Most people find it convenient to install Wi-Fi in their homes and offices. A Wi-Fi router with a strong signal can cover almost any room in your home or office that has internet access.
Wi-Fi has become an integral part of our lives. Streaming video, gaming and surfing the web are all done on Wi-Fi devices. Convenience is great, but you need to keep your network safe. Sometimes, when you’re outside your home or office, you’ll find yourself in a place where you can’t get a strong enough signal to send data back and forth. Read on to learn how to extend your Wi-Fi range.
If you’re looking to extend the Wi-Fi range in your home, there are a few things you can do.
1. Relocate your router
Like most people, you place your router in the corner of the house where it may be close to the floor, walls and other obstacles blocking its signal. You can increase its range by repositioning.
Try placing it as close as possible to a window facing the largest Wi-Fi dead spot in your home. If your router is on the first floor and the bedroom is upstairs, try placing it near the window upstairs, not on the first floor. Raising the router off the ground (even if it’s only a few inches) also helps.
2. Upgrade to a better router
If you’ve been using the same router for years, it might be time to upgrade. Newer routers offer faster speeds, better coverage, and additional features than previous models. If you live in a large house and can’t get a strong Wi-Fi signal in every room, you might also want to consider buying a range extender.
3. Get a Mesh Wi-Fi Kit
If you’re running a small business and don’t have IT support to troubleshoot occasional Wi-Fi issues, your best bet is to buy a mesh Wi-Fi kit. These boxes allow you to connect multiple devices and extend your network range.
A mesh Wi-Fi kit consists of a central router that connects to an existing network, and one or more additional routers that connect to a single device. It allows you to expand your network as needed without having to buy new hardware.
4. Use a powerline adapter
If your router is in a basement or garage, you can extend your network range by running an Ethernet cable through walls and floors to wherever you need a signal. This is tedious, time-consuming work, so a power cord adapter is a neater option.
These adapters use existing wires to carry internet signals between each other. Connect one to your router (using a short ethernet cable) and plug it into a wall outlet. Then connect another adapter in another room and plug it into the wall. The two adapters will establish a connection, turning every outlet they plug into an internet port.
5. Buy Wireless Boosters
A Wi-Fi booster takes an existing signal from a nearby router or wireless access point, amplifies it, and rebroadcasts it. It boosts your signal in areas that were previously weak or non-existent. Most boosters use the same 2.4 GHz frequency as standard routers and can connect via Ethernet or wireless.
6. Use 2.4GHz instead of 5GHz Wi-Fi
Wireless routers have two frequency bands: 2.4GHz and 5GHz. Lower frequencies allow longer range but can interfere with other devices such as Bluetooth speakers, cordless phones and microwave ovens. Higher frequencies are faster but have a shorter range. If you have a dual-band router, the 5GHz frequency will appear.
If your current router’s frequency doesn’t provide a stronger signal, you can use another one. Please go to the router’s configuration page and change it to another one. The SSID (network name) will be different for each band, so you’ll need to reset all devices connected to it to the new SSID (and password).
7. Launch Wi-Fi Intruder
Wi-Fi intruders can be the main reason for a slow connection. You need to know how to detect them and kick them off your network.
They may use your Wi-Fi to download illegal content, watch inappropriate videos, or do other things that negatively affect you. If you’re using a public Wi-Fi hotspot, you’re more vulnerable to these guys.
How to detect them?
Check the default gateway number on your PC browser. After logging in with your router’s username and password, you’ll see a list of all the devices connected to the network (if you don’t know what they are, look at their defaults).
If there are devices there that don’t belong to anyone in your home, change the router’s password and reconnect with the new password on each of your devices.
final thoughts
It’s easy to make mistakes when setting up a Wi-Fi network, but most problems have relatively simple solutions. The first step should be to ensure that your wireless router and all wireless devices support the same networking standards.
In addition to this basic step, you can address any range issues by evaluating the location of dead spots in your Wi-Fi signal, the distance between the device and the router, and materials that block the signal’s range. If your existing Wi-Fi signal cannot reach all of your rooms, the solutions listed above will help extend your existing Wi-Fi signal, and they will improve your overall network experience.