Regular Checkups to Keep Your Wi-Fi Signal Spiffy
January 31st, 2008 (4:00pm) Samuel Dean 15 Comments
If your home Wi-Fi network is like most people’s, you’re probably not getting the very best performance you can out of it. Easy and inexpensive enhancements, such as adding an access point or a simple cycled reboot, can make a world of difference. Also, even small changes within the house, such as the addition of an obstruction to your Wi-Fi signal, can slow things down. In this post, I’ll round up a list of quick checkup tasks you can do on a regular basis to make sure your network is optimized.
Consider adding access points. In response to a long post I did on Wi-Fi a few months ago, many readers said that they use only a router to send their Wi-Fi signal around their home—no access points. Wi-Fi is radio technology, which means your router’s signal decays with distance. Often, adding just one access point (use the same brand as your router) at a cost well under $100, will radically increase the roaming performance you get. This is especially true if you live in a large home.
When problems arise, do a cycled reboot. You know how rebooting your computer is often the solution to niggling problems that arise, especially if you have your computer on all the time? The same is true for Wi-Fi networks. If your Wi-Fi isn’t working up to snuff, do a cycled reboot of every device that it connects with. Turn off your broadband modem, turn off your router, turn off your access points, and turn off connected devices including the computer your router connects to. Then reboot the computer and broadband modem, reboot your router and access points, and reboot connected devices.
Experiment with the placement of your router and access points. It’s best to have your router placed in a central location, and many people find ways to position it at ceiling level to avoid obstructions. In my home, placing my access point at the top of a central staircase greatly improves downstairs performance. Try not to place routers and access points near metal, windows, mirrors, microwave ovens or interference-generating electrical equipment.
Upgrade your antennas. Many router manufacturers sell inexpensive omnidirectional antennas that you can use as replacements for the standard ones. These can make a big performance difference so check with your router maker.
Quantify your performance. You can download good, free software that will give you feedback on your Wi-Fi performance for various configurations. QCheck is an excellent application for this purpose.
Do you have any good Wi-Fi checkup items to add to this list?
15 Comments Post your own comment
Tracey says: January 31st, 2008 6:25pm
Try changing the “channel” setting on your router configuration. Most routers are set to a default of 6, so you could be getting interference with another system nearby. I changed mine to 8 and it made a world of difference.
More detail at this link: http://compnetworking.about.com/od/wifihomenetworking/qt/wifichannel.htm
Steve says: February 1st, 2008 6:22pm
There are only three non-overlapping channels (in the US) for WiFi, 1,6 and 11. As stated in the article Tracey referenced
“Both channels 1 and 11 do not overlap with the default channel 6; use one of these three channels for best results.”
More details at:
http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials/article.php/972261
Keep Your Wi-Fi Going Strong [Networking] · TechBlogger says: February 1st, 2008 6:49pm
[...] to do it. Let’s hear how you keep your home network churning day in and out in the comments. Regular Checkups to Keep Your Wi-Fi Signal Spiffy [Web Worker [...]
Mark Mathson says: February 1st, 2008 8:14pm
Nice list. Another thing I would add is to check the manufacturers web site for the latest firmware updates. Apply them to your router or access point for better performance and fixes!
constance says: February 2nd, 2008 4:00am
this is quite good for blogger mums like me.. sometimes i really have no idea what else to do..lol
neil says: February 3rd, 2008 8:06am
While it’s true that if you only had three networks in your area that spreading them onto 1, 6, and 11 would allow them to not “overlap,” that shouldn’t keep people from using, say, 3 when they have tens of neighbors on each of 1, 6, and 11, as I do.
It’s probably better to overlap a bit with other channels than to be 100% coincident with other transmitters on the same channel.
Digital Handyman/Digital Habitat » Blog Archive » Keep Your Wi-Fi Going Strong [Networking] says: February 3rd, 2008 11:04am
[...] way to do it. Let’s hear how you keep your home network churning day in and out in the comments. Regular Checkups to Keep Your Wi-Fi Signal Spiffy [Web Worker [...]
Williams Blog » Wireless Article says: February 3rd, 2008 3:17pm
[...] article (link here) is a good reminder to remember to maintain your wireless network just as you would do maintenance [...]
Update and improve your wireless networking | ProfessorFalken.com says: February 4th, 2008 5:03am
[...] and Web Worker Daily offer several tips to update and improve your wireless home network. Here’s one: Consider [...]
XtinaS says: February 4th, 2008 4:25pm
Dumb question:
What constitutes interference-generating electrical equipment?
Rodrigo Matias says: February 6th, 2008 1:26pm
I found a DIY project called ‘winsurfer’ in youtube, which is a cheap solution to increase signal strength.
In this link you can find a copy of the project template: http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template2/index.html
See you all ;)
Keeping your Wi-fi signal clear and strong | Tech Elegance says: February 7th, 2008 3:02pm
[...] Post: to improve your wireless home router connection, start with the tips in this post from WebWorkerDail…. When problems arise, do a cycled reboot. You know how rebooting your computer is often the [...]
Nicholas E. Chapel says: February 11th, 2008 10:34am
“There are only three non-overlapping channels (in the US) for WiFi, 1,6 and 11.”
This is technically incorrect. Industry best practice is to use channels 1, 6, and 11, because this maximises the number of non-overlapping channels available for use. In actuality, however, any two channels in the 2.4 GHz ISM band are considered non-overlapping if they are at least five channels apart. Thus channels 1 and 6 are non-overlapping–but so are 2 and 7, 3 and 8, and so on.
While a site survey is beyond the means of most soho users, in order to determine which channels are in use nearby (and therefore which channel would be best for one’s WAP) it would probably be most advisable to run Kismet in order to determine the operating channels and signal strength of nearby APs. Armed with this information, one can better assess the wireless landscape and determine whether there is a non-overlapping channel available, or whether one must make do with a channel that is partially overlapping or at worst more sparsely populated than the rest.
Web Worker Daily » Archive Optimizing File Sharing on Your Home Wi-Fi Network « says: March 24th, 2008 4:00pm
[...] performance on their home Wi-Fi networks, and one of the easiest wireless problems to fix. See my previous post for how to go about placing your gear for best [...]
Keeping your Wi-fi signal clear and strong | Bohemian Revolution says: April 17th, 2008 1:26pm
[...] Post: to improve your wireless home router connection, start with the tips in this post from WebWorkerDail…. When problems arise, do a cycled reboot. You know how rebooting your computer is often the [...]