4 Easy steps to improving WIFI speed

4 Easy steps to improving WIFI speed | Better WIFI

In our home internet improvement series, we’re going to dub better WIFI. Today we’re discussing four of the easiest steps to improving your WIFI speed.

1. Turn things on and off
Unplug your modem or wireless router and wait about 30 seconds then plug it back in. This process allows the router to clear out all the glitches. Your modem translates internet signals from your home internet and your internet provider. If your internet is acting up, a power cycle is the most easiest and good place to start with your troubleshooting and 99.9% of the time fixes most connection issues.

2. Move your router to a better location
WIFI can only travel so far and it’s signal gets interrupted or blocked by walls, ceilings, floors, furniture and basically any large object. These signals get interrupted with the radiowaves from other devices like phones, microwaves, bluetooth speakers and baby monitors. If you place your router at the edge of your home, you might have issues picking up your WIFI at the other side of your home. The best place for your router is a sort of central and elevated location, but that also depends on your home layout and where you need internet coverage.

3. Adjust your routers antennas
Most routers and wireless gateways have internal antennas – meaning they are mounted inside the device and you can’t really adjust them. In that case you can adjust the router left or right even forward or back as well. If need be you could elevate it forward or back and that might help.

If you do have adjustable antennas on your router, you can try re-configuring them and change the direction they point at. Most of these router antennas are omnidirectional – meaning they send out signals in all directions, perpendicular to the router.

So for example, if your antenna is vertical, it sends horizontal signals. If you need to stretch your WIFI signal to multiple floors, it might be better to adjust it in a horizontal spread so that it sends signals downwards and upwards.

4. Switching your WIFI frequency band
When you switch your WIfi Frequency band most routers work on primarily two radio frequency bands – 2.4 gigahertz and 5 gigahertz. The band that you use for your connection can also affect the speed and quality of your connection at different distances from your router. Whichever frequency band you’re on may be experiencing some temporary interference as well.

The 2.4 gigahertz band is the most commonly accessed WIFI connection and its used for many things other than wireless communication. So the airwaves of this frequency can actually be a little crowded. This band trades speed for range – meaning it would pass better through walls but it doesn’t carry very fast speed. Whereas the 5 gigahertz band is the opposite – it gives you better speed at a shorter range.

Some of the connections best suited for the 5 gigahertz band is things like your gaming consoles, PCs and smart TVs. Some of the connections best suited for the 2.4 gigahertz band is things like your smartphone, smart speakers, smart home devices and even security cameras. The two frequency bands often appear as two separate networks, so you can organise your connections and log off the incorrect band if you’re experiencing any problems.