said by Max Signal: Make sure you put on a ferrous metal surface ( for a ground plane ) by a window . Even better if you can get it outdoors . That eliminates the chance of interference you might be getting indoors.
ok, i tested it on a metal generator and tbh i didn't notice much signal gain - probably not the kind of "ground plane" that you would recommend i guess as its kind of thin metal.
i could pick a few of those solid iron things (roughly 8 x 8 i would guess) by the railroad track that they use to connect the rails to the wooden railroad ties or maybe i should to go to a scrapyard to get an thick iron plate(?)
i guess there's a possibility that the antenna connector on my modem is faulty.