I mapped my entire apartment’s Wi-Fi signal

When John, my Verizon Fios technician, set up my new fiber-optic connection, he spoke of a high-speed utopia: no drop-outs, no lag, no worries. Yet after weeks of quarantine-induced dependence on the internet, shaky connections have remained a sadly consistent part of my life. Video calls in my bedroom almost always result in dropouts; even when my computer is physically close to my router, I still freeze in at least one video meeting on most days.

Clearly, great upload and download speeds do not guarantee a great connection. But why? Enter the Verge Science team (and their strange demands). With the help of a psychedelic-looking simulation and a tape measure, we actually charted the course of Wi-Fi waves through my apartment and visualized the science behind my crappy connection. Check out the video above — come for the trippy data vis, stay to see what the science team put me through.