How To Boost WiFi Signal

There are many reasons for WiFi Slowing, but in some cases you can improve the performance easily, follow these instructions to boost WiFi Signal / Router and have an optimum network:

1- Find a Suitable Location For Router

Not all places are equally suitable for your router. Avoid placing your router close to metal objects and appliances that propagate electromagnetic waves.

• Metal and polished surfaces are the biggest destroyers of wifi signal, and its presence close to a router can cause the “Signal Reflection” and  badly effect on your overall WiFi performance.
• Most household appliances propagate electromagnetic waves called “environmental-noises”, Including:
  • Microwave oven
  • Cordless phone
  • Fluorescent light-bulbs
  • Circuit breakers
  • Electric razors

Make sure you are placing a WiFi router in as central-top a location in your house or apartment as possible. Since WiFi signal propagates in all directions, It’s better to place your router near the ceiling. Technically, the proper placement is the most important step in how to boost wifi signal.

2- Change The Router Antennas

Most wireless routers come with weak antennas, you can change them with most power full antennas to boost WiFi signal and have a better coverage. Most routers have 2dbi to 4dbi antennas ( the antenna gain is measured in dbi). You can find external antennas up to 8dbi in the market , which makes your coverage 2-3 times greater.

• Theatrically , each 3dbi of antenna gain increase , doubles WiFi coverage.

There are several different types of external WiFi antennas, but the most common one for indoor WiFi routers is“rubber duck” or “ Omni” antenna. You can simply open your existing antenna and replace with the new one.

Before buying an antenna, make sure the connectors types are the same (most common antenna connector is RP-SMA-male or female).

3- Check The WiFi Channel For Interference

Your neighbor’s routers may be interfering with yours and causing the signal to degrade. Wireless routers operate on a number of different channels (3 non-overlapping channels in 2.4Ghz and 8 non-overlapping channels in 5Ghz). You should find least-crowded channel for your router. Read More : Find The Best WiFi Channel For Your Router.

4- Check The Channel-Width

Based on your router and clients WiFi standard, you can set 20Mhz, 40Mhz, 80Mhz and 160Mhz channel width. With the wider channel, you can achieve more bandwidth as well. But consider in mind, you should choose proper channel width based on the interference level.

• If you have a clean environment you can choose wider channel-width.
• If you have a noisy environment , you will limit to choose a narrow channel-width.( In such a situations, the wider channel-width does not boost wifi and may have negative effect).
• Technically, you can choose 20Mhz channel-width in 2.4Ghz band  and 20,40,80,160Mhz channel-width in 5Ghz band.
  

Read More : What is WiFi Channel and Channel-Width.

5- What is Your Router Band?

Generally , we have 2 Bands in WiFi technology, the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands.( Recently, the 6Ghz band has been added to the WiFi standards, But it is not widely used yet. Read More on : WiFi6 Technical Specifications).

• The 2.4Ghz band: According to the laws of physics , has a better coverage and penetration in walls and other structures , but  it doesn’t offer  a reasonable bandwidth.
• The 5Ghz band: Offers better bandwidth , but with the least coverage and penetration level.

Check if your router is a Dual-band / Tri-Band or not. If yes, it’s better to use 5Ghz band more.

6- Check The Signal Level Everywhere

In advanced routers, you are able to set the router’s output power(TX Power) between 17 and 25 dbm ( the wireless output power is measured in dbm) depending on the extent of your home and the existing obstacles and walls.

This value should be adjusted carefully so that you have a RSSI value around -65dbm. RSSI means the received signal level at a certain point.

• RSSI value can be between -30dbm and -85dbm. You can measure the RSSI at a certain location by WiFi Analyzer tools.

Keep in mind that increasing the router’s output power does not necessarily boost wifi overally. Try to choose the right amount for this option based on your home size and avoid unnecessarily increasing it.

7- Control Bandwidth-hungry Clients By QoS

Bandwidth-hungry application or a client to make download and upload huge files or videos, can degrade other users communication’s quality . Modern routers support services like QoS (Quality of Service), which allows you to prioritize certain applications over others. With QoS, you can dedicate a specific amount of overall internet bandwidth to specific service or client.

• For example , you can dedicate 30% of overall internet bandwidth to your online gaming system , to be sure it won’t ever be interrupted by a person watching a high quality video on YouTube or downloading a huge file from the Internet.

See Also : Best QoS supported WiFi Routers

.

8- Update The Router’s Firmware