Slow Wi-Fi speed is a very frustrating fact for anyone. What do we feel like when streaming a video if it keeps buffering? Isn’t this situation too much irritating? Yes, indeed. This happens to everyone, happened to me also. So, I took some measures to improve my Wi-Fi speed.
Many ways help you speed up the Wi-Fi signal. The Wi-Fi speed could be slow due to the interference of signals, confining in a busy channel, being placed in a stagnant place, mooching of hackers, and many more reasons.
Whatever the reason is, there’s always a solution to it. So, let’s take a look at some steps on how we can boost Wi-Fi speed.
1. Placing the Wi-Fi router in a suitable place
The closer you are to the router, the more speed you get. If you put the router in one corner of your house, you’ll get poor speed at the other corner.
The signals pass in every direction and so, placing the router in a corner makes half of the signal move around your house and the other half roam around outside.
You have to set the router in such a place from where the signals can easily reach the devices.
Placing the router in an open area will help the signals move freely. Some objects interrupt Wi-Fi signal. Objects made of metal cause most of the signal drops.
Cordless phones, microwave, remote, other Wi-Fi routers in the same house, and some wireless devices cause an interruption in signal passing. So, choose a place where the router stays far from this type of devices.
Interference of signals weakens Wi-Fi speed. So, change your router’s position and keep it in an open space where your devices can get Wi-Fi signals easily. Place it in the middle of your house.
Alternatively, you can hang it on the wall where the interrupting objects will be far away from the router.
2. Changing the channel
One of the most cases of slow Wi-Fi speed is using a busy channel. Most people don’t know the fact of a channel in wireless networking. Wi-Fi signals travel through channels in the open air.
Most of the time the case is, many signals use the same channel. As a result, the speed gets lower.
To change the channel, at first, you need to install a network analyzer software. You’ll find such software available on the internet. Install such software and run it.
It’ll show you which channel your router is using. Check the channels 1.6, and 11 to know which of these three is least used. Switch to the least used channel. This will solve most of your speed problems.
Most routers nowadays have dual frequency settings. One is 2.4 GHz, and the other one is 5 GHz. 5 GHz offers more speed in a short range.
If your place is small and you use a couple of devices, you might like to 5 GHz mode. You’ll get better Wi-Fi performances.
3. Using the latest technologies
This step is necessary. If you stick to your old router, you’ll miss out the features latest devices offer. The old Wireless A, B, G, N models have become slower in comparison with the newest Wireless-N (802.11n) and Wireless-AC (802.11ac).
The new routers have dual-band frequency system. A 2.4 GHz router has the liberty to send signals to 14 channels whereas a 5 GHz can send signals to 30 channels.
A dual frequency router, thus, can choose from 44 channels meaning that you can avoid maximum interference of signals.
Newer hardware offers better speed and better security of data too. Getting a new router might solve your speed problems.
4. Implying more security
If someone else uses your Wi-Fi signals without you knowing the fact, you might feel why you are getting weak signals. Prying neighbors might be using your data, and you don’t have any clue of that.
To save the Wi-Fi connection from this situation, you need to apply greater security.
Your network SSID is visual to anyone within the Wi-Fi range who has a device with Wi-Fi on. If you hide the SSID, the hackers will not find it and thus, cannot connect to it.
The router’s firmware setting has an option for SSID broadcasting. If you turn that off, no devices will find your network. So, when you have to connect a device to that network, you need to type the name manually and then connect to it.
Then, change your Wi-Fi password and set it to WPA2. A WPA2 password is encrypted, so, it gives better protection of the network.
5. Limiting devices
There might be people in your household who stream HD movies, download torrents, play online games during the busy hours. Doing these kinds of stuff use much internet.
As a result, everyone else gets a lower speed. In this case, following some rules might be of help.
Doing the things mentioned above during the off-pick hours might reduce the hogging of speed. There are some applications which allow you to prioritize apps and software based on network usability.
Those might help you to get the expected speed while using important applications.
Torrent downloader software has bandwidth limitation settings. During the busy hours, lowering the bandwidth usage of these software might help you get better speed.
There’s a tool called Quality of Service. Most routers feature this tool. This tool lets you limit the bandwidth used by applications. You’ll find this tool in the router’s administrator interface.
Using this tool, you can limit the software’s maximum bandwidth usage. This way, you can balance the speed.
6. Using a high-gain antenna
You might be thinking why you have to use high-gain antennae while your router already has built-in ones. The built-in antennae are good to go, but an external one performs better.
The antenna gain indicates the efficiency of a router. An antenna has to send and receive signals. So, it has to be very efficient.
Most times built-in antennae work average. If you buy a high-gain antenna and set it to your router, you’ll get improved speed. You’ll get such antennae at around 15$.
Setting up an external antenna is not a hard task. The router’s antennae are screw-able. So, you have to unscrew the previous antenna and add the new one.
High-gain antennae will increase the speed and also send signals to more distant corners of your house than the built-in antennae.
7. Changing the Antennae’s positions
Most of our routers have two to three antennae. Changing the position or direction of the antenna lets the signals move in different directions separately. If your router has one antenna, keep it facing upward direction.
If your router has more than one antenna, place the antennae perpendicular to each other. This will help the signals to travel more freely. As a consequence, you might get an increase in the speed too.
8. Using a range extender
A range extender increases the range and rebroadcasts the signals. So, you get enhanced speed in every place of your household. There are wireless range extenders available in stores. Buy a decent one, and your problem might get solved.
When the extender receives Wi-Fi signals, it amplifies them. The amplified signals then move around your household. This device broadens the range.
If your house is a huge place, a repeater or extender will help the waves to move everywhere. Otherwise, it’ll be hard to get speed in a device that’s in a distant room from the router.
Network extenders receive your router’s signals. They don’t produce any new signals; they only amplify the signal. Don’t place it near your router.
If your router is in one corner of the house, put the extender in the middle. You can place it anywhere you think it’ll get the Wi-Fi signals.
While buying an extender, keep in mind that you have to buy one that has the same speed as your router. Doing this will give you more noticeable results.
The type of the extender should also be the same as the router. Before buying an extender, follow the other steps. If you still see no progress, then set up an extender.
Conclusion
So, these were some of the most useful tips which can help you boost the Wi-Fi speed. After following these, you ought to get increased Wi-Fi speed.
Other than doing all these, have a scheduled reboot of your router every day. This helps the router to stay functional for a long period.
