Six Things That Block Your Wi-Fi, and How to Fix Them

Does your wireless network look slow? A Holocene study aside Epitiro, a UK-based broadband-analysis firm, shows that consumers lose an average of 30 percent of the data pep pill their broadband connection supplies when they use Wi-Fi connections in the home.

Wherefore the slowdown? You've probably heard that some household electronic devices, including microwave ovens, baby monitors, and cordless phones, hamper Wi-Fi performance. To separate fact from fiction, we did some inquiry and consulted an good on the topic: Nandan Kalle, networking business unit manager for router manufacturer Belkin.

1. Overt Enemy First: Your Neighbors' Wi-Fi Networks

"I'd say the biggest generator of interference today for most citizenry is their neighbors' Wi-Fi networks," says Kalle. The trouble is that most existing Wi-Fi equipment operates happening the crowded 2.4GHz band. "There are au fon three nonoverlapping channels. I always name it as a three-lane road that's really, really busy," Kalle adds.

If you use a 2.4GHz router and live in a obtusely populated orbit, your neighbors' Badger State-Fi networks could interfere with yours, hindering the performance and range of your wireless network.

Linksys by Cisco Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router

The solution: Buy a twofold-band router that operates simultaneously at 2.4GHz and 5GHz. While the 2.4GHz band is indispensable for supporting older Wi-Fi devices, 5GHz "is almost like an 11-lane main road that nobody's detected about yet," Kalle says. "At that place's such fewer congestion."

Newer Wisconsin-Fi devices, including tablets such as the Apple iPad and Motorola Xoom, Net-ready TVs with built-in WI-Fi, gaming consoles, and business laptops, are all three-fold-band. "They all play in the 5GHz band. They can take vantage of that pillaged highway, and that's really leaving to supporte," Kalle says.

It's important to get a router that supports simultaneous 2.4GHz and 5GHz, such every bit the $100 Cisco Linksys E2500. Some older dual-band routers allow only one band at a metre; that's a problem if you have older Wi-Fi devices (as most the great unwashe practise), because you'll have to leave alone your router at 2.4GHz. "You won't bugger off whatever gain from the 5GHz mode," says Kalle.

When you're shopping for a new router, look up to for a dual-band, 802.11n MIMO gimmick, which typically has an "N600" pronounce. The "N" refers to 802.11n, an foreign Wi-Fi standard approved in 2009. MIMO (three-fold input, multiple output) technology provides greater range by exploitation multiple antennas to transmit and receive data. And "600" refers to two bands, each transmission at 300 megabits per second.

2. Household Electronics

Is your microwave, cordless telephone set, OR baby monitor sabotaging your Netflix stream? Peradventure.

Most problems with conductor phones and microwaves involve products that use the 2.4GHz stria. Many a baby monitors operate at 900MHz and North Korean won't interfere with Wi-Fi. However, some wireless monitors are 2.4GHz, which can interfere with 802.11g or single-band 802.11n routers.

The solvent: When choosing a wireless mollycoddle monitor, look for a 900MHz model such as the Sony 900MHz BabyCall Greenhouse Monitor ($45). Alternatively, get a Wi-Fi-friendly system much as the WiFi Baby 3G ($279), which connects to your existing wireless network.

Newer conductor telephone set systems like the Panasonic KX-TG6545B ($140) employment DECT 6.0 technology and the 1.9GHz stria, non the 2.4GHz or 5.8GHz bands.

Next: How to adjust your security settings and fix Bluetooth disturbance.

3. Bluetooth Devices

Elderly Bluetooth devices did interfere with Wi-Fi networks–but those days have passed.

"Complete the prehistoric several years, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi manufacturers deliver enforced specific techniques to minimize interference," says Kalle.

The solution: "Most people replace their phones every duad of years, so unless you have a really old phone or Bluetooth twist, it's unlikely that [Bluetooth] volition intervene with Badger State-Fi," says Kalle.

4. Humans

You might callback from skill class that the soma is mostly water, anywhere from 45 percent to 75 percentage depending on your age and fitness level. Irrigate can trammel WI-Fi speeds, too.

"For example, say your room is very crowded and you're having a party. That can actually dampen your Badger State-Fi signal–only that's an extreme pillowcase," says Kalle.

"When we're doing WI-Fi testing in the lab and trying to get very precise results, we ingest to make a point that we're not standing in front of the transmitting aerial, because we'll measurably impact the performance," he adds.

Humidness can affect Wi-Fi speeds too, but not enough for the average drug user to comment.

The result: Relax. Don't worry all but humidity, or those bags of body of water named people. After all, you buns't control the weather, and information technology's unwise to be antisocial scarcely to start major Wi-Fi performance.

5. Security Settings

In some low-end routers, a stronger security setting fire with moderation affect execution. However, that doesn't mean you should turn out security department completely, or downgrade to weaker protection.

In recent years, the WPA (Radio Protected Get at) and WPA2 protocols have displaced the older and less-secure WEP (Wireless Encryption Protocol). Connected cut-rate routers that purpose WEP, upgrading to WPA may impede performance a bit. In contrast, more-robust devices generally suffer computer hardware specifically designed for WPA and WPA2 encryption; as a result, the stronger security measur protocols shouldn't slow down Wi-Fi speeds on high-end routers.

The solution: Kalle stresses the grandness of router encryption. "You always hear about data theft, and information technology's then easy to enable certificate these days," he says. Since today's routers have security enabled out of the box, users don't have to worry about configuring it. But don't disable encryption, even if doing so may hurry up your Wi-Fi a little.

6. Old Microcode

Why rising slope your router's microcode? Advantageously, for performance improvements and on occasion a new feature or deuce.

"Whenever you let a problem, check to see if you have good firmware. Sometimes there are little bugs out there, and the router manufacturer May already accept a fix," says Kalle.

When you buy a original router, information technology's always a good idea to check for the latest firmware as well.

The solution: Keep your microcode up-to-day of the month. With older devices, you'll give to access the router's body interface–typically through a Entanglement web browser–to check for updates. The process is getting easier, though. "Our routers have an application–information technology's almost ilk iTunes–that tells you whenever there's unweathered microcode open," says Kalle. "The user can update by meet pushing a push button."

Although the workings of your router May seem mystic, following these dewy-eyed tips can go a long way toward holding your home radio network in impermanent regularize.

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