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Your
home wi-fi network can be a fickle mistress, with connectivity coming
and going seemingly on a whim. But there's no need to shell out
hard-earned cash for a brand new router just because you can't get
online. (Besides, how would you order one?) Instead, try these five free
steps to whip your wireless network into shape.
Center the Signal
Wireless
routers act as omni-directional transceivers, shuttling data between
your devices and the wired modem. As such, routers pump out signal in
all directions at once, like a bubble of connectivity. However, the
effective range of that bubble is not absolute—walls, floors, furniture,
mirrors and metal objects can all cause interference and signal
degradation. For example, placing a router near an exterior wall can cut
its output in half since 50 percent of the signal is being pushed
outside your home. Your neighbors may appreciate it, but your torrents
won't. Instead, position the router in the center-most room of your
house as high up as you can to maximize its effective radius.
Focus, with Beer
You can't
increase the power output (and thus the signal strength) on most
wireless routers, but you can use what you have more efficiently. Some
metals reflect Wi-Fi signals, disrupting the path of a wireless network
using an omni-directional antennas. You can harness that same property
to focus the signal from an omni-directional antenna to aim it toward
your computer or couch. You sacrifice area coverage, but you can boost
the relative signal strength. All it takes is an empty beer can—okay, so
not totally free, but whatever. Buy yourself a beer.
First,
empty the can, then rinse it thoroughly and pull off the tab. Then,
wearing gloves, use a box cutter or metal snips to slice off the bottom
of the can. Next, do the same for the top of the can, but don't remove
it completely—you need to leave a small tab, about an inch or so wide,
attached to the top. Then, opposite the tab, cut the can lengthwise and
carefully pull back both sides. The flayed can should resemble a radar
dish. Turn the can upside-down, slide the mouth of the can over the
router antenna, and secure it to the body of the router using a bit of
tape. If you want to get fussy with it, fold or file down the jagged
metal edges.
Change the Channel
All
wireless routers operate within the confines of the 802.11 standard and
transmit at the 2.4GHz wavelength (though newer 802.11n models can work
on the 5GHz band as well). The problem is so do a lot of other
devices—Bluetooth headsets, cordless phones, baby monitors, microwaves,
and other Wi-Fi networks all crowd the 2.4 GHz band. With all these
devices jockeying for a finite amount of spectrum, the result is often
interference and reduced bandwidth.
So rather
than forcing devices to compete over the full length of the spectrum,
the 2.4GHz band is divided into 13 distinct channels just as radio
stations are. But, like a half-tuned radio, adjacent channels can
"bleed" into neighboring frequencies. To avoid this, you'll want to set
your router to channel 1, 6, or 11 (or 1, 5, 9, or 13 if you live
outside the US). To help everyone get better coverage, coordinate with
your neighbors to make sure their routers are set to another channel.
Moving the router away from other 2.4GHz devices should help as well.
Repeat, Repeat
Even with a
High Life high-gain antenna reflector attached, a single router may not
be powerful enough to cover your entire house. In that case, you'll
need to employ a second router as an access point to extend the
network's range. If you have a spare router handy, you're set. Simply
plug the secondary router into the main router's LAN port and run its
setup utility. Assign the same addressing info—netmask, gateway, and
SSID—to the secondary router as the primary and turn off the secondary's
DHCP. Then, station the access point as far away from the main router
as you can, wherever the Wi-Fi signal is weakest.
Update the Firmware
Perhaps the
easiest way to improve your router's performance is by ensuring that
its firmware and driver are up to date. Check the device manufacturer's
website regularly for these updates to keep your router in peak
operating condition.
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