Poor Wi-Fi performance is as
inevitable as death, taxes and
people yelling “you ain’t nuffin’
ta me!” in EastEnders Christmas
specials. But it’s something
that can be remedied easily…
1 Place your router sensibly
Think.
Don’t shroud your Wi-Fi
source in lead. Even a closed
door can attenuate the signal,
so keep it high up and ensure
the signal has an obvious escape
route. Also, put it somewhere
central, lest you lose half your
signal to the world outside.
2 Big up your antenna(e)
Changing the antenna stalks on
the router and receiving gadget
can stabilise and improve Wi-Fi.
The likes of TP-Link do upgrade
antennae from about £5 each
– money potentially well spent.
3 Repeat the signal
A Wi-Fi repeater extends your
network by acting as a new
starting point for transmission.
Netgear’s WN3000RP (£75,
netgear.co.uk) is a big-name
option, but smaller brands can
be had from about £20.
4 Go back to 2.4GHz…
or change up to 5GHz
Modern 802.11n Wi-Fi operates
on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz
frequencies. While 5GHz tends
to be less congested, it’s not so
hot at navigating walls. A switch
to 2.4GHz in the router settings
(see below) could make a big
difference to your range.
5 Change the channel
Most routers come set up using
the same frequencies, and with
population density now rivalling
that of sardines in a crushed can,
interference is an issue. Here’s
how to find the least congested
signals and speed things up.
a) Download inSSIDer (£free,
metageek.net) to scan the
airwaves and find out which
channels local Wi-Fi networks
are using. Click ‘stop’ mid-scan
to see a graph of activity. If your
network’s in a congested spot,
changing channel should help.
b) Hook up to your router via
Ethernet and type its IP address
(often http://192.168.1.1) into
your browser. This should take
you to a menu screen where you
can change the router’s settings.
Type in your password (search
online if you don’t know it) and
navigate to find the channel it’s
using; choose one the graph says
is uncongested. Save changes:
your router should reboot, and
its performance should improve.
This How to Boost Wifi Signal article taken from:
Source. Stuff UK June 2013
