Find out what you’re doing wrong and why your WiFi isn’t… “up to speed”

The need for a fast internet connection is more pressing these days than ever. With everyone's daily lives changing and arrangements such as remote learning and working from home becoming firmly established, a slow connection can cause a domino effect of problems.

Often the cause of slow internet is incorrect router settings or a fault with your provider. But there are also enemies of WiFi inside your home that we often overlook. Find out what they are below and how to tackle them:

• Metals

Metal is a well-known conductor that absorbs electrical energy. If you have placed your router on a metal shelf or piece of furniture, the electromagnetic waves emitted by WiFi are reflected. The solution is to place your router away from metal surfaces.

• Walls

Saying your WiFi has hit a wall might not just be a figure of speech. Materials such as marble, cement, concrete, plaster and brick interfere with your connection. What you need to do is place your router in an open area of your home away from the wall.

• Mirrors

This might not be something you would expect. But if you have placed your router in front of a mirror, it reflects its signal. You could say it acts as a shield, making the signal unstable and weak.

• Electrical Appliances

Household electrical appliances such as fridges or washing machines that have water pipes can retain some of the energy from wireless waves. Microwave ovens also have a frequency range 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, your WiFi signal gets weaker? Christmas tree lights have flashing chips that create a magnetic field, which in turn interacts with the electrical waves emitted by your router. So you will have to choose: either the router or the tree in the living room!
• Baby monitors

The baby monitors used by new parents create interference at 2,4 GHz, just like WiFi. When two devices transmit on the same frequency, instead of transmitting waves, they use air to send their data. Although baby monitors usually require a network connection to work, it is best not to place them too close to your router.

More smart Tips for a better signal:

-Choose a good location for your router, away from obstacles and metal surfaces.

-Update your router and invest in a more powerful aerial

-Choose a strong password with a complex combination of characters that cannot be easily cracked.

- Invest in a WiFi extender (WiFi extender) for a strong signal in every room

-However much it sounds like a cliché, restart your router. This will clear the data stored in its memory and allow it to install new updates.