The Internet is an integral part of our lifestyle, be it personal or professional. WiFi is one of the most important commodities we use in our day to day life and it can really be irritating when you get slower than expected speed. WiFi can be a fickle thing, if you move just a few steps then you can experience the sudden drop in internet speed. It is common knowledge that WiFi signals grow weaker as far as you get from the switch. Even if you are on a Fiber Internet Connection, weak wireless signals can cut down the speed significantly. But other than distance, several factors can cause a slow or Weak WiFi signal! First, we’ll tell you about the factors that can change your WiFi speed, and then we’ll teach you how to boost WiFi speed and the 10 best ways to boost your home WiFi.
Some Important Factors to Consider:
1. Physical Distance: As stated above, the farther you go from the WiFi switch, the weaker your signals will get. WiFi routers don’t have the same transmitting power as your usual cell towers and that’s why they can send signals over a certain distance. Cheaper routers may even struggle to send signals throughout your home. Thankfully for you, you can determine the reach of your WiFi router using an analyzer application like NetSpot.
2. Interference: WiFi signals can often run into interference with the weather, Electrical appliances, and even Windows and Doors. In case you didn’t know WiFi signals can be partially or completely absorbed by objects that surround your Wireless router. Your home appliances like your microwave and other smart devices can interfere with your home WiFi Connection.
3. Router Capacity: Routers are of a different kind, some are perfect for just casual web browsing. While some routers can easily handle the internet need for your home and business. If you have a cheap WiFi router then we suggest you switch to a better router for best connectivity.
4. Bandwidth Hoggers: Your WiFi signal could be perfect for and still, you may experience slow internet speed. Video chatting or video conferencing on several applications can even force a strong network to a halt. Manage these Bandwidth hoggers in your home to prevent your network to slow down.
How to Increase WiFi Speed
1. Choose a WiFi Position
How to increase WiFi internet Speed? Choose a centralized position for your router in your home! Not all the positions in your home are equally suitable for your wireless router. As a start, you may want to avoid placing your wireless router close to Metallic objects. In case you didn’t already know, metallic objects are the top disrupter of WiFi signals.
This is one of the 10 best ways to boost your home WiFi. Other materials like Wood, Plastic, doors, and glass windows can also be a factor in destroying your WiFi signals. As a matter of fact, all the appliances at your home emit electromagnetic waves to some extent. These Small and big emitters can also help in slowing down your WiFi network. Keep your router away from these appliances if you really want to learn how to increase WiFi speed on PC and other devices in your home.
2. Keep Your Router Updated
One of the best WiFi Signal Boosting Tips is to keep your router updated. It helps in keeping your router in good health and it saves you from an outside Malware attack. Malware attacks cause companies billions of dollars to fix. Most of these attacks wouldn’t have been successful if thee router was up to date on the security protocols.
If you want to learn how to make my WiFi faster then first you will have to learn how to keep your router updated? Routers with old firmware perform worse in terms of signal strength in comparison with updated routers.
3. Get A Stronger External Antenna
Most of the routers come pre-equipped with external antennas that can be easily updated. Manufacturers can add extremely powerful antennas but they will be large and hideous looking and most users will refrain from buying an ugly looking piece of tech. The antennas that come attached to your router are few inches tall and have 4 dB gain, a 10 dB antenna can be 10-15 inches tall.
Fortunately, some third-party manufacturers make sure you get the right antenna based on your WiFi needs. You can get a powerful antenna and build the best WiFi router for speed.
There are a lot of external antennas out there but we suggest you get the “Rubber Duck” antenna. The antenna is a short monopole antenna that consists of a springy wire in the shape of a narrow helix that is sealed inside a rubber jacket t protect the antenna from damage.
4. Cut off WiFi Thieves
We are sure that you are aware of WiFi thieves and how they can affect your WiFi connectivity. This step lists on number 4 on our top 10 ways to boost your WiFi. In this day and age, a WiFi connection that is encrypted is the most needed. Even if your neighbors have their own WiFi signal, they’ll still use your WiFi if you are connection is not Password protected. You should use a strong password to protect your WiFi from thieves. A strong password must contain:
- A combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, symbols
- Don’t use passwords that are easy to guess like 123456
- Make sure the password is at least 8 characters long
- Don’t include basic details in your password like your name or name of the pet
5. Buy a WiFi Extender/ Repeater
Even though they are called by different names, WiFi Extender/ Repeater/ Booster is all the same thing. They help you learn how to increase WiFi speed.
WiFi repeaters are simple devices, they take an existing signal and rebroadcast it as a new network for. The new network is just your old network that is extended, all the data you access through the new network also goes through your original network.
WiFi boosters and extenders are quite similar but WiFi boosters amplify the network before rebroadcasting it as a new network. Unlike WiFi extenders, WiFi boosters are stronger devices and they can boost the original weak signals with ease.
A good quality WiFi repeater/ Booster can cost less than $100 and it can easily be installed by you even if you have limited tech knowledge.
6. Switch to a Different Network Channel
One of the top 10 ways to boost WiFi signal is by switching to a different WiFi channel. The latest routers can switch in between multiple WiFi channels. Most countries run on 6 non-overlapping WiFi channels, most users just set their router on the default channel which is either channel 1 or Channel 6.
This causes a kind of WiFi traffic as too much information is being sent and received on the same network. There are tools available online for you to check which channel is free and which channel is most occupied. You need to follow these steps to switch to a different WiFi channel.
- Login to your router as Admin
- Go to settings and search for Wireless settings
- You will find a setting named “Channel”. Chances are that they will be set on Auto
- Select the channel you want to switch to
- Save the new settings and wait for your router to boot up
7. Manage Bandwidth Consuming Applications
Some applications or clients on your device can consume a lot of data and they can make your WiFi network crawl. You have to learn how to increase WiFi speed on PC by managing these applications. Fortunately for you, Routers with the latest technology support services like QoS which allows users to prioritize one internet activity over others. So your online gaming sessions won’t be interrupted by someone who’s streaming content on 4K quality.
To change your routers QoS settings, Follow these steps:
- Login to your router as Admin
- Go to router settings and open Wireless settings
- Search for the QoS settings
- Configure your QoS settings as per your internet needs
- Save the new settings and wait till your WiFi boots up
8. Use Latest WiFi Technology
There are several WiFi technologies and to know how to increase WiFi speed you have to use the latest WiFi technology. IEEE 802.11ac offers incredible downl0ad and upload speed and improved WiFi signal range in comparison to IEEE 802.11b,g.
If you want to take advantage of these latest technologies then you first have to confirm whether your home router, smartphone, and all the internet devices can support the latest WiFi technology.
9. Switch to 5 GHz
The 5 GHz wireless frequency can provide faster data speeds and better connectivity in small distances. If your router allows you to switch between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz then consider switching for a better speed boost.
Steps to Boost WiFi by switching to 5 GHz:
- Login to your router as admin
- Open the wireless settings tab
- Change the 802.11 bands from 2.4 to 5 GHz
- Save settings and restart your router to apply the settings
One of the downfalls of 5 GHz wireless frequency is that it can’t penetrate solid objects as well as 2.4 GHz. If you live in an apartment building then we suggest you stay on the default network frequency.
10. Don’t Forget to Reboot Regularly
The advice that is made fun of is actually pretty good. Switch the device off and turn it on again and it also works for WiFi routers. A simple reboot is good enough for you to improve your speed considerably. A reboot clears the memory of your wireless routers and allows the updates to install. To learn how to increase WiFi speed on PC, you have to reboot your wireless router regularly. It is quite easy to reboot your router as there is a button at the back of your router that allows you to do so.
