The Wifi-Dish is a parabolic reflector dish that reflects wifi or cell phone radio waves and concentrates them on a receiver, dramatically increasing reception. It's constructed using plywood and chicken wire, and based on an open source design by Daniel Connell, who claims that under optimal conditions it will let you connect to a regular Wi-Fi router from a distance of up to 4km. The fine-meshed chicken wire reflects Wi-Fi signals like a solid surface due to their wave length but is much cheaper and easier to work with.

The first version was built using a jigsaw and was part of an installation at Fuse Gallery. We later used it to connect Hotel Mokum to the internet, by using it to increase the signal strength of the Hotel across the street, and passing it on through Ethernet cables to the rest of the building. Sadly, that version was evicted when Hotel Mokum came to an end.

The second version features engravings of a support network of figures upholding the dish that were carved out using a CNC router. They make the dish much less vulnerable to strong winds. For my graduation from the Sandberg Design Department, I mounted it on the roof of the exhibition space from where it was able to pick up Wi-Fi from the surrounding office buildings. During the workshop Wireless Fidelity we temporarily mounted it on the roof of Tetterode in Amsterdam.

For me the fascinating thing about the Wifi Dish is that it makes something as abstract and immaterial as Wi-Fi tangible. In that, for me a it works a bit like a dream catcher, capturing the surrounding internet frequencies and ensuring that we can all stay online as long as we want.