It is possible to have extremely fast Wi-Fi network and there are a few ways we can do to achieve that. Many Wi-Fi solutions offer lightning-fast connections, but if your router is not set up properly, even opening Google can feel unbearably sluggish. Despite its relative maturity, Wi-Fi is still a temperamental technology. Your browsing speeds could suffer due to some simple oversights. Making your router perform properly is not that difficult and it is possible to make your Wi-Fi much faster.
1. Choose the right frequency and channel: You should know that your Wi-Fi router has operating channels. In fact, you could make a world of difference by simply changing to the proper channel. This is especially true if you are living in a place with a lot of interference, such as microwaves and cordless phones. You could try different channels, until we could find the highest performance. Modern routers could run on different frequencies, such as 2.4 GHz or 5GHz. For places with multiple floors, we should choose 2.4GHz, because it could penetrate through walls and travel farther. 5GHz is much faster and more adequate for smaller homes or rooms, due to its shorter range.
2. Move the router to an ideal location: When positioning our routers, you should find high and centrally located positions, such as on top of the tallest shelf in the middle of the room. The Wi-Fi router usually has an omnidirectional antenna that distributes the signal evenly to all directions. However, you could still tilt the antenna and focus on areas where most computers and mobile devices are often used. If you want the signal to go through the wall, you should position the antenna in a straight angle, so the signal can hit the wall directly at perpendicular angle, so it can travel through the least thickness of the wall. We could easily find that Wi-Fi signals that hit the wall at a sharper angle can have much lower performance. If possible, we may need to avoid thick walls made of concrete or brick. However, windows, glass and waters are actually the biggest obstacles. Even plants and nearby pipes can slow our Wi-Fi connection to a crawl. It means that reflective surfaces may cause our Wi-Fi signal to bounce, instead of passing through.
3. Secure the router: There could be more than a few unauthorized users who access our wireless network and it is a common reason why our Wi-Fi performance is sluggish. In some cases, just by putting in a password, you could notice significant improvement in performance. There are other good reasons why we need to secure our routers and someone could actually steal our critical data, instead of just your Internet bandwidth.
4. Replace the router: It is probably a good idea to replace your router and the one our cable company provides you may not be the most capable model available. New routers are equipped with more advanced features. As an example, new routers can send focused signals to specific devices in the room, instead or broadcasting the signal to all directions. This feature is faster and safer, because snoopers won’t get any kind of directed signal. These routers may also support multiple frequencies, so you could choose the one that works best with your devices.
5. Buy extenders: Extenders are more affordable than routers. Although they can be a bit expensive, it could boost signals in any hard to reach areas of your office or home. Alternatively, you could use old routers as extenders.
