We’ve all experienced frustrating situations where the Wi-Fi signal is down, or there are connectivity issues. However, the most embarrassing is the poor wireless signal during an important VoIP video conference for work or a personal video call. Whether at home or work, the loss of connectivity can pose multiple problems, especially now that the work-from-home trend has taken hold across the globe. Hence, today, we will discuss how to extend the Wi-Fi range of your home and business to help you avoid embarrassment and misfortunes because of poor wireless connections.
Our solutions will help you combat this common problem. However, it is always best to get professional help. Hence, consult the professionals at Communications Solutions Inc. in Jacksonville for the best network solutions and all your business telecommunication and cabling needs in Florida.
That being said, let’s start today’s discussion to provide you with some effective wireless connectivity solutions.
How to Extend the Wi-Fi Range of Your Home and Business
Your Wi-Fi signal might be dropping due to different reasons. Some common factors include signal interference, ISP bandwidth throttling, dead zones, use of obsolete network devices, improper device placement/installation, Wi-Fi squatters, cyber attacks, and more.
The following solutions will counter the problems faced due to hardware and placement issues and help you extend the wireless network signals or Wi-Fi range of your home or business network. They will help eliminate the most common factors that cause wireless connectivity problems.
Please Note: We will not discuss the other remaining causal factors because they require a more in-depth understanding of individual problems and analysis from professionals. At the same time, We will cover a broad range of hardware and placement issues that will solve the Wi-Fi range and signal problems most people face.
Correct Placement of Wireless Access Points or Routers to Extend the Wi-Fi Range
It doesn’t take a genius to understand that the farther away from a wireless device’s antennas you are, the lower its signal strength will be. However, most people don’t know that signal loss does not
increase proportionally with distance from the wireless router.
For example, a Wi-Fi router may offer 100 percent signal strength at a distance of one meter, but if you move two meters away, the signal strength may drop to 25 percent and just to 10 percent at 3 meters away.
Hence, the correct placement of wireless access points or routers is so important, no matter for home or office use. It is recommended to place such a device in a central location, preferably away from obstructions like thick walls, metal objects, or other electronic devices.
The wireless signal spreads around the device evenly, so placing it in the corner may not be the best solution. Moreover, if you have multiple floors to cover, you may want to consider placing it near the lower floor ceiling so that the wireless signal may also reach the upper floor.
Of course, if coverage is only required for certain rooms or areas where devices need the signal, you will want to consider placing the wireless access point or router near those rooms or areas.
Consider Wi-Fi Extenders or Repeaters
For relatively larger homes of office floors, you may often find corner areas still out of range despite placing your Wi-Fi router or access point in a central location. A Wi-Fi extender or repeater can be an easy and inexpensive solution for such situations.
They do not require additional network cabling and need a power source and basic configuration to start working. They will easily extend the Wi-Fi range of your existing router or access point to a dead zone or area where the signal does not reach.
You have to place the Wi-Fi extender in the range of the original router or access point. These devices take the existing wireless signal and repeat it to reach the intended dead zone.
You must also note that these devices extend the range of your existing Wi-Fi router or access point and not its bandwidth or capacity. You will likely see a drop in data transmission speeds as more devices connect to the extender or repeater.
Consider Upgrading Your Wi-Fi Devices
When it comes to your Wi-Fi network, data transmission speeds are influenced by many hardware factors, such as the Wi-Fi standard supported by the Wi-Fi device, the age of the device, and the performance of its antennas and processor.
Wi-Fi 5 is the most common Wi-Fi standard, whereas Wi-Fi 6, which can support up to 30 percent faster speeds than Wi-Fi 5, is the latest. Theoretically, in lab settings, Wi-Fi 5 can reach around 3.5 Gbps, and Wi-Fi 6 can reach around 9.6 Gbps.
However, they translate closer to just 1-1.2 Gbps of network speed in the real world.
Moreover, Wi-Fi 6 can support more simultaneous connections than any other Wi-Fi, especially in enterprise campus networks. The use of obsolete hardware is one of the main reasons for poor Wi-Fi connections; this is why if you are running devices older than Wi-Fi 5, it may be time for an upgrade.
Try Dual-Band and Switch to 5GHz to extend the Wi-Fi Range
A typical wireless device supports 2.4GHz signals, which is probably the “band” you are currently using at home or your place of business. However, with dual-band technology becoming more common for Wi-Fi routers and access points, you should try switching to the 5 GHz band instead.
Wi-Fi devices with dual-band technology broadcast both 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz signals simultaneously. These devices can support a greater range of devices and higher signals because they can separate traffic between connected devices with different bandwidths.
If your network gets congested on the 2.4 GHz band, a dual-band Wi-Fi access point can seamlessly switch users to 5 GHz, reducing traffic load and extending the Wi-Fi signals.
However, one thing to note is that 5 GHz offers more channels for devices but at the cost of range, whereas 2.4 GHz has fewer channels but more range. Moreover, 5 GHz cannot penetrate walls as easily as 2.4GHz, and the latter is also more prone to interferences than the former.
The best and most common strategy is using the 2.4GHz band for basic wireless needs and reserving the 5GHz band for high-bandwidth applications.
Conclusion
There you have it; these were some of the most effective hardware and placement solutions that will fix most of your Wi-Fi connectivity and signal issues. They will effectively extend the range and signal quality of your Wi-Fi at home or your place of business.
These are just a few easy solutions, and there are plenty more like Wireless Distribution System (WDS) and Wireless Mesh Networks. However, they are more suitable for businesses and require professionals to implement them correctly.
We highly recommend that you consult the expert professionals at Communications Solutions Inc. in Jacksonville, Florida, for the best wireless network solutions and advanced problem solving regarding your business’s network systems.
If you want to learn more about how to extend the Wi-Fi range of your home and business or about the best network, telecommunications, and cabling solutions in Jacksonville, Florida, Contact Us Today.