Pages

Wednesday 18 May 2016

4 Simple Things You Need To Do To Get Faster Wi-Fi

undefined
Fast Wi-Fi is like good air-conditioning or clean tap water: You don't notice it until it's gone. For most chronic multitaskers, dealing with a slow, '90s-era Internet connection can mess up their entire workflow. A YouTube video that is slow to buffer? An email with a massive spreadsheet that takes eons to send? Ain't nobody got time for that! 
Thankfully, unlike the days of the dial-up doldrums, there are things you can do tospeed up the Wi-Fi in your home

Before we begin our tutorial on how to get faster Wi-Fi, let's get a few basics out of the way. First of all, how do you know if your Wi-Fi is actually slow? 
You can test your Internet's speed by paying a quick visit to The Global Broadband Internet Speed Test. There you can find your download speed, which is the speed of the data sent from the Internet to your computer.

The Federal Communications Commission defines "broadband" to be a minimum download speed of 25Mbps; if your Internet's speed is that zippy, congratulations! That's an Internet speed fast enough for multiple users and devices and best-equipped (though not always able) to handle the biggest bandwidth-hogging games or videos. Approximately 85 percent of Americans are members of the 25Mbps and up club;  As you'll learn soon, several factors can prevent your Wi-Fi from performing at its full capacity. 
Netflix recommends an Internet speed of at least 5Mbps for an HD stream. If your at-home Wi-Fi is supporting just you and your laptop, which you turn on every once in a while to check the weather, the FCC says you should get by with 1-2 Mbps. That speed can handle email, casually surfing the Web, and basic streaming video. Pay us a visit when you decide to finally join the 21st century. 
On the other hand, if you live in a household with multiple users, all whom have laptops and smartphones, and devices ranging from a Roku to a Fitbit eating up that bandwidth, your 25Mbps might be spread a little thin. 
But before upgrading to a faster Internet speed, try these tips to make the most of your current bandwidth

1) Move your router to a better location


Is your router cramped in a dark closet somewhere, tangled in a million cords and buried under a stack of winter coats? Then it's time to move it. The best position for your router is at the center of your home. The reasoning behind this is rather simple; the further away you are from your router, the weaker the Wi-Fi signal. In addition to moving your router to the center of your home, make sure it's in an open space, a few feet from the ground and away from any other electronics or physical obstruction. Steel structures, concrete, aquariums, and even air-conditioning systems are examples of things in your home that can interfere with your Wi-Fi signal

2) Upgrade your router if it's old 

If you can't remember when you purchased your router, or if you didn't evenpurchase your router (i.e. inherited from an old roommate), it's probably time to get a new router. This is particularly a problem among many who pay for high-speed Internet access but are clueless as to why their signal isn't performing up to its potential. Older routers perform according to older Wi-Fi standards and are not as well-equipped to handle multiple devices. A newer router will maximize your current Wi-Fi signal so you'll get the fast speeds with the lowest amount of interference. 
How can you tell if your router is dated? According to How-To Geek, you can Google your router's model number and find out its wireless standards. If your router's wireless standards are 802.11ac, which are the newest wireless standards, you're good. Anything else, and it might be time for an upgrade. 

3) Position your router's antennas correctly


For an optimal signal, position your router's antennas so that one is vertical and one is horizontal. It might sound a bit absurd, but positioning the antennas so they are perpendicular to one another ensures that at least one of them will align with your particular device's antenna. Some devices have antennas that are vertical, while others, such as MacBooks, have antennas that are positioned horizontally. Horizontal signals and vertical signals are not compatible, so you will run into problems if you have a router sending a vertical signal and a device with a horizontal antenna. Alf Watt of iStumbler recommends the perpendicular position for maximized radio reception
The position of your router's antennas wasn't as vital back when computers were stationary most of the time, but laptops, tablets, and smartphones have changed the game. The Ruckus Room details why router antennas have trouble keeping up in a world of portable devices. 
"Devices such as iPhones and iPads are so versatile they are moved around in almost every imaginable position. In the Wi-Fi world this is like someone on your roof moving your old free-to-air VHS antenna around with your picture fading in and out. Basically, every time you change the orientation of the device you are also changing the orientation (read: polarity) of the antenna of that device - and most of today's Wi-Fi APs can't do anything to deal with this."     
Using the same principle, if you have a newer router with internal antennas, make sure it's upright and not to the side. 

4) Change your wireless channel

Your neighbor's router, and other routers in your vicinity, can further bog down your Internet speed. Most routers default to the same channel, which results in interference and a slower signal for everyone. Solve the problem by find a less crowded channel for your router. Use an app like iStumbler or Wi-Fi Analyzer to find a channel with the least amount of interference. 

Both apps show you a list of nearby Wi-Fi networks and the current channels they're using. With this information, you can manually switch to a less crowded network.  
Wi-Fi Analyzer is available on Google Play. For iOS, try iStumbler or Network Analyzer.  
Photo via William Hook/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

No comments:

Post a Comment