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top-tips-to-amplify-your-wifis-signal-strength
An excellent WiFi network setup is a fundamental requirement in every home or apartment. None of us like to be sitting near the desktop, if not required. However, WiFi can be quite a frustrating thing to troubleshoot and set up. Unfortunately, it is also very inconsistent. At a particular spot in your home, you may be getting a perfect speed, but when you move just a few steps away, the network bar might drop straightaway to one bar. This unreliable nature of the network is probably because there are way too many factors that influence the WiFi’s performance.
Let us take a look at some of the vital factors that directly impact your WiFi speed. Following this, we will also tell you some quick, easy, and reliable ways to boost your WiFi speed.
Factors that affect your WiFi speed
Physical distance
For apparent safety and technical reasons, the WiFi routers do not have a similar transmitting ability as your cell tower. What makes it worse is a cheap router, which will not cover even a smaller area with robust WiFi strength.
‘To examine the speed and the reach of my WiFi router, I use the NetSpot application,’ shares Janet, an employee with MyPlumberschoice.
Obstructions
There are several obstacles in your home that can wholly or partially block your WiFi signals, such as ductwork, walls, home appliances, furniture, and the people. These obstructions hamper the 5 GHz WiFi networks. It is because the higher frequency signal does not penetrate obstacles as well as the lower frequency signals.
Interference
Your WiFi signals take up the same radio frequency band as the microwave ovens, radios, baby monitors, cell phones, walkie-talkies, and several other devices. All of these devices tend to intervene with your WiFi signals. What makes it worse is that two WiFi signals may also interfere with one another. This is one of the most common reasons for low WiFi signal strength in densely populated areas or apartments.
Router capacity
Just like certain computers cannot handle complex 3D objects, while a few are unable to take you through casual browsing; similarly, not every router is the same. A lower-end router will be unable to offer you reliable wireless access.
Bandwidth hoggers
At times, your WiFi signal strength is not the problem, but rather the internet connection’s capacity is where your router falls short. Video streaming or video conferencing can make even the most robust WiFi network crawl. Thus, for a good experience, it is imperative to manage the bandwidth hoggers and ensure that not too many people are connected to the WiFi in one go.
Now that you have clarity on five reasons that affect your WiFi performance, it is time to look at some ways to overcome this problem.
Top Ways to Amplify Your WiFi’s Signal Strength
Keep your WiFi in an open area.
Just as is clear from the name, WiFi is wireless. Hence, obstacles, such as ceilings, floors, and the walls, the distance, the number of users connected to the WiFi, and the electronic interference will directly hamper the WiFi speed and make your connection slow down.
Thus to enjoy superior signal strength, you should place your router in an open space.
‘We recently placed our home WiFi in the open area where it does not encounter any obstacles or hindrances. This has significantly boosted the signal strength,’ shares Jerry, an employee with RazorHood.
Ideally, you can consider placing your router above the furniture so that it does not get hindered by electronics, such as baby monitors, microwaves, or cordless phones. Further, you can perpendicularly point the antennas. Keep on vertical and one horizontal. This will ensure that every area receives adequate signals.
Further, never place your WiFi router in the dead spot in or around your home. What are these dead spots? Dead spots are the areas where the signal strength is poor. You can use a mobile app, such as CloudCheck, to help you locate the area, which receives maximum signal strength.
Update the firmware
Next, you need to ensure that your router’s firmware is updated. In case the firmware has not been updated in a long time, its performance will be hampered. There are certain routers, which tend to update automatically. To check if your firmware is updated or not, you can open its mobile application (if there exists one), or you can log onto the router’s control panel to examine if the firmware is updated to the latest version. This process can be quite taxing if you have an old router, but it is worth your time.
‘Anytime my WiFi signal starts lagging, I call my carrier representatives. They update the firmware at the backend, and it starts working just as fine,’ shares Hannah, an educator who offers summary statement engineers Australia.
Please keep it away from all electronic devices
Usually, people tend to place their routers near their telephone or television. This can hamper the signal strength. Thus, it would be best if you put your router away from other electronic devices, such as monitors, TVs, speakers, and AC power cords.
Could you keep it away from the wireless signals?
Baby monitors and Bluetooth speakers tend to weaken your signal strength. In case it is challenging for you to keep the router away from the other devices’ interferences, we recommend you shop for a dual-band router.
Opt for a new WiFi channel
‘When my WiFi was continually acting up, and the signal strength was slow, I upgraded my Wi-FI channel from the typical 2.4 GHz to a more advanced 5 GHz channel, and that worked miraculously, shared Billey, an associate with TrueBlueFishermen. Well, you, too, can try what Billey suggests here because switching to a better channel can help you get better bandwidth and less interference.
Even though both 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz support multiple internet transmission channels, the latter offer just fourteen overlapping channels. During a channel overlap, the data packets tend to travel back and forth onto the adjacent channel, and intervene with one another. This can clog the bandwidth and affect your internet speed. Certain routers are curtailed to the 2.4 GHz band. In case your router is limited, too, you can opt for either channel 11, 6, or 1. In these channels, the overlap is minimal. It will get better if you can convince your neighbors to use channels 11, 6, or 1.
Shop for a WiFi extender
If you find messing with your router settings complicated and you are okay with a little splurge, we recommend investing in a WiFi repeater or an extender. The role of the WiFi extender is to boost your signal strength. So, it will be plugged into the spare wall socket, and it will join the wireless internet, which is getting beamed out by your router, and extend it for a better output. Extenders are simple to use and set up. It will help you overcome the dead zones in your apartment.
So, these are the top six ways to amplify your WiFi’s signal strength. Hopefully this shall better your signal strength. Have more suggestions to add to the list? Let us know in the comment box below.
