When was the internet invented? In the early 1980s. It wasn’t until 1991, however, that it became publicly available.

Nowadays, it’s become part of our life. We use it to learn, play, and communicate with people all around the world.

The best part is that we don’t have to rely on cables and wires either—we can just use WiFi. With that said, it can be finicky sometimes.

Are you having issues with your wireless connection? Want to know how to boost WiFi signal? If so, keep reading—we’ll be going over everything that you need to know about below!

What Is WiFi?

WiFi is the wireless networking technology that allows you to connect your devices to the internet. With it, you don’t have to stay plugged in.

To use it, however, you need a wireless router. Put it simply, it’s a device that spreads the internet signal throughout your home. That way, you can connect to it with your devices (e.g. laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc).

Importance Of Having A Good Wifi Connection

A good WiFi connection can make a huge difference when it comes to productivity. After all, you won’t be able to get much done if the signal is slow or keeps dropping.

Speed is important as well. Let’s face it—who wants to sit and wait for websites to load? You’ll end up spending more time than necessary on your task.

How To Check Your WiFi Speed

There are a number of ways to check your WiFi speed. One of the easiest methods is to use a service such as Speedtest — just follow the instructions on the site and you’ll be able to see just how fast your Internet is.

Aside from that, there are products such as Google Home and Ubiquity that you can use to check your connection. In fact, we use them ourselves to ensure proper WiFi speed for our clients.

8 Tips On How To Boost WiFi Signal

Is your WiFi running slow? Here are a few things that you can do that might help!

1. Move Your Wireless Router

The location of your wireless router matters. As a general rule, you don’t want to put it next to a wall.

Why? The radio waves may not be able to penetrate them completely, which can affect your signal. Try moving your router to a more central location instead.

If possible, keep it away from metal objects such as fridges, microwaves, or stoves.

2. Change the WiFi Channel

Selecting the right WiFi channel can improve your internet performance. Ultimately, the goal is to choose the one that’s the least congested—that way, there will be less radio interference.

Generally speaking, the easiest way to do this is to use a scanner. Basically, they’re tools that’ll help you identify which networks are using which channels. In doing so, you’ll be able to pick the one that’s less crowded.

In terms of how to change the channel, you have to access your router’s web interface. To do this, simply type in your IP address in a web browser.

3. Use a WiFi Extender

A WiFi extender is a device that you can use to extend the range of your wireless router. It does this by repeating the wireless signal and amplifying it; the boosted signal is then transmitted to the area.

Easy to set up, all you have to do is plug it in and link it with your router (refer to the manual for instructions). For the best results, place it half-way between your computer and the wireless router. Avoid obstacles such as walls and metal objects.

4. Switch to 5 GHz

There are two different wireless frequencies that your WiFi can use for its signal—2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. While they both work, the latter is much faster.

Not to mention that it’s also less prone to interference. Given that, you want to opt for 5 GHz whenever you can.

If your router doesn’t support the frequency band, it may be time for an upgrade. The difference in speed will be worth it!

5. Use the Latest WiFi Technologies

Make sure that you’re using the newest wireless technology. This includes your WiFi router and wireless adapter.

You don’t want to rely on something that’s a few years old as it’ll fall back to older, slower standards. You want to be able to take advantage of the latest 802.11ac standard, which supports 1 Gbps.

6. Update Your Router Regularly

It’s important to update your wireless router regularly. After all, it’s the thing that controls your signal strength.

If you don’t update your router, you might miss out on certain upgrades that could enhance your network’s performance. You might also make yourself more susceptible to viruses and malware. For example, hackers might end up stealing your bandwidth.

7. Upgrade Your Router Antenna

Most routers come with small antennas, which may not be enough to give you a strong signal. The good news is, you can easily replace it with a larger one.

For example, you can get a 10-dB antenna. Keep in mind, however, that they’re rather tall. If you don’t mind the size, however, it’s an easy way to boost your home WiFi.

8. Use a WiFi Mesh System

Using a WiFi mesh system can also boost your wireless connection. This works by using two or more mesh WiFi devices or “nodes” to create a mesh WiFi network. The result is fast and reliable internet access to all areas of a building where a standard internet router cannot.

How Mesh Wifi Works

A WiFi mesh system works by having one node connected to your internet router, whilst the others are placed throughout the rest of your home to create a powerful wireless network.

All nodes share the same WiFi name and password, making scaling up your mesh network as easy as adding another node. Even nodes that are the furthest from your router can still deliver a strong signal.

Until recently, mesh WiFi was primarily used in large businesses, but as prices have fallen, they are naturally superseding the existing types of WiFi extenders on the market. This is because, rather than extending the WiFi to certain points in the home, mesh offers fast and reliable “whole home” coverage with no dropouts.

Another benefit of a WiFi mesh system is the fact that you can control user access directly from your phone via an app. This means you can see a list of users and devices currently connected to the router and MeshPoints via your iPhone or Android screen. The app also allows you to pause the Internet on any or all devices by a simple tap of the screen and create user profiles to group family members together based on schedules. Each schedule can be customised to control what times and days users can access the Internet.

If you think a system like mesh WiFi could be ideal for your home setup, then give us a call on 0203 051 7977 or 01273 686 442 – our technicians can install most mesh WiFi systems in less than 1 hour.

Boosting Your WiFi Signal

Hopefully, that answers the question of “how to boost WiFi signal”. As you can see, there are various things that you can do to improve your WiFi speed and performance.

Looking for IT support or a wifi installation service? We offer remote IT support in London and across the UK. Feel free to contact us to book an appointment.