The speed at which we connect depends, of course, on our contract with the operator . But not only that: the device that makes it possible for us to surf the Internet, the dear router, is also responsible for our being able to go at the contracted speed or for having to settle for half. How many of us have 300 MB connected and, for WiFi, we have to 'be content' with half?
To try to improve the connection speed, we are going to tell you 5 simple tricks that you can do today, and thus be able to enjoy a better domestic connection . They are not infallible tricks but you will not lose anything by trying. However, if you think that you are receiving a speed that is excessively lower than what was contracted, contact your operator and request a technician visit your home.
Here are 5 tricks to improve the connection speed of your router.
Find the most suitable place to place your router
Each house is a world. Its structure houses rooms, columns, dead corners, high or low ceilings… and it is essential to know which is the best place to place our router equipment and thus receive the best possible speed. It is true that everything can depend on where you have the rosette installed, although there is nothing, either, that does not fix a very large cable. And if you're worried about having cables on the floor, you can always fix it to the wall with a staple gun.
- Try to place your router away from other appliances such as those found in the kitchen. The waves from these appliances can negatively interfere with your router's signal.
- Do not place your router near a window as the signal is more likely to be lost.
- If our house has a first floor, we must place the router as close to a staircase and always on the lower floor.
- A good option for the signal to get very strong is by placing the router against the wall and at a high point . If it has an antenna, place it perpendicular to the ground.
- Generally, the best place to place your router is in the center of your home . Try to locate it and, if possible, place it there.
Find out if someone connects to your WiFi without your consent
Ah, the friends of others! Many people do not want to pay for the service and try by all means possible to connect to the networks of others. If someone is connecting to your network, it is obvious that they are going to limit the speed of your connection since they are occupying part of the bandwidth. And to know if someone is connected you must do the following:
- Download the Wireless Network Watcher program from this link. You can download it in two different ways, in a zip or in an executable file
- If you have downloaded the .zip file, unzip it and open WNetWatcher.exe
- You will then see all the devices that are connected to your home network. Take a good look at them all and try to remember if they are all yours: pay close attention to televisions with WiFi, as they tend to be forgotten, and any other appliance that we have at home with WiFi connection
- If you discover something strange, immediately change the password. Alternate numbers, uppercase and lowercase, characters and avoid including personal information in the password. To change the password, open the browser and type the following code in the search bar, without quotes: '//192.168.1.1/' . Find the section where you can change the password. They are usually quite intuitive menus, but if in doubt, look for the model of your router on the web. You will surely find out quickly how to change the password.
Find out which channel is the least saturated
The routers contain inside an electromagnetic spectrum analyzer that automatically configures which channel is less saturated, to connect to it and thus have the best possible connection. There are routers that even allow you to see graphically a map with the available channels and a manual mode to be able to connect yourself to the channel you want.
If your router is not modern enough to do these things for you, rest assured that the Google Play Store will come to your aid. The WiFi Analyzer application will do that job, connecting you to the least saturated channel or allowing you to do it for it. In this link you can download and install the application, which is free and has a weight of 1.50 MB.
The graph we see in the previous screenshot shows us which channels are the ones that are most occupied by neighborhood networks. We must take a little patience and find out which channel is the least congested in order to connect to that one. If we are not clear, we can choose the view by channel score: click on the eye icon at the top of the app and choose 'Channel score'. Depending on the app, we should connect to channel 14.
Of course, be careful, because your router may only allow you to connect up to channel 13, due to its technical limitations. To change the channel, enter the access code to your router again and look for a section on 'channel change'. If in doubt, look up the model on the Internet.
A can of soda, the best improvised antenna
Although they seem conspiratorial things, aluminum is a material that can be used to intensify the WiFi signal that reaches us in our house through the router. To do this, we will need a can of regular soda and a little skill in manual work. Open the can in the middle and leave the top as a support, as if it were a candle. The following video shows how to make an effective homemade antenna:
Connect via Ethernet cable
If you can have the option of connecting to the router using the Ethernet cable, your speed will be able to reach the total number of megabytes contracted. If you work at home and you don't mind running a cable from the PC to the router, it may be the best possible option of all, since you will always lose signal if you connect over the wireless network.