More effective ways to improve the quality and intensity of the Wifi signal in the home and connect to the network and the internet without disconnections.
Wireless connections are now the standard for connecting to the internet in many homes and offices, both because they take up the hassle of pulling long cables in the rooms, and because through it becomes possible to connect to the internet with the smartphone, with game consoles, and with modern Smart TVs. The Wi-Fi connection can be obtained at home by connecting a router to the LAN that distributes the signal in the environment or using the Wi-Fi module integrated with most modems supplied by the operators and available on the market.
Unfortunately, it can happen that the connection drops and our devices are disconnected frequently, also due to a too weak signal or high interference with nearby networks.
To enhance the Wi-Fi signal, to accelerate and stabilize data transfer and even to avoid frequent disconnections, in this guide we have collected all the valid suggestions to be able to improve any wireless connection so that you can browse at maximum speed.
READ ALSO: How to increase and improve WIFI speed
How to boost the Wi-Fi signal
If our wireless connection is too slow or does not take in some areas of the home or office, let’s see together what we can do to improve the situation.
First of all, you can read here how to discover the power of the WiFi signal on Windows PC in order to have a comparison.
Change the transmission channel
The routers, by default, are almost all set on the same channel, the number 6. If you live in an urban center full of houses or offices, it may be that the channel is very busy so you have to change it from the router settings and using channel 1, channel 11 or any other free channel.
To change the channel, access the configuration panel of our modem or router (as seen in the guide configure a wifi router) and check the menu Wireless or Wifi until you find the entry for Channel or Channel.
To choose the best channel to use for home or office we can use the program inSSIDer of which I have already spoken in the article Connect to the wireless channel of the wifi network without signal interference. Thanks to this tool it is possible to analyze the signal and find the best channel to transmit from. The routers, by default, are almost all set on the same channel, the number 6. If you live in an urban center full of houses or offices, it may be that the channel is very busy so you have to change it from the router settings by placing the number 1 or the number 11 using InSSider to understand which signal is freer and less used by received wifi.
Still, for Windows, you can use the tool NetSurveyor, an application that discovers existing and receivable Wi-Fi networks in an area and collects information on nearby wireless access points. Through detailed graphs, it shows real-time statistics on signal strength and quality, channel, radio type, activity status, and encryption. However, NetSurveyor is a diagnostic tool for professionals.
With other programs, you can instead draw one signal map to see where it gets better wireless, so as to understand which channel to use and how to better orientate the router.
If we have an Android smartphone, we can install the free WiFiAnalyzer application that analyzes the wireless networks received from the phone, shows its signal strength and also gives indications about the channels, showing the best ones.
Connect a second router
To increase coverage and get a faster connection we can also connect a new router to the home or office modem. So let’s get a router (even old, just support modern Wi-Fi connections), connect it via an Ethernet cable to the main modem and configure it as if it were a separate network.
To learn how to properly configure both devices, we recommend that you read our guide on how increase the wifi signal by connecting the two routers.
If we do not have a second router to be connected in cascade, we advise you to bet on complete and inexpensive models such as the TP-Link TL-WR940N (20 €) or the TP-Link Archer C6 (49 €).
Connect a range extender
If the devices to be connected are too far away, we can use a Wi-Fi range extender to extend the range of the Wi-Fi connection without having to connect a second router.
By connecting these small devices to a home socket and using the WPS button (or turning on the device configurations using an Ethernet cable) we can expand the wireless network, keeping the same password and creating a network with a similar name (the only difference will be in the presence of the suffix EXT, to distinguish it). We can take a look at the operation of these devices in our guide a How the wifi repeater or “Range Extender” works and which one to buy.
If, on the other hand, we are looking for two economical and effective models, we advise you to bet on the TP-Link Repeater WiFi Wireless RE200 (€ 22) or the Netgear EX2700 (€ 24).
Use the Wi-Fi Powerline
For very large houses we can focus on the Powerline, so as to bring the Internet signal through the sockets at home, as already seen in our guide on How Powerline works, secrets and limits. For some Powerline models, the Wi-Fi connection is also available, so we can use it to have a wireless network far from the modem but fast and stable, without having to use range extender or second router.
The cheapest and most effective models to take advantage of this technology are the TP-Link TL-WPA4220 (48 €) and the Netgear PLW1000-100PES (59 €).
Use 5 GHz networks
If our modem or router supports 5 GHz wireless networks, we can use them to navigate quickly and without interference, as well described in our guide to Differences between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi networks; which is better?
To activate it we will only have to enter the modem or router settings, check the presence of the 5GHz network, enable it (perhaps setting a slightly different name than the 2.4 GHz network), choose a robust WPA2 password and finally set how protocol 802.11n or 802.11ac. This network is much faster but the coverage is not exceptional (for a physical limit): we will hardly be able to cover more than two rooms.
If our router does not support 5GHz connections, the best models we can buy are visible in our guide to Best Modem to buy (fiber, dual-band, wireless AC).
Conclusions
By following the suggestions proposed in this guide to the letter, we will be able to enhance the Wi-Fi signal and avoid frequent disconnections with our routers. In some cases we will not have to spend anything to get benefits, in others we will need to have routers, extenders or Powerline to get a real improvement in the connection.
If we still have problems browsing the Internet, we advise you to read our guide to Solutions to wifi and router connection problems. In another guide, we showed you instead What slows down the Wifi network speed and an internet connection, so as to be able to intervene promptly.
READ ALSO: Amplify home Wi-Fi and extend wireless reception