Boost Your Wifi

BOOST YOUR WIFI SIGNAL AT HOME

Read our best tips to help you increase your wifi coverage in your home or workplace.

Location of Router

Wi-Fi signals are not distributed equally in all homes. Where you place your router can have a significant impact on your wireless coverage. Although it may seem logical to place the router deep in the cabinet or right next to the end of the cable, this is not always the best spot. Instead of placing the router at the far end of your house, you should put it in the centre, so its signal can reach all corners with ease.

Wireless routers also require open space, free of walls and obstructions. So while it’s tempting to hide it in the back of a cupboard or behind the back of the couch you will get a better signal if it is out in the open. 

The Wi-Fi should also be kept away from heavy appliances or electronics, as those in close proximity can impede its performance. By eliminating just one wall between your workspace and the router, you can drastically increase performance.

If you have external antennas on your router, point them vertically to increase your coverage. You might even be able to get a better signal by mounting the router high on the wall or on the top shelf. You can visualize your network coverage using a number of tools that can be found online which show you both the weak and strong spots in your Wi-Fi as well as plenty of mobile apps

 

Check your Frequency

 As the band Nesian Mystik once said “check your frequencies”. Take a look at your router settings menu. You can generally get to this by typing in your router’s local IP address into the search bar of your web browser (normally this will be 192.168.1.1) and make sure you have it configured for optimum performance. If your router has more than one band, switching to the 5GHz band will likely give you more throughput than sticking with the more common 2.4GHz band.

5GHz doesn’t only offer faster speeds, but also less interference with other wireless networks and devices since it’s less commonly used. (It does not generally handle distances and obstructions as well, however, so it won’t always be as far-reaching as a 2.4GHz signal.)

On most dual-band routers, the network name, or SSID, can be the same on both bands. Use the same SSID and password for the 5GHz network that you use for your 2.4GHz network in your router’s administration interface. By doing so, your devices will automatically choose the best signal whenever possible.

 

Share the Bandwidth

Bandwidth is a limited resource. When your WiFi signal is weak, the problem may not be with the signal strength, but with the capacity of your internet connection. When streaming or video chatting on multiple devices, even strong WiFi networks can be slowed down. In order to ensure the best user experience, bandwidth usage needs to be managed to achieve optimum connections.

 

It Might Not Be the WI-FI

Trying to resolve WiFi issues may take an entire day without realizing that your internet service provider is at fault. Run an internet speed test using a wired connection to determine if that’s true. You should be able to match the measured download and upload speeds with the advertised speeds by your Internet Service Provider. Try running the test wirelessly again, while standing directly next to your router, if the modem seems to be working. You may have weak Wi-Fi coverage if you get the same speeds next to the router, but not elsewhere in the house. You may have some outdated equipment that needs to be upgraded if your internet is still slow standing right next to the router