How to improve wifi

5 tips to get the most from your home wifi connection

Knowing how to improve your wifi for working from home in these "lock-down" days could be critical. With so many of us working from home trying to manage teams and businesses, the uptake in video/virtual meetings has risen exponentially. But many are struggling with internet lag, freezing video and poor quality audio. Here are some quick, simple tips to improve your video calling:

1. Hardwire direct to your router.

I have Virgin Media where I live and so I am lucky enough to have a reported 200MBpS download speed. I live in a fairly small 3-bed semi, and my temporary home office is probably as far as you can get from my router without going outside. But, with 3 bars of wifi reception showing on my phone, a quick speed test shows I get 15MBps download and 20MBpS upload on my phone. If I had my laptop plugged directly into my router using an ethernet patch lead then I would expect to get the full 200MBps.

2. Get a monopoly on the wifi bandwidth.

When you hardwire to your router you have a dedicated connection that offers you whatever your service provider provides. It does not matter how many other devices are connected. However, when you connect with wifi your bandwidth is shared with every other device on your home wifi network. All those phones, tablets, TVs, PlayStations, doorbells, thermostats… You would be surprised to know how many devices will be on your network.  Those that are streaming video will be particularly hungry for bandwidth. Netflix 4K HDR video requires 25MBpS download speed. HD movies require a lot less at about 5MBps. But using my speed test earlier giving me 15MBps download, if my youngest is watching a movie, my eldest is playing his PS4 online with his mates and daughter is watching some YouTube videos, if I try to video call then I am going to experience lag and poor quality audio. So, if you know you are going to have a video call, and you can’t plug an ethernet lead-in, at least get as many other devices off your home wifi network.

3. Move closer to your router.

If your home network has just your router providing all your internet connections (larger networks may have wireless access points placed around the home to extend the wifi signal) getting closer to the source of your wifi will improve your signal quality and thus your speeds.

4. Remove physical barriers

Open doors. Any physical barrier between you and the source of your wifi will diminish the quality of the signal you are receiving. It’s easy to think the best thing to do when on a video call particularly is to shut yourself in a room so you do not get disturbed. But by shutting the door you are putting a barrier between you and your wifi source. Open the door and the signal will reach your laptop or PC easier with a better quality, stronger signal.

5. Change your frequency

Again, this one needs you to log into your router’s management interface. Most routers are set to 2.4GHz. This provides the widest, furthest reach and deals with obstructions such as walls and doors well. If you have a dual-band router then you also have access to the 5GHz frequency. While not as strong as 2.4GHz it does offer faster speeds and you will probably encounter less interference from other networks because it is not so commonly used. Some routers will allow you to set the SSID (wifi name) and password to be the same as your 2.4GHz so then your device will automatically connect to the best frequency.

Follow these tips to improve wifi for working from home and you will enjoy hours of video chat, lag-free and with crystal clear audio. At least, you should see some improvement.

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