Summary: Suffering from a slow or sluggish home internet connection? Here are six ways to help improve your speeds.
By Zack Whittaker for Between the Lines |
By Zack Whittaker for Between the Lines |
Find the best place for your Wi-Fi router
Wi-Fi routers are not easy to place. Although they may seem unsightly with their blinking lights, the best place for them may not be behind the TV or inside a cabinet out of sight.
The best place may be in the center of your house, or in a place in your apartment with line-of-sight to other devices.
If your devices are compatible, switch to a stronger signal
Modern devices, like iPhones, iPads, notebooks, and Android devices, often work with the latest networking standards. Depending on the age of your devices, they may not be compatible with 802.11n or 802.11ac. But if your devices are less than one year old, you may be able to switch to those newer standards to ensure stronger signal and faster speeds.
Security is key, cuts out network hijackers
Living in a populated neighborhood can increase your chance of having unauthorized users on your wi-fi network. Adding WPA2 security to your network (with a strong password) will reduce the chances of people using your wi-fi for streaming and downloading. This will overall improve your own speeds.
Wi-Fi quality-of-service to limit bandwidth hogging apps
Quality-of-service (QoS) allows you to limit the amount of bandwidth certain apps can use, which can be handy if you stream a lot of video or TV content. This means certain apps and services can be dedicated with the greatest speeds and lowest lag, while other apps — such as downloaders — can be limited at certain times of the day.
Wi-Fi channels can reduce interference
Having your Wi-FI network on the same "channel" as other devices in your neighborhood can cause interference with your network. You can use third-party Wi-Fi scanners to determine which channel networks around you are on. Picking one that isn't in use can increase the performance of your Wi-Fi network.
Big house? Buy a repeater
If you have a big property or office, you could invest in a Wi-Fi repeater. These devices are generally cheap — some routers already provide "access point" functionality — and can extend the range of your Wi-Fi network considerably
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