Best Ways to Improve Your Home Wi-Fi
A great wireless setup is the cornerstone of a home or apartment because no one wants to be chained to their desk unless they have to. Wi-Fi is also one of the most frustrating things to do with setup and troubleshooting. If you’re worried about low speeds, poor reception, and other Wi-Fi issues, here are 10 ways to turn on the wireless network in your home.
Switch to an 802.11ac (or “Wi-Fi 5”) router.
If you’re still using an older 802.11n router, also known as “wireless-n” or “Wi-Fi 4,” it’s time to upgrade to a newer 802.11ac router (wireless-ac or “Wi-Fi 5”). One of the best ways to make sure your network is fast and working in every corner of your living space is to use modern equipment . Buying a new router can be confusing due to the different wireless classifications, prices, and features. So here’s a quick overview of the basics:
- If you are buying a newer router, you have no reason not to use 802.11ac or “Wi-Fi 5,” as it is also called. Chances are you have an 802.11ac device if you’ve purchased a new smartphone, tablet, or laptop at some point in the past few years. This is easy enough to check; just look at the network characteristics of your device.
- Even if you don’t have an 802.11ac device, think about how you should probably upgrade your router again at any point in the next few years. The answer is most likely zero, so getting a great 802.11ac router is worth buying now. Your future devices will thank you, and you will likely see some improvement in speed and range over the much older 802.11n router. Or, if you’re really old-school, an 802.11g router. (Ugh.)
- By purchasing a new router, you are likely to get a longer support period (firmware updates) to prevent exploits and other annoying issues. Your old 802.11n router is probably no longer being updated by the manufacturer, which is not a good thing.
- An 802.11ac router may not give you more range than an 802.11n router depending on how cool your previous router was or how awful a home home setup is, but it will give you better performance for more distant 802.11ac devices. Where you once hobbled around 10 Mbps, you may find that you can download files at 40 or 50 Mbps (for example). More on this later.
- 802.11ac routers that can do all sorts of crazy things these days. You can choose a tri-band router that automatically controls how devices connect to three separate networks to give each one the fastest speeds possible. You can set up a grid with a dedicated transit flight to extend your network wirelessly and without speed penalties (which is why we usually hate “regular” Wi-Fi extenders). You can even buy routers that integrate with IFTTT and turn your lights on and off as you go in and out of your network.
- For most people looking to cover a reasonable-sized house or apartment, a powerful AC1200 or AC1750 router will probably suffice – definitely the latter if you have new MacBook Pros that support all AC1750 speeds, for example.
It’s a lot. And if you’re still unsure, let’s see how much faster 802.11ac actually is. I ran some quick tests on a new MacBook Pro (15 ” touchpad) that supports AC1750 full speed. I connected it to an Amplifi HD router (base station only), an AC1750 class router that supports 802.11ac speeds up to 1300 Mbps, and I also connected my desktop PC to the router via Gigabit Ethernet, or 1000 Mbps.
I put my router in my room in the corner of the house and took my laptop into the kitchen a few rooms away from me. This is roughly half the range of a router based on a lot of other tests I did when I was a networking expert at Wirecutter.
I connected to a 5GHz router network – to get those excellent 802.11ac speeds – and ran a quick test using the LAN Speed Test . Here are my speeds:
Not bad. Heck, here are the speeds tested at the same location, but using an 802.11n home network that has an access point right above where my laptop was:
And here are the speeds I saw when I switched to using the router’s 2.4GHz network – no 802.11ac, but a good simulation of the speeds an 802.11n user would encounter on a Wi-Fi network configured with a typical channel width of 20MHz .
In other words, my 802.11ac connection was halfway faster than an 802.11n connection from just a few feet away, and using 802.11ac 5GHz gave me about twice the connection speed of my 2.4GHz router – the speed of 802.11n.
So yes, if you have 802.11ac devices, you must pair them with an 802.11ac router. Having higher speeds as you get closer to your router’s range is a good thing.
Buy a wireless adapter for your old laptop
If you have a laptop that you just can’t part with, or don’t have the funds to buy a brand new alternative (with 802.11ac), you can always buy an 802.11ac adapter that plugs into your laptop. USB port. While they look silly, add a bit of bulk to your system, and can sometimes work on your OS, they are an easy way to get faster Wi-Fi speeds when paired with an 802.11ac router that has similar capabilities. (In other words, don’t go cheap and buy a crappy AC600 adapter; buy at least an AC1200 if you have an AC12oo or better router.)
You might even want to consider a wireless adapter that connects to your laptop via a longer USB cable. This way, you can place the actual transmitter / receiver in the location that provides the best results. The shorter the distance between the router and adapter, the better.
Consider a Wi-Fi network system
If you’re having trouble getting a strong Wi-Fi signal in your home, you have several options, including: adding more wired access points, expanding your main router’s signal, or routing Ethernet cables around your house and connecting as much as possible. the number of devices. you can.
You can also opt for a wireless mesh system , which is an almost reliable way to extend your coverage. They are usually easy to set up and operate via a smartphone app. And while they can lose some speed, especially if you connect to an access point using the same range it uses to connect to your main “hub” over Wi-Fi, they make up for that with simplicity and range. The best mesh systems have access points that use a dedicated backhaul to communicate with each other, ensuring that you get the best possible speed for your remote devices.
(If you’re lucky, you can even take your existing 802.11ac router and turn it into a network access point .)
Do not put your router in a closet at the far end of your home or apartment.
Routers may be ugly, but that doesn’t mean you should hide them behind a TV cabinet. If you want the best signal, you want it to be outdoors , free of any walls or obstacles.
If possible, check if the wireless router can be wall -mounted using the pre-installed mounting holes or a third-party mounting bracket. Aim the antennas perpendicularly (if you can) and raise the router if you can (one reader found his attic to be the perfect spot ). Finally, make sure it is in the center of your home so that you have the best possible coverage throughout your home.
How important is it? Lot. Using the same wireless test setup as before, this is what my 802.11ac speeds looked like when I placed my router in the home entertainment cabinet and closed the door:
Ugh. I just lost all the benefits of 802.11ac by foolishly trying to hide my router in my room. And no, opening the door to the entertainment center didn’t help:
And here’s what happened when I took the router out of the entertainment center (which is on the floor in my room) and placed it on top – less than a foot difference, but no IKEA wooden walls or door blocking the way. :
Everything is better! Speeds (and sanity) restored.
Place your router in the city center
Really. We are not joking. Your router works best when you place it as centrally as possible in your home or apartment. The router’s signal comes from its antennas. Place it in the corner of your house, as I did in my test case, and you will only fool yourself – and give your neighbors a great connection to your wireless network.
You may feel constrained because the cable (or fiber optic!) Modem that you purchased from your ISP is stuck in a certain area of your house or apartment. This may be true, but you can always run an Ethernet cable through your home to make sure your main Wi-Fi router is right in the center. You might even be able to use a Powerline network adapter to connect your cable modem to your router without cables, but this can be much more difficult than a proven Ethernet cable.
If you don’t want to (or cannot) climb behind walls, you can always simply run the Ethernet cable along the ground or ceiling. Attach it to the wall with handy cable clips to keep it out of the way.
It might sound like a hassle, but a quick weekend project to make sure the router is properly positioned is essential. You may not even need any extension cable (meh) solution or additional wired APs (which you will have to plug with an Ethernet cable anyway for best performance) if you take the time to set up the router right in the middle of your life situation. … Don’t ignore this. Don’t hide your router. Let his signal breathe freely.
Use a less congested wireless channel
Your neighbors’ routers and hotspots can interfere with yours and cause signal degradation. Wireless routers can operate on several different channels, and you want your channel to operate with the least possible interference. Your router will probably be able to pick the best channel for you, but you should double-check that it works. Use a tool like Network Analyzer Lite or WiFi Analyzer to see where your Wi-Fi network is in comparison to others, and manually switch channels if your router isn’t good at picking.
Also, don’t be a jerk and use 40MHz Wi-Fi at 2.4GHz if there are other wireless networks nearby. Your router should not do this if it is subject to wireless coexistence mechanisms, but may or may not . (And if you’re setting up a wireless network in a non-Wi-Fi location, feel free to get your router to trigger 40 MHz channels if you haven’t already – and you have the option to do so.)
Prevent hackers with the right wireless security
We’ve talked about this before , but knowing the basics of proper wireless security is incredibly important. Here’s what we mean:
- Always update your router’s firmware
- Use WPA2 encryption for your Wi-Fi passwords
- Change the default username and password for your router (no more “admin” / “admin” or “admin” / “password”)
- Disable WPS if you cannot configure your router to use only the push button method (physically pushing buttons on devices you want to connect via WPS).
- Use a DNS service different from that of your ISP.
- Disable any “remote management” services your router offers.
Extend Wi-Fi Range with DIY Tricks
If your router still doesn’t work far enough, you can expand its range with simple DIY tricks. Our favorite is the Windsurfer hacker foil , although you can also use an old beer can or kitchen strainer to expand your router’s range. The results won’t necessarily be overwhelming, but you can get more distance to your Wi-Fi network with minimal effort. (Yes, it might work .)
You can also spend a little money to increase the range of your network without disrupting high costs. Many routers and PC NICs, usually with adjustable antennas, use rotary antennas with RP-SMA connectors. You can buy RP-SMA antenna extenders or even a directional antenna to boost the performance of your wireless network.
Overall, however, you will find the best benefits from setting up your router’s location in your home and making sure that it and everything connected to it uses a wired Ethernet connection whenever possible.
Boost your router’s signal strength with 3rd party firmware
Another great way to expand your range is to hack your router and install third-party firmware such as DD-WRT , OpenWrt, or Xwrt (for ASUS routers ). Not only will you get a ton of great security features and other enhancements to play with, but you can tweak even more connection settings to squeeze as much performance out of your router as possible. It is also possible that third-party firmware can reduce the performance of your router, especially if it is fairly new. Make sure you run before and after tests to see how much, if any, your performance is different.
Convert your old router to a simpler wired access point
Good routers have some kind of tweak that allows you to quickly convert them to access points: disabling the hardware firewall and DHCP functionality so you can use them as simple signal blasters in your home or apartment. Otherwise you will have to configure it manually , but it can be a great way to get more use out of old equipment, especially if you just need kakoe- the connection to a remote location where there is nothing.
You can also use DD-WRT or OpenWRT to convert your old wireless network to a Wi-Fi extender that connects to your main router wirelessly rather than wired. However, for the best speeds, you’ll want to run an Ethernet cable between them instead.