How music streaming may slow internet use

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How to speed up Wi-Fi

Here's how you can speed up slow Wi-Fi, and it doesn't necessarily involve buying any new kit. Our expert tips should boost your Wi-Fi.

Routers have their work cut out these days: every new gadget wants to get its internet connection via Wi-Fi. With smart home kit becoming more popular, including light bulbs, thermostats and security cameras, it’s not uncommon for your internet connection to slow down and put a stop to your Netflix binge session.

You might not have to spend any money to fix this: there are ways to speed up Wi-Fi for free. However, if slow broadband or an old router is the culprit, you might need to consider upgrading your package and hardware. Check out our recommendations for the best routers to buy.

But first, try these tips.

1. Move your router

We’ve seen it countless times: routers chucked underneath sofas or hidden in the corner. Sure, it’s understandable that you don’t want an ugly box ruining your immaculate lounge, but if you want good Wi-Fi you need to give your router some breathing space.

The best place for it is in the middle of your home. For most people that’s impossible because your phone line or cable box sits on a wall at the front of your property. However, if you can, get an telephone extension cable and relocate the router so it’s roughly in the centre and as high off the floor as you can.

This will give it the best chance of delivering strong, fast Wi-Fi to all areas.

2. Banish interference

Wi-Fi can be flaky at the best of times, but you’re making it worse if you put cordless phones, microwaves, baby monitors and Bluetooth devices near it. Even some fairly lights will interfere with the signal and reduce speeds to a sluggish pace not seen since dial-up modems from 1999.

So keep the area around the router clear of other electronic devices, or face the consequences.

3. Use the fastest settings

Routers aren’t the most user-friendly things. You shouldn’t be expected to understand the difference between Wi-Fi standards and frequencies, but only the best routers will automatically give you the fastest-possible speeds without some manual intervention.

Essentially, the vast majority of Wi-Fi devices right now use the 802.11n standard but, confusingly, there are two frequencies it can use. If your router is ‘dual-band’ it can deliver Wi-Fi on 2.4GHz and 5GHz.

Since 2.4GHz is more common, yours and all your neighbours’ gadgets are probably fighting it out to share the available channels.

If your phone, tablet, laptop or other device is capable of connecting on 5GHz, switch to that instead. As long as you’re relatively close to your router, you’ll get a faster more reliable connection.

Some routers broadcast two separate Wi-Fi networks so it’s easy to see which is which, but others (notably BT Home Hubs) combine them – you have to log in to the router to set it to show the two bands.

4. Upgrade the antennae

Some routers have aerials which can be unscrewed. If yours is like this you might be able to buy larger versions which have a higher gain. That means a faster, stronger Wi-Fi signal.

A cheaper method – which also helps if you can’t physically reposition your router – is to make a reflector that sits behind the router and bounces the signal back the other way.

Students at Dartmouth College successfully proved that a simple tin-foil reflector can effectively boost Wi-Fi coverage in the direction of the reflector. It also has a side benefit of limiting coverage behind it, so you don’t end up broadcasting into the road outside, or into your neighbours’ houses.

5. Reboot your router once in a while

It’s the computer expert’s standard reply, but have you tried turning it off and on again? This old trick cures a multitude of problems and you might just find that fast Wi-Fi is restored after a reboot.

One thing a reboot does is to kick every device off the network and force it to reconnect. It’s also worth setting a password that isn’t the default just in case anyone is leeching off your connection. With most modern routers secure out of the box, that’s pretty unlikely, but it’s always worth checking.

6. Upgrade your router

If you have an old model, it could well be time to buy something better. Wi-Fi technology has come a long way in the last few years and there are several options.

One is to replace the router with a newer model which uses 802.11ac (preferably get one that supports MU-MIMO for the best futureproofing).

They don't all look like the mad Asus model above but will improve coverage as well as speed. Unfortunately, not a whole lot of devices apart from high-end phones, laptops and tablets support 802.11ac yet so will end up using the slower 802.11n standard, which all current routers support.

A better option could be to invest in a set of powerline adapters with built-in Wi-Fi, although this is appropriate only if you have a certain corner of your home – even a single room – which is currently a Wi-Fi black spot.

More expensive, but also more effective, is to invest in a mesh Wi-Fi system. These kits contain multiple routers which talk to each other and spread consistently fast Wi-Fi across even the biggest homes.

via techadvisor.co.uk

There's a secret trick to boosting your Wi-Fi speed lurking in your kitchen

Take off your tin-foil hat, you’re going to need it for something else. The outlandish theory that foil improves a signal might not be so bogus after all.

Researchers at Dartmouth College found that the use of aluminium foil does indeed increase the range of Wi-Fi connections and can also improve its security.

The team, led by assistant professor Xia Zhou, placed a 3D-printed reflector made of just plastic and a thin layer of aluminium around a Wi-Fi router. The reflector redirected the wireless signal to the areas in the room that have limited wireless coverage, boosting weak spots.

After testing the reflector in two different rooms, the team found it could increase the strength of coverage by a whopping 6dB, the equivalent of one thick wall or ceiling. In the case of physical security, the reflector was able to decrease signal range in unwanted areas by 10dB, providing many obvious benefits for physical security.

“Not only do we strengthen wireless signals, we make those same signals more secure,” Xia Zhou, assistant professor at Dartmouth College, said in a press briefing.

The reflector improves on previous studies that involved the use of aluminium cans being placed behind Wi-Fi access points to improve the directional connection.

Wi-Fi is notoriously challenging for use indoors because of the frustratingly complex relationship between radio signals and environmental factors such as walls and furniture. Solutions that improve the strength of wireless connections can often break the bank. This research has found that all you actually need is a 3D-printed piece of plastic wrapped in foil that’s been directionally configured for the targeted area.

“With a simple investment of about $35 and specifying coverage requirements, a wireless reflector can be custom-built to outperform antennae that cost thousands of dollars,” said Zhou.

The team’s findings come just weeks after the discovery of the vulnerability in WPA2 Wi-Fi connections. The vulnerability saw users put at risk of being hacked, with experts suggesting that the flaw could be taken advantage of if the hacker was physically close to the target.

The team is now studying reflectors made of different materials and will examine higher-frequency bands, such as visible light and millimetre waves.

Now I’m off to make my own makeshift reflector and fix the office’s slow connection.

via alphr

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Google Wifi Connected Devices

Google Wifi is a new type of home Wi-Fi system that replaces your router for seamless coverage throughout your home.

Traditional routers weren’t designed for all the different ways we use Wi-Fi today. Walls and distance make it difficult for a single router to send a strong signal to every room in your home, resulting in slow Wi-Fi and dead zones.

With Google Wifi, you can place multiple ‘Wifi points’ in different rooms for fast Wi-Fi in every corner of your home. We recommend putting them out in the open, about 1-2 rooms apart.

https://store.google.com/product/google_wifi