How To Get the Most From Your Internet Router

If you do not have the greatest internet speed, your router signal might be why. Even though there are multiple factors affecting your internet speed, the signal of your Wi-Fi makes or breaks your internet experience. For instance, when social media will not load upstairs due to poor connectivity, it’s time to upgrade your home’s Wi-Fi signal. Increase your wireless signal and speed up your internet with any of the following tips.

Update Your Internet Setting To Stop Leeches

When there are more users than your bandwidth can handle, it slows down your internet. Therefore, failure to protect your signal enables your network for used by freeloaders. That is why experts recommend homeowners protect their router’s access with a complex password along with WPA2 security.

If your home is automated, you want to keep it safe from intruders. This is because when there are outside connections to your capacity, your devices will not get the signal strength they need. Additionally, due to failure to keep a secure network, strangers have control over automated things like your air conditioner, coffee maker, and any other automated system.

Purchase A High-End Router

One of the biggest issues holding back your Wi-Fi connection is the age of your router. Luckily, there are many advantages when purchasing a new router. This way, you can invest in faster internet speeds.

Your new router enables you to improve security features and make them compatible with homeowners wanting to automate their homes. Also, your new internet speeds help you surf the web and find a refinancing mortgage loan to get you a better rate and save you money, a win-win.

Maximize the Router Setting

You need to test the different settings on your router to improve your home’s speed and signal strength. These are a few tips to help optimize your router speed:

— Different routers have entertainment settings that help prioritize your signal strength when you stream content or play your favorite video game. However, this strategy is slower when there are too many people sharing your internet connection at the same time. So try turning off entertainment settings. 

— Rest the Request to Send, or RTS, on your router. Typically, the RTS clears data transmission channels prior to data packs being sent out. When you live in an apartment complex, setting your RTS to a low number helps improve your Wi-Fi performance.

When you notice your router’s speed is not performing like it should try these steps to fix the problem.

Select a New Internet Channel

Try switching your router from the standard channel to a five GHz channel to make your internet speeds faster. This results in getting more capacity with fewer interruptions.

The standard and five GHz offer multiple internet transmission channels; the standard provides you with 14 overlapping channels. On the other hand, the five GHz offers you 23 channels that do not overlap. When your channels overlap, your data packets travel back and forth on other channels in your neighborhood. This interrupts your bandwidth, which slows down your connection.

However, some routers limit the standard bandwidth. When your router is limited to the standard channels, choose channels one, six, or 11. The reason is that these channels experience the least amount of overlap, especially when you get your neighbors to use the same channels.

Reset the Router

It might sound simple, but when you reset your router, it can speed up your internet speeds. For example, when your computer is messing up or being slow, you restart the computer, and suddenly it starts working better. When you restart your router, it has the same effect.

Know How To Position the Antenna

Wi-Fi signals expand perpendicular to your router. However, companies warn that when passing through your walls at an angle, internet signals diminish. Antennas aren’t often included in Wi-Fi routers, such as all-in-one modems and router gateways. But, if your router has antennas, angle them to help your Wi-Fi signal flow straight through walls while maintaining signal strength.

Boost your Wi-Fi signal by angling one antenna vertically, allowing Wi-Fi signals to pass through walls directly from side to side. Wi-Fi signals flow directly above and downward through the ceiling to other levels if the other antenna is angled horizontally.

Look Into Different Types of Antennas

Upgrading your router is another alternative. Some models come equipped with visible antennas, and people with a high-speed router with antennas are lucky. Since there are manufacturers that produce replacement antennas that have a robust signal, you get to step up your internet connection. But, there are some antennas whose antenna positions do not matter, meaning you do not have to angle them to boost your signal.

Move Your Router to a Better Spot

Where you put your router impacts the strength of the signal. Put your router in an open space, high with limited obstructions for better results. When your router is lower to the ground, most of the signal travels horizontally across the floor, meaning it reaches fewer places in your home. 

You might improve your signal by setting up a router on the second floor when you have a two-story house. When your router is too close to things such as a brick wall, it limits the broadcast function within your home. Therefore, the denser the object obstructing the router, the more of a signal loss you experience. Here are some of the best spots to put your router:

— On a high on a mantel in the central part of your home, such as a fireplace or shelf.
— On a small table in the middle of your home like a coffee table.
— On a second-floor landing if you do not have a basement.

When you notice your internet signal is running slower than usual, try to jump-start its strength with some of these tips.

Add a Wi-Fi Repeater

Using a Wi-Fi repeater to boost internet speeds in specific areas of your home is pretty simple. A repeater extends the range of your Wi-Fi signal while maintaining the same SSID and password. This repeater is essentially a wireless router that picks up your existing internet signal. Therefore, the stronger Wi-Fi signal is then amplified to other devices in your home by another wireless router within the repeater.

An extra router can also be used to create a repeater. You can use a second router to carry your wireless signal by connecting it to your first router through its LAN ports and configuring the settings. This feature is built-in to some new routers through the access point, which eliminates the requirement for a separate router.

Get an Internet Extender

A Wi-Fi extender, much like a Wi-Fi repeater, boosts your internet connection to additional rooms. The benefit is that extenders are less likely to limit your bandwidth than Wi-Fi repeaters, and they provide a strong internet connection to connected devices. A powerline Ethernet kit transmits Wi-Fi signals to other devices in your home through a wired connection to your router. Since it is wired, it does not take more Wi-Fi bandwidth to communicate because it’s wired.

A powerline Ethernet kit is a wonderful way to improve your internet for gaming equipment in the basement or devices in the garage. However, because it necessitates wiring, it is not the greatest internet booster for everyone.

When you want a higher internet speed, look at your router first. Know that you understand what needs to be done, you can take steps to make this a possibility.