2024February
Is your wireless signal always low? Are you barely able to connect to the Internet without being next to your router, or does your Wi-Fi always disconnect? Here are a few details to help you understand wireless signals and ways that you can improve your signal situation.
Proper Placement
Wireless communications is all about getting from point A to point B through the air. Although wireless signals can penetrate certain materials, blockage and dampening can ruin your signal.
Blockage is caused by a number of factors, such as the thickness of a wall or the type of materials used. Steel, aluminum, or other metals can block the signal extremely well.
Choosing a central location to place the router is always ideal. If you have a long narrow home, such as a manufactured home, placing the router at one end will likely give you problems obtaining good Wi-Fi way at the other end.
Understanding Interference
Just like blockage, interference can be hard to see if you don't know what you're looking for. For wireless Internet, the most common interference is another wireless signal.
The most common wireless Internet frequency on the consumer market is 2.4Ghz. While Wi-Fi is the most popular application for 2.4Ghz, other devices such as baby monitors, microwaves, and wireless security cameras may cause interference. Interference has the potential to not only cause interruptions in the wireless signal, but it can also cause slower speeds via Wi-Fi as well.
Using Dual-Band Technology
Most new wireless routers come with Dual-Band technology. That is they operate in both the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz spectrum. Generally speaking; the 2.4 GHz will give you better range, while the 5 GHz will give you the potential for better speeds.
Not all devices are capable of receiving both signals though. For instance you could have a dual-band router, but if you have an older laptop that doesn’t see the 5 GHz frequency you’d only be able to connect via 2.4 GHz.
If you are relatively close to the router and your device is capable of seeing it, for media rich uses such as music or video streaming, you’d be best served by connecting via the 5 GHz frequency.
Channel Management
Within each wireless spectrum, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, there exists various different channels. If you dive into your router’s settings you’ll usually find the option to select the channel on the same screen where you set your Wi-Fi name and password.
By default the option is usually “auto” meaning the router automatically decides which channel to use. However if you are experiencing issues, try manually selecting a different channel. For rural users where there is no other Wi-Fi sources nearby, this isn’t much of an issues. For city dwellers, particularly apartment or condo residents, there are often quite a number of different Wi-Fi transmissions in a small area. In this instance, selecting a less used channel may provide a more stable connection.
Upgrade Your Firmware
Routers, modems, access points, and other network devices are computers in their own right. These computers have built-in data called firmware that needs to be updated from time to time; and could help your wireless issues.
Some manufactures are better than others when it comes to frequency of firmware updates. Its best to check every few months if a firmware update is available for your device. Not only could the update potentially provide a more stable signal, often firmware updates also patch security vulnerabilities that have been identified.
Some devices have options to download the firmware automatically when logged into the user interface, while others allow you the ability to upload the firmware file manually. Firmware files are usually found on the support or downloads section on the device manufacturer's website.
Still Need More Range?
If you’re still in need of greater range for your Wi-Fi, consider adding a mesh network or a point-to-point system. Both options can greatly increase not only the coverage within your home or business, but also can extend to other buildings on your property. Akers Media offers a number of different mesh and point-to-point options. Please check out our Home Networking page for more information.
