A plastic bucket is not typically something you’d find at the top of an essential networking equipment list, but you might be surprised at how useful one could be.
Tired of spotty internet and high latency in a rural area, one resourceful individual on Reddit took matters into their own hands with a surprisingly effective and affordable solution: a $4 bucket and a tight lid.
Instead of investing in a proper antenna, which can get expensive, this DIYer opted to think outside the box—or rather, inside the bucket. The user made their own setup with a simple 2-gallon plastic bucket from Lowe’s, a food-grade lid with a tight seal, and a few moisture-absorbing packets.
After drilling a hole for power and Ethernet cables, they placed their T-Mobile G4AR gateway inside the bucket and mounted it outside, facing the nearest cell tower.
This unconventional setup might seem silly, but it has actually proven successful for the user, providing more consistent internet connectivity compared to when the gateway was indoors. It’s not ideal, of course, but it works, and the improved ping consistency alone has made a significant difference for the user and their wife, who both work from home and rely heavily on VoIP.
To further optimize their connection, the DIYer implemented QoS (Quality of Service) on their router to prioritize voice traffic and minimize latency, ensuring smooth and reliable performance for their work-from-home needs.
We’re not saying that you should go to your nearest hardware store and grab yourself a bucket to fix all your networking issues, but if you’re on a budget and have nothing better to do, why not give it a shot? Just be sure to properly protect the unit inside from the elements, especially if it’s a loaned gateway from your ISP.
That being said, if you can afford a proper antenna, that’s probably way more preferable. Antennas built for 5G, especially high quality ones like those from Waveform, have been specially crafted to get the best possible signal shoved straight into your gateway. They’re usually waterproof, too.
