense pain.

[@emilyforcademd5785]

Owen Parsons Show-off

[@emilyforcademd5785]

Owen Parsons. Show-off

[@bowlofspiders]

Linus your stuff is great

[@Razor2048]

One of the main reasons why most optimizations focus on the access point and not the client, is because it is easier to deal with RF on the AP side due to fewer space and power constraints. For example, most smartphones have negative gain antennas (signal is sacrificed for more aesthetically pleasing antenna lines or other reasons). Due to the limitations and compromises on the client side, the AP can make up for it by broadcasting at 1 watt, thus a brute force method, and then beamform to further improve SNR. Since the mobile device cannot have a WiFi radio constantly pulling a wall, you may see transmit powers more in the 100mw range. Since the access point does not have significant limitations on size (such as a smartphone where they may want the WiFi radio to only cover 5 square millimeters), the access point can use a far better LNA and a signal path in general that prioritizes SNR. This is why AP makers moved to using higher transmit powers even as client devices stayed at really low transmit power levels. Think of it like a bat that can speak extremely loudly having a conversation with a human that speaks softly.

[@nixkythefox]

Where can I find that list for devices?

[@nowfuturechanges9404]

By looking in the description where all the information is listed when it’s available. Here is a copy of that link for shortcut I guess docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1qpQYyIiS9J8wMa7iD0nEMvZxTB7X1i4gEWy19L0N05o/htmlview

[@Bellenchia]

The juxtaposition of clickbait marketing and super niche tech content is quite a marvel

[@anthonynye1747]

Love my Ruckus R750. It has beamflex which is different but uses MRC. Love the antenna design

[@lagtechgamer9767]

When high school physics is useful for understanding 2 points source interference in harmonics motion

[@SprinterOnline]

Where can I find the list? No link in the description.

[@gebruderschwarzwald7931]

Very informative. Nice

[@WarriorsPhoto]

Good explanation about a technology I never really understood. Now it makes sense and I won't be using it any time soon anyway. My internet is more than adequate at my apartment. (:

[@df98156]

I googled "Sounding" and it brought me to a place on Reddit. Huh. That's not what I was looking for, but I'm pleasantly surprised.

[@Ah-ec5ch]

I love everyone in LTT

[@Shadow-ig3hf]

Always get a strong Wi-Fi signal when I don't need it.

[@sakariaskarlsson634]

Very true, it always gets bad at the ”climax” right?

[@maxnicely8926]

What I have done is condensed a signal into a tiny wire, my download speeds are insanity!

[@happyhenry1999]

I like how he present.

[@arsenalgear3009]

Useful info. 👍

[@kruemmelbande5078]

Router: sends multiple signals from different places Phone: Its all coming together

[@SplitScreamOFFICIAL]

Thank you joel crane

[@username4471]

For a moment I thought AIM in the title stood for AOL Instant Messenger

[@emilyforcademd5785]

Perhaps you are a Boomer. Go away.

[@Termsofseve]

Emily Forcade MD ok zoomer

[@username4471]

@@emilyforcademd5785 I'm a zoomer though. I never used AIM, I just know it existed.

[@Hero1117a]

Link to device list please

[@itsdeonlol]

I'm gonna try this!!!

[@jerry8405]

thought this would be a creative video about pringles cantennae but then i remembered this is linus dork tips

[@bitTorrenter]

Beamforming is supported two ways (Downlink/ Uplink) in the WiFi 6 standard. Again though, as I've just found client devices may not support it.

[@SplitScreamOFFICIAL]

Do those Drop headphones actually work as advertised?

[@ChromeTusk]

You mentioned beamforming is optional in 802.11ac, but how is it specified in 802.11ax/WiFi6?

[@FartSmucker]

Great episode, Clark Kent

[@0124singh]

The spreadsheet is quite incomprehensible. Would love a simpler version just saying if devices support Beamforming or not.

[@yifeiren8004]

for omini directional antenna, the direction that your antenna pointing to has the least signal strength. And many home wifi routers' antenna is just deco

[@sireuchre]

You mention the donut shape you get from an antenna, but that's true of a single antenna broadcasting alone. If you have 2 antennae broadcasting simultaneously, they alter the shape of the signal from a donut, squeezing and stretching it. If they are parallel, the shape becomes a figure 8, centered between them. So, if your router has those 2 sticking up, but they can be laid flat out from the back of the router, and it is in the middle floor of a multi-floor structure, you'll be pointing that figure 8 up and down, which will cover more floors better than them standing straight up. I've used trickery like that to help focus the coverage of routers. Oh, and when people splay them 'fashionably' as the package often shows, especially on triple antenna layouts? Just all bad.

[@LincolnRon]

My internet modem from Windstream doesn't even have an external antenna. The last two Windstream gave me looked like the one in the video with two antennas sticking out of the back. The one before that didn't have WiFi. The ones before that were dial-up internet. My first one was a phone handset cradle, but it wasn't called the internet back then as far as I can recall.

[@ebsolas]

Can you do a video on northbound vs southbound APIs? Or the meaning of northbound and southbound in computing in general?

[@tubefile100]

"What is this, a Verizon ad?" 😁😁😁

[@emilyforcademd5785]

M.C. Squared - lmao. I screenshot that frame

[@DlcEnergy]

😁😁😁 What is this, a Colgate ad?

[@JRMurdock99]

Love today's Superman hairstyle.

[@happysmash27]

3:28: Wait, Panda Wireless? Is that the same Panda Wireless that makes the USB wireless adapters? They have really good support and their wireless adapters work great on Linux. Edit: Also, I can't seem to find the instructions on what to look for in the list you linked. Could you please clarify where they are?

[@akkev0007]

Is it better to have a router on a table top or is wall mounting ok?

[@slicy9318]

Good question.

[@ebsolas]

Funnily enough I just turned beamforming off on my router after my WiFi kept dropping whenever I left my room. It did fix it.

[@syth-1]

Yeh sometimes it does that, router firmware must be bad and doesn't like to play nice with devices that don't support it ;-;

[@jbroad8194]

Probably didn't have a high enough refresh rate on the distance recalculation.

[@18matts]

I've been wondering this for the past month lol

[@xanamata5386]

why nobody mentions the length of the wifi wavelength that is 12.5 cm and in which space you can adjust the place of a device to archive maximum performance of the transmition ? at least mention it , even in inches (about 5 ) .

[@pchris]

if my router is on the edge of my house, is there some sort of dish or reflector I can put around it to make it aim at the rest of the house better and suck more in the back yard?

[@prashantchavan9754]

Alluminium Foil will Work

[@rambojazdude3023]

So now AX (wifi 6) standard is out is this beam forming issue non existent now?

[@hightiernub1313]

Wasn't this method used way back in the 1990's that those Radars of Jet Fighters had as it was called Electronically Scanned Array? In which multiple antenna arrays can form beam scans much similar to the "beamform" router. Huh, it's just now that they decided to use the tech.

[@Finite-Tuning]

Okay, but what about the soda can trick? Cut a can in half, wrap around the antenna to both capture and broadcast in one direction.... Isn't that kinda-sorta beam directional/forming?

[@corkhead0]

Can you do a video on why ipv6 hasn't been deployed more yet?

[@Carewolf]

Not that easy to find in the PCAP data. I found some under "Tagged parameters" -> "Tag: HT Capabilities" -> "Transmit Beam Forming", but I wonder if that isn't the capabilties of a beam forming AP, and not a client.

[@stan.rarick8556]

How about putting reflectors on the antennas?

[@joescheller6680]

So what's the point of the antenna on router something to look at?

[@patch_of_briar]

You didnt post the link for wireshark readouts...

[@ifell3]

Or you could just build a directional antenna ^^

[@macer4640]

where is the link?!

[@nowfuturechanges9404]

In the description where all of the other information always is, here is the link for your shortcut as well docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1qpQYyIiS9J8wMa7iD0nEMvZxTB7X1i4gEWy19L0N05o/htmlview

[@hir3npatel]

what about windsurfer diy antennas?

[@angaratosurion]

what happens fi you many clients in the same wifi network that supports beam forwarding , can it cause lag ?

[@uriahheep6730]

no actually quite the opposite, if they support it properly they will transmit and receive at a higher rate opening the channel back up for other devices to communicate more quickly.

[@PredatoryQQmber]

2:33 Maybe when talking about optionality of beamforming in 11ac "Wi-Fi 5" you should not try to illustrate with mandatory beamforming of 11ax "Wi-Fi 6" with MIMO clearly defined… 2:44 Or you could google-up its model number before purchasing or scanning its signal with Wi-Fi info app on your phone before checking out off the store.

[@RogueRabbit]

KEY WORD IN THE SPONSORSHIP: they claim to be the best

[@ackkipfer]

How about a smart aiming device? Like actual aiming, with a motor to turn around and all that? That must work wonderfully well i suppose, 2 antes shoud do the trick, on for signal transmission, another to find out to where it shoud aim the actual data transmission antenna..well both will transmit but still, u get the idea...one is the beam the other just the gessing haha

[@TechSeshBySesh]

*I tried and now it has only two antennas.* *Thanks!!!*

[@soloman3444]

Did you do the wrong type of sounding?

[@victorhs258]

nice to know that WireShark isn't just for remote KeyLogger monitoring.

[@stevensgarage6451]

None of my access points or extenders have ever performed as well as the arris router my ip included with 7 internal antennas + mimo and beamforming. The range is impressive

[@genshininsufficientrewards533]

I have a problem with this beam forming, when my device is 1 floor below the router, the connection sucks but if its 1 floor, atleast 45 degrees below the router, the connection is stellar. Only when im directly under my router when connection is nothing or atleast, VERY unstable

[@Ali107]

Or why won't anyone put multiple antennas connected to the router through a wire around the house and transmit from each one and increase coverage.

[@Carboxylated]

I prefer hard wired ethernet for any internet needs. Yes wi-fi is nice and convenient but with intermittent ping delays here and there from interference. Even if you have a fully customizable asus gaming wi-fi router I still notice ping lag whether its video streaming or gaming. When I plug into my CAT8 ethernet I get like 70-120mbs MORE a second as well as my ping stays locked at like 7 sometimes 9. Plugged in ethernet or die!

[@lubo0]

Is it possible to aim my WiFi with a parabolic reflector?

[@nikolausluhrs]

Properly done, beam forming should increase the prformance in both directions since it basically changes the radiation pattern of the antenna.

[@uriahheep6730]

beam forming changes the convergence points not really the radiation or polar pattern moving closer to the AP could actually cause a momentary drop in signal as the waves arrive off axis from each other until it compensates, another technology, beamflex actually dynamically changes the polar pattern. But beamflex if implemented properly in the client can improve performance in both directions (as can beamflex).

[@nikolausluhrs]

@@uriahheep6730 I think we may be using different types of beam forming. What I meant is the method used in phased arrays which uses the phase shift in the signal to adjust the interference patterns into a more directed far field pattern. For wifi far field should start at most a foot away from the acess point. Theres some really good videos showing the steering of the beam based on relative phase of multiple transmitters. If you do it right you can have multiple beams sent at the same time which is super cool. But yeah like they said in the video its not really a thing in home wifi right now. It is however very much a thing in cellphone towers. Its a big part of what allows cell service to work at all.

[@adalbert.arkosi]

No way, my OnePlus One supports beamforming !

[@islandparadise]

Link please :(

[@KosmoGamesKill]

Wait. so "Beamforming" is more like "optimize interference at specific position" and not " delete waves everywhere else and only project the frequency in a general direction? So Beamforming, like the name suggest does NOT provide Spatial Division for reuse of frequencies?

[@Malethos]

Beam forming works much like phased array radar. It generates signals so that the interference is constructive ( stronger signal) at the location of the device. This does not mean that that would be the only point at which the interference is constructive, and it for not mean it is destructive everywhere else. This lets the receiver get the best possible signal, and while not eliminating interference from other wifi devices in the area it will substantially improve the signal to noise ratio for it.

[@BlakieTT]

When I see a hot woman, I undergo a process that's also called "Beamforming".

[@emilyforcademd5785]

Iron Fan And she’s going through a process called breaking a 2 x 4 over her leg

[@kiyoponnn]

@@emilyforcademd5785 kinky.

[@Drinkyoghurt]

Killer 1535 has Beamforming but my Intel 9260AC Wireless doesn't. I can see a HUGE difference between signal strength, latency and packet loss switching between the two. Even though the Intel is a newer chip, its performance is worse than that of the Killer 1535 somehow and I feel beamforming has a lot to do with it. They're both using the same antennas on the same system, only difference is the wireless chip.

[@girishradhakrishnan2699]

This technology can be used for locating lost devices at home and locating buried people after an avalanche.

[@detaart]

Actually, ruckus has something called beamflex. It doesn't work at all like you've described. It uses actual directional antennae to actually direct the signal, not "sort of" bias a signal in a certain direction like with generic ac beam forming, which just works on the principle of phase rotation. A ruckus AP with beamflex will send beacons and answer probe requests in an omni directional way (like a normal AP), but it will then switch to directional for further communication. On average, we see a 3db gain, which is a doubling of the rssi. It can switch antennae (or combinations) on a per packet basis. You can see a pic of the inside here: webresources.ruckuswireless.com/datasheets/r610/ds-ruckus-r610-de.html Sorry, but you're just wrong.

[@ericlarson2889]

Video Idea: How does NFC work?

[@jakubstajner5155]

Don't be so negative. In my flat one new WiFi-ac AP with beamforming (price about 105$) resolved all problems with blind spots, that can't be fixed even with 3 older WiFi APs. Meassured real speed is at 94/95 Mbit which is almost the maximum of internet connection I get (100/100) at the edge modem :)

[@pino_de_vogel]

I just plan to extend antennas to different places and see if that works.

[@mazz9456]

Good vid Dennis

[@nacho_ava5323]

Shut yo ass up u didn't even watch the video

[@mazz9456]

My guy, just spreading some love...

[@debbiebrooks6807]

0:27 yes

[@mli8847]

After some training my wifi can now instantly make headshots and clear corners easily.

[@antiisocial]

Umm so what about the aiming part?

[@zizimugen4470]

I thought beamforming was putting a Pringle’s can around antennae to increase the range of the signal in a general direction...

[@tiavor]

wouldn't it be enough if the router does the beamforming because what are the odds that you would need a good upload rate? most commonly you only need a few packets that come through up and a good stream down.

[@StrokeMahEgo]

Of course Linus Media Group uses Drop as a sponsor... It's very fitting after all.

[@TheMadHacker]

Great info, never heard of beam forming, now my nerd brain is CURIOUS

[@PERRIERhp]

Meanwhile mine still rocking 802.11N. nice coverage though

[@stan.rarick8556]

Isn't the first form known as phased-array? Used in radar, demonstrated as early as 1905. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phased_array P.S. No connection to Star Trek phasers ;-)

[@getsideways7257]

Exactly. One could say an AESA radar is just a big router with a couple thousands antenna/transmitter modules...

[@RachelMcCarn]

Lol was that a letterkenny reference in the intro?!

[@thenextbigthing7268]

I use Ethernet is it worth doing this?

[@AmanGupta-pq4bf]

Make a video on static ram vs dynamic ram

[@rustyshackleford5166]

Would love to see an episode on the internal combustion engine, gasoline, diesel, electric diesel (like those on trains) and full electric.

[@daftnord4957]

that's more of an engineering explained video

[@emilyforcademd5785]

Rusty Shackleford Me too. And I think we are going to be slammed for switching tracks.