Ways to Improve Home WiFi

              Slow Internet, Intermittent WiFi Signal or No Signal at all, Full Signal but still WiFi performance is poor. This is sometimes the most common problem I encounter when troubleshooting WiFi at home. Most home today are now equipped with this kind of technology. More and  more households are willing to have this in their home for fast and easy connection to the Internet. But at times there are lot of problems occur that may be solve in a simplest way and stay away from extra expenses for fixing the trouble by a qualified technician. So here are the Ways for Improving WiFi connectivity in your home...

1. Find the right place  for your router

                       This is the most neglected or take for granted of every WiFi user, many are come to think of placing the router  of what beautiful to their eye, or put the router in the first place that comes  into their mind. That's a big mistake. It is not for decoration purpose. Changing the location of the router can improve the speed and connectivity. So find the right place, make an experiment of how the signal are change in relation to your mobile device when placing in other location. Signal are directly proportional to your connectivity speed, the better the signal the better connectivity speed. Why ? refer to the picture below

Image Source : www.LearnCisco.net

     Your router is at the center, the rings represent the signal, speed and coverage, the image represent a WiFi technology called Wireless B (IEEE 802.11b), this is an old technology compare to this date. But for better understanding I will used that technology. Wireless communications have certain limitations that affect its full capacity to perform well,  like the distance it cover, the interference it experienced (obstruction) and the type of technology itself to operate. Lets say you are the user, and you are in the inner band of the ring (white), inner ring represent the best location for it has the best signal near to the router, your connection speed is at 11 Mb/s. But when you move to the  next band (yellow), you may experience a drop in the signal at the same time the speed is also drop to 5.5 Mb/s. That's how router works and DATA RATES are shifted in relation to signal coverage and speed, when you move further the same drop in signal and speed will happen. This explain also to other Wireless Technology like Wireless A, G and the latest out in the market which  is Wireless N and Wireless AC.

                    Data Rates Comparison

Wireless B - 1, 2, 5.5, 11 Mbps

Wireless G - 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54 Mbps

Wireless N  @ 20Mhz - 7.2, 14.4, 21.7, 28.9, 43.3, 57.8, 65, 72.2 Mbps
                     @ 40Mhz - 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 135. 150 Mbps

You see how the speed (data rate) is shifted, in relation to the location of the user within the area coverage of a WiFi.

2.  Find the right Channel of your router

               Channel ? Yes. Your router has a channel similar to television, radio and other wireless communications. Haven't you notice when listening to the radio and try to shift to other station, you heard a hissss sound until you reach the proper band of the station or sometimes when it is not properly tuned to the band, you heard many voices with the hisssss sounds around. It is called signal interference, it degrades performance of every wireless device. This scenario is also happening to your router when it experience some interference, but you mat not hear hisss sound :)..But you may be able to analyze your router channel and the interference it experienced using inSSIDer, a software capable of analyzing  the channel used by your WiFi (router) and the channel used by neighboring WiFi, so that you have the option to change your channel to avoid interference with other neighboring WiFi. For example your neighbor used channel 6, and you also used channel 6, when your neighbor's WiFi signal reach your home, it represent a possible interference to your WiFi. You can download the software here inSSIDer METAGEEK.

     As you can see at the image, it shows my actual scan regarding my WiFi channel and my WiFi neighboring channel. The blue represents my WiFi, and the other two red represents my neighbor's WiFi. Take note my WiFi is in Channel 6 and other is Channel 1 and 11 respectively. It also shows the signal strength -49, -74, -86, the lower the better.

      A brief explanation about WiFi channels. WiFi uses 2.4 Ghz (Gigahertz) frequency specifically for transmission and reception, it is sometimes referred to as "Unlicensed Band", meaning anyone can used that frequency in their devices without going to apply for licensed in any Government Telecommunication agency. But it's usage are regulated and there are protocols that are follows, like the transmitting power, the number of channels etc..Not all country's have the same regulation with that frequency specially to the number of channels available and the transmitting power. Like for example other country's have 11 channels only, other have 12, 13 and 14.. I'd like to make an emphasis with this because this is important in selecting the proper channel to your router. In 2.4 Ghz channel frequency, the channels that are not interfering with each other are Channel 1, Channel 6 and Channel 11.

Image Source : blogs.aerohive.com

      So when adjusting the channel take consideration that 1, 6 and 11 are the channels that doesn't interfere with each other. Refer to the picture again, Although it shows that the channel use by my neighboring router are 6 and 11 respectively, it  has also represent negligible interfere with mine, because  they are using latest Wireless N router, they occupy much wider channels, ( Channel Bonding - I will cover this in my future post ) refer to the the graph.. So when you found at that your neighbor WiFi is using the same channel with your WiFi, then its time to adjust at the said non-interfering channels.

3.  Take away Interference from other appliances

              Aside from interference brought by neighboring WiFi, your home has possibly other appliances that may cause interference like Microwave oven, Wireless Telephone, Baby Monitor, Bluetooth device and other appliances that uses 2.4 GHz frequency. But how you are going to avoid that interference ? The proper step is to move away from the appliances that causes interference. So the location is very important. Another tip, turn off the bluetooth function of your device whenever you are using WiFi.

4.  Secure your WiFi to prevent unauthorized connection

                                

                                      In my previous post , " Securing WiFi Connections ", I detailed out  the importance of better security when first setting up a Router configuration. Others may have known your password, so they will be able to connect to your WiFi. So this extra connections will also affect your WiFi performance, because with too many users connected, the tendency is the speed may become slower than ever. Maybe they are heavy users which means they are downloading big files, watching videos and playing online RPG games which consumed more bandwidth than you. So take consideration of setting up better security. But sometimes, you cannot control  the usage of a legitimate user in your WiFi, one user maybe streaming to video or downloading movies which are big files, the best way to control the bandwidth usage is through "Quality Of Service" (QoS). In this way you are telling your router which bandwidth usage will be prioritize ahead of other. All routers have this option.

5.  Adjust the router power rating at full power

        

                               Change your router Transmitting power, although there are two options available, one is through your router configuration. See picture below

        Set-up maybe differ to your device, but all routers have the option with this example. Refer to your device documentation. With this option you can give your power to operate at full. But this will need extra power consumption that may affect the cooling process of your device, but if you are in a cold place it's good to adjust at full capacity. But in hot to temperate countries better have a plan to turn off your router when not in use to protect electronic components and prolong the life of your device. Some advance routers have the option to automatically shut off at a certain period when not in use.

              

          The standard transmitting power of most routers are 20dBi. But you can also adjust it to higher, but I've said there is regulation about the usage of 2.4 GHz frequency where at other countries they are not permitting a device to operate more than 20 dBi. But if you wish you can change it using, in my case I use Backtrack. This is an advance procedure.

           
Here is the command.  In terminal type

                       

iw reg get -  this will show the regulatory domain pertaining transmitting power. Then

iw reg set BO - setting the regulatory domain. Before you can change the power you must first change it. Forr example Bolivia permits 30dBi transmission power, the code for Bolivia is BO, you can see that when you type iw reg get. So choose whats the best for you.

 iwconfig wlan0 txpower 30 - setting the wireless device to 30dBi power.

Your done !

6.  Using mix mode will slows down data rate

      What I mean is when setting up the configuration as much as possible do not mix B,G,N..( BGN refers to Wireless B, G, N as I discussed earlier. If all the device in your house is all latest device, may it be a cellphone, laptop or tab, you must configure your router to operate only at highest standard which is Wireless N or AC to force your router to operate at full. Because if your set-up is in mix mode, your router will set aside some bandwidth that will use by other device like Wireless B or G. If you do not have old wireless device change it. Mix mode is design only when, for example you have an old laptop which uses Wireless G WiFi, then you have a router which is Wireless N ( take note Wireless N has backward compatibility with old device using B and G ), when wireless G device tries to connect with Wireless N Router, the G device will be able to connect because of backward compatibility, but the speed is affected. Wireless N Router when at full can operate at 150 Mb/s or more, but when a slower device connect with it, Router N will compensate with the lower device and operate at lower speed. Below is the comparison of max speed of different wireless router.

Image Source : www.audioholics.com

                              Wireless B - 11 Mbps max

                              Wireless G - 54 Mbps max

                              Wireless N - 150 to 300 Mbps max

Slower device may slow down the operation of Wireless N Router. Other uses two routers, one for higher latest device and second router for old slower device. So that's the idea......

7. If you have the resources try to upgrade to the latest available Router in the market.

                          Because routers are not made equal. Better choose quality brand and the latest available in the market. Refer to number 6 Wireless Standard Speed Comparison. Also take note that Routers cover only specific distant. The data represents the distance coverage on " Line of Sight " meaning no interference, distance covered may be affected by some factors like walls, home appliances and furniture.

Wireless B - distance coverage 115 feet ( 35 meters)
Wireless G - 125 feet
Wireless N - 230 feet ( 70 meters)

8. Change your antenna

                  

                   Most routers comes with Omni-Directional antenna meaning they spread signal in all direction. You can also buy a single directional antenna that will boost your signal, but only in one direction, this is ideal if you will put your router against the wall and you don't want to waste half of the signal transmitting through the wall or window. But if you have no resources consider a DIY ( Do It Yourself ) project, see picture.

Image source : news.discovery.com

        or use a small medium size metal strainer and put it in a way like you see in the picture, or try aluminum foil wrap it in any concave plastic sometimes use in covering a dish, then place it also like you see in the picture.The transmitted signal will bounce to where it facing, thus improving signal quality and speed connectivity.

9. Consider the house materials 
that may affect the signal strength

              

     List are some materials that may degrade WiFi signal, this materials will affect your Wifi signal if obstructed, so take consideration when placing your router in a location you may choose.

1. Dry wall
2. Hollow Wood Door
3. Brick Walls
4. Concrete
5. Refrigerator
6. Metal file Cabinet

10.   If your router supports update from the Internet, have it updated.

                          Most Manufacturer have a support page from their website about how to update their product to the latest updated firmware (program) version, So better check your manufacturer's website for possible update. But for advance user you may try a custom firmware called DD-WRT - " a linux base alternative  OpenSource firmware suitable for a wide variety of WLAN routers " ( source : DD-WRT), this is a powerful firmware like you may compare to a high end expensive router when you are successful upgrading to it. Or you can try also Tomato Firmware similar to DD-WRT. It is FREE, but check first if your router brand and model are supported or else you may put your router into risk when force to upgrade when your router is not listed.

             ..... In any technology, using the right tools and the right approach will ensure you are able to identify what maybe the cause of poor device performance. Hope this guide will help you...

If you have something to share more tips about this topic please leave a comment...Thanks !                       

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