Hacks

10 Simple Ways to Boost Your Wifi Signal at Home So You Can Netflix & Chill in Peace

2023-05-04 , 1:07 pm

Last Updated on 2023-05-09 , 11:49 am

Does the TV in your room lose connection all the time?

Or, maybe, when you’re in an important meeting in your room, the video suddenly froze and your laptop gave that dreaded “No connection to the internet” message?

Well, if you are part of the group mentioned above, fret not, because you’re not alone.

Here are 10 solutions you can try to resolve the Wifi connectivity issue instead of waiting 30 minutes for your call to the internet provider go through.

1. Find the Right Channel

Your neighbours’ router signals might be obstructing yours, causing your Wifi to be slower. Wireless routers can use different channels so you have to make sure that yours is on a little-used one. Use Wi-Fi Stumbler or Wi-Fi Analyzer to find the best channel.

2. Keep your Wi-Fi technologies updated

Make sure that you use up-to-date hardware. These are the key terms you need to know: Wireless A, B, and G are slow, and wireless N and AC are the fastest. You will need both the wireless N router and card in your computer if you want maximum speed.

3. Eliminate other signal interferences

Anything that emits waves, such as phones and microwaves, can affect your Wifi signal too. Buying a dual band router can help with this. If you don’t want to buy new appliances, move your router further away from other appliances to minimise interference.

4. Control Bandwidth-Hogging Applications

Make sure that your family members are not using bandwidth-sucking applications such as torrent clients or video-streaming services. To moderate usage, you can use Quality of Service (QoS). It allows you to prioritize certain applications over others so that important applications get the bandwidth they deserve.

5. Strategise Your Router Placement

For the best signals, put your router out in the open and make sure it is not blocked by any obstructions such as shelves or walls. For better signals throughout the entire house, put your router on a higher platform and make sure it is in the centre of your house.

6. Prevent Wi-Fi Theft

Some nasty neighbours might be freeloading on your Wifi. The best thing you can do is to use higher security to lock out thieves. The minimal you should do is to use a WPA password, and for heaven’s sake, don’t set it as your network name or some easily guessable password like 12345.

7. Turn an Old Router Into a Wi-Fi Repeater

If you don’t want to pay for a range extender, you can actually convert an old router into an extender with the DD-WRT firmware.

8. DIY improvement

If your router signal is still weak, try googling the tinfoil DIY hack or the strainer hack. It won’t double your speed but your signal should improve a little, without having to splurge on a new router.

9. Boost Your Router’s Signal with a Bit of Hacking

You can hack your router and install the DD-WRT firmware. This can extend your range but can be risky for your router. However, most routers can handle an increase up to 70 mW without any issues.

10. Regularly reboot your Router with a schedule

Set your router to automatically reboot it every day. You can do this with DD-WRT or just an outlet timer. This saves your time and energy to do it manually.