How To Level Up Your Home Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi has been a part of our home furniture for a generation now, yet there are still many misconceptions. Although speeds and connectivity have improved, demands have too, with us now expecting to stream films in 4K downstairs while having work video calls upstairs.

This guide aims to help you upgrade your home Wi-Fi for better speed, coverage and reliability.

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Assessing Your Current Wi-Fi Performance

Diagnosis precedes treatment, so understanding your current Wi-Fi performance is the first step towards improvement. Testing your network speed and coverage will reveal weak spots and areas that need enhancement, which you can do with tools like Speedtest.net.

A Wi-Fi analyzer, though, can help you identify signal strength in different areas of your home. Bluetooth scanners can detect Wi-Fi interference and identify crowded channels to suggest optimal ones, as well as map out where the weak areas of your room are.

Optimize Router Placement

The location of your router significantly affects Wi-Fi coverage, as you may have just learnt from the Bluetooth scanner results. Generally, it’s best to place your router in the middle of the home, elevated position to ensure even distribution of the signal.

Avoid placing the router needlessly behind walls and metal things.

But, you shouldn’t just work off theory alone – A/B test your speeds from different placements are write down the results.

It’s also worth understanding the difference between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands: 2.4 GHz offers broader coverage, ideal for larger spaces, while 5 GHz provides faster speeds but shorter range, suitable for high-speed activities in closer proximity. If you can, use both.

Upgrading Router And Equipment

Upgrading to a modern router can dramatically improve your Wi-Fi experience. Newer routers come with advanced features like Wi-Fi 6, which offers better performance, lower latency, and improved capacity for multiple devices.

You may be able to get a free upgrade if you make some complaints about your current performance to your provider.

Mesh network systems are also beneficial, especially for larger homes, as they use multiple nodes to provide consistent coverage.

Extending Wi-Fi Coverage

If your home has Wi-Fi dead zones, range extenders and powerline adapters can help. Range extenders boost the signal to hard-to-reach areas but can reduce overall speed.

Powerline adapters use electrical wiring to extend the network, offering a stable connection but requiring compatible outlets; you could simply place another router down. Mesh networks provide seamless coverage but are costlier.

Securing Your Network

Securing your Wi-Fi network is important when preventing unauthorized access. Although you can use strong, unique passwords, it may be best to just leave it as-is (if it appears to already be strong).

Update them regularly and enable WPA3 encryption for better security, while also disabling WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) to reduce vulnerability to attacks.

Managing Network Traffic

Efficiently managing network traffic ensures essential devices get the necessary bandwidth. Using the Quality of Service (QoS) settings will prioritize traffic for important applications and devices.

Ultimately, you should identify and manage network hogs that consume excessive bandwidth – only you can decide if certain priorities are a good thing in your home. This can be done through your router’s management interface.

Conclusion

Improving your home Wi-Fi involves assessing current performance and placement, and iterating on it until you find it sufficient. If it’s never quite good enough, you may need to upgrade equipment and extend coverage.