Things I wish knew about Wi-Fi (Part 1)

"Faith is like Wi-Fi, it's invisible but it has the power to connect you to what you need". And how do you make your faith strong? By investing in a stronger Wi-Fi router.

When buying a router, you will probably look for an affordable and reliable one which gives you full coverage while enabling you to surf the web, Skype your family and friends, and stream TV or movies. But do you know that by making some small changes your network experience will become more enjoyable.

The placement of your router is very important. Because any obstacle could reduce the Wi-Fi signal strength. To get the best Wi-Fi in every corner of the house, it is important that you place the router in a central location. Consider mounting the router on a wall, because radio waves generally spread out toward the ground. Also putting your router on the second floor if you have one would be a nice choice.

If you want the signal to move upwards, the antenna should have a vertical direction. And if you would like the signal to move sideways, then it is always a better idea to position the antenna horizontally. Internal antennas vary in mobile devices, depending on how you're holding them (in portrait or landscape mode). Keeping a router's antennas perpendicular to each other will ensure a solid connection between your home network and your devices.

A dead zone is simply an area within your house, apartment, office, or any other area that's supposed to be covered by Wi-Fi, but one where you simply can't get a signal in. One of the most common causes of Wi-Fi dead spots is due to the materials your home is built from. Concrete/brick walls and multiple stories contribute to dead zones. You can find the dead zones in your house by any of the Wi-Fi analyzer apps. Just walk around your house and see how the signal fluctuates as you move between different rooms.

If there is any metal or magnetic object close to your router, it causes interference between your router and your connected devices. And this results in obstruction. Besides, metal objects will absorb the signal. So, the devices are not able to catch the Wi-Fi signal accurately and completely. The internet connectivity in your computer slows down considerably, affecting your experience of surfing the internet. One of the worst places to position your router is beside microwave or refrigerators. If possible try to keep the router out of the kitchen.

The next step is to check your router's channel, especially if you using the 2.4GHz frequency. The 2.4GHz band is particularly congested because, aside from other Wi-Fi routers in your vicinity, devices like cordless phones, Bluetooth speakers, microwave ovens and baby monitors occupy this band. This overload causes interference, slowdowns, and unpredictable connectivity. So if you have it, then it's important to make use of the dual band Wi-Fi channels to help speed things up and improve reliability.

Want to know the rest 5 tips? Stay tuned until next week....