How to boost WIFI signals
WIFI Signal is the second thing that causes alot of problems for people with their WIFI.
- Run a speed test
There are a lot of reasons why you might have slow WIFI, so it’s actually good to start with the basics and run an internet speed test to see what kind of internet speed the router is getting – before it gets converted to a wireless signal. You can try https://www.speedtest.net/ or https://fast.com/, and if you are not getting between 5 mb/s of your suggested speed, then it might be a problem with your ISP. Generally you have a 5 – 10 mb/s difference, but it varies a lot of the time depending a lot of the time depending how many users there are on the network. I suggest doing the speed test at a quiet time, not when everyone is home streaming Netflix. All of this will actually depend on your ISP and what sort of speed plan you are on.
- Make sure there are no WIFI freeloaders on your network
Your WIFI might buckle under the load of a lot of users or devices using your internet connection at the same time. If you aren’t securing your WIFI network with a secure password, its entirely possible that neighbors and people around you might be siphoning of your bandwidth and that’s why i would also suggest that you actually have a somewhat table or spreadsheet of the devices in your home and their MAC addresses, so that if you look at your DHCP table you wont only see a name you would see a MAC address and you can cross reference it and see if it belongs to you. If it is the case that you are seeing devices that are not yours, you need to go into the admin control panel of your router and change the password right away and increase your security settings.
- Upgrading your router
Upgrading your router and possibly adding range extenders and even converting your network to a mesh network may better the connection.
- Replacing your router is always something of a last resort, not only can a new router be expensive but there’s a lot of work to set up a new router compared to just using what we have. If your router is limited to obsolete 802.11N or 802.11G standards for example, you might want to look into upgrading to 802.11AC or in simpler terms a WIFI 6 router. Especially if you have a large home and your router isn’t yet obsolete, you might want to add more WIFI extenders, and you can actually reuse your router as a range extender.
- The range extenders are small affordable devices that basically amplify signal where there are dead spots therefore extending the coverage in your home. Generally all you need to do is plug them in and connect them to your network wirelessly and it extends the range. The major disadvantages of range extenders, is usually they have their own SSID so you have to change networks when you go from one end of your home to the other, which is a bit of a schlep and even if you try to have the same name, it doesn’t generally change over and then it causes speed problems and you wonder why the internet is slow.
- Upgrading to Mesh network will also boost your WIFI signal. What is a Mesh Network? Mesh networks or routers usually come with 2 or 3 component devices rather than a single router and you connect them at different locations throughout your home and together they deliver a strong fast WIFI signal over a large coverage area. It’s better than your typical router, an example of a mesh kit would be something similar to the D-Link COVR-AX1800.
- Upgrading your router firmware
Before you start tweaking things it is a good idea to upgrade your router firmware. Router manufactures are always improving software to get out a bit more speed. How easy or how hard it is to upgrade your firmware, depends entirely on your device manufacturer and what sort of model you have of the device. Most of the current routers have the upgrading process built-into the administration inter phase, so all you have to do is hit the button that says upgrade firmware. Most of the other models if they are particularly older, require you to visit your manufacturers website and download the firmware file from the routers support page and then upload it into the administration inter phase. It is a bit tedious but still a good thing to do since, it would be such a simple fix.
Even if your wireless network isn’t ailing, you should make it a point to upgrade your firmware on a regular basis for performance improvements, better features, security upgrades. If you really want to get the most out of your current device, and want to be a bit adventurous – you can look 3rd party software like OPENSOURCE DDWRT. This can ramp up performance and give you access to more advanced networking features like including the ability of installing a VPN right into your router, its a bit more complex to set up but its more for the tech savy router.
- Control Quality
Most routers come with a quality of service or QOS tool to limit the amount of bandwidth that apps can use, like we would have seen in some of your D-Link routers. QOS settings can typically be found under advances settings in the network administration inter phase. For example you can go into QOS to prioritize video calls over file downloads. Some other QOS settings even allow you to prioritize different apps at specific times of the day. Some routers even make it easier by offering one-click multimedia or gaming settings, so you know applications will be prioritized if you’re trying to stream or game, while sharing a network.