The need for fast internet connection is more pressing than ever these days. With everyone’s daily life changing and conditions such as remote education and work becoming the norm, a slow connection can cause a domino effect of problems.
Often the cause of slow internet is due to incorrect router settings or provider error. However there are also enemies of WiFi that are within the home which we often ignore. See below who these are and how to deal with them:
- Metals
Metal is a known conductor that absorbs electricity. If you have placed your router on a metal shelf or furniture, the electromagnetic waves released by the WiFi are repelled. The solution then is to place the router away from metal surfaces.
- The walls
It may not be just a figure of speech that your WiFi hits a wall. Materials such as marble, cement, building materials, plaster and brick interfere with your connection. What you need to do is to place the router on an open surface of the house away from the wall.
- The mirrors
This is something you may not be able to imagine. However if you have placed your router in front of a mirror, it reflects it’s signal. One could say it acts like a shield, making the signal unstable and weak.
- Electrical Appliances
Household electrical appliances like the refrigerator or the washing machine which have water pipes can retain part of the energy from the wireless waves. In addition, the microwave oven has a spectrum of frequencies similar to the one used by WiFi. So if your router is in the kitchen, make sure it is higher than the microwave oven.
- Christmas tree lights
Have you noticed that as soon as you decorate your Christmas tree the WiFi signal is weaker? The lights of the tree have sparkling chips that create a magnetic field which in turn interacts with the electric waves that the router emits. So you’ll have to choose: either the router or the tree in the living room! - Baby Intercom
The intercoms devices used by new parents create 2.4 GHz interference, like WiFi. In case two devices transmit the same frequency, instead of transmitting waves they use air to send their data. Although baby monitors usually require connection to a network to work, it would be good not to place them too close to the router.
More smart Tips for better signal:
-Pick a good location to place the router away from obstacles and metallic surfaces.
-Update your router and invest in a more powerful antenna
-Choose a strong password with complex combination of characters that cannot be easily decrypted.
– Invest in a WiFi extender for a strong signal in every room
-As cliche as it sounds, reboot your router. This way you will erase the data in its memory and it will install new updates.
