Today we all have a home wifi router and a wireless connection that allows computers, smartphones and smart devices to connect to the internet.
Both in the case of fiber connections, and for ADSL and especially for those with a slow connection, it is always possible to increase and improve the speed of the wifi connection by making small configuration changes or by replacing some devices and devices.
In this article we will not see special and magic tricks, but the simple and correct way to set up the home wifi internet connection to exploit it to its full potential and to solve existing performance problems, which perhaps we had never noticed.
For example, even having the fastest internet connection in the world, it may be that the pc connected via wifi antenna is too far from the router and receives a signal so poor as to bring about huge slowdowns, or that the router is old and needs to be replaced.
Other more technical measures may concern the same settings of the router, which by default are never optimized for the current situation.
Let's see how we improve the home wifi to increase the speed of the internet connection trying to limit as much as possible problems that can cause slowdowns.
READ ALSO: Improve the wifi signal and avoid frequent disconnections
1) Buy an 802.11ac router
If you have an old modem router or one of the poor ones provided on loan from Telecom, Fastweb or other operators, it is worth buying a new one to increase and improve the speed of the wifi in a very sensitive way, especially if you choose the latest technology, that of 802.11ac routers.
A modern router offers more sensitive and visible improvements in internet connection speed and also in the signal range compared to a very old 802.11n router.
The increase in performance could transform the slow internet line into a fast line, discovering that it can download at download speeds, for example, from 40 or 50 Mbps.
We saw, in another updated article, the best WiFi Routers to buy today, even for less than 50 Euros.
2) Replace the network card of the old laptop or PC with a new one
If we have a PC a few years ago, portable or fixed, it is possible to improve the data transmission speed with the router by replacing the network card with a modern 802.11ac.
Without doing complicated jobs, you can buy an 802.11ac 5 GHz network adapter.
In another article, the best 5 GHz WiFi adapters for PC, for faster connections .
3) Wifi repeater
If the house or office is large or with thick walls that block the arrival of full signal in all rooms, it is better to buy a wifi repeater.
The repeater is a stupid device to be connected to the electric current that must be placed halfway, far from the router but so that it receives the signal well, to bounce the signal at full power.
We talked about repeaters among the ways of extending wireless reception and amplifying wifi.
As explained in another article, instead of the repeater (more convenient and cheaper) you can also connect a second router to increase the wifi signal.
4) Restart the router every now and then
Restarting the router is only good for network and internet speed because it updates all the router settings, clears the cache and clears all empty packets.
There are those who recommend restarting the router once a day, but even once a week can be fine.
In another article, the guide to restart the router or reset, from the PC, even automatically .
5) Enhance the antenna and signal range
You can increase the wi-fi signal strength by about 1.5 times with a very special trick, putting a can cut along the vertical around the antenna of the router.
In this video there is the practical guide to make the cut of the can and to position it.
Keep in mind that the signal, in this way, is directed on the empty side and muffled on the other side so this solution is good if the router is kept on one side of the house.
If you have a modern router with three antennas, you can try the trick on one of the antennas, leaving the other ones free to expand the signal 360 degrees.
Alternatively, you can always buy an enhanced antenna on Amazon by replacing the basic one.
6) Find the best location for the router
Depending on the shape of the rooms, walls and doors, a router can spread the signal for the wifi connection more or less uniformly in a room or room.
Ideally it should be placed in a central position at home, to make sure that the signal spreads in every room.
Of course, the router should never be placed in cabinets or drawers and there is no need to hide it behind furniture either.
Idea
In another article, the guide to find the best location for the router and to have more wifi signal coverage.
7) Change the wifi transmission channel
This is probably the most important point of this article and the main problem factor in a wireless network.
The big problem is that normal 2.4 GHz routers transmit only on 3 non-overlapping channels, among the 14 available.
This means that if you live in an area crowded with wifi networks, everyone will use these three channels and the signal will be full of interference.
The only way to solve this problem is a router with a 5 GHz band, which however has the defect of having a shorter signal.
All the talk about what wifi channel means and how to improve speed avoiding slowdowns has been explained in two different articles on:
- Connect to the wireless network of the wifi network with the strongest signal
- How to avoid interference on wifi from neighbors' networks
8) Protect Wifi from external intrusions
Sometimes the reason for a slow internet connection is in the simple fact that someone else is using it without our knowledge, scrounging the internet.
It is therefore important to check if someone steals the wifi internet connection, to protect the wireless network as explained in this and other articles on:
- Find out who is connected to your wifi network and connects wirelessly
- Security configurations on the wifi router.
The basics of wifi network security are:
- Keep the router firmware updated
- Use WPA2 encryption for passwords of wifi networks
- Change login and password to access the router (not "admin" / "admin" or "admin" / "password")
- Disable the WPS function unless you can configure the router to use only the button method.
- Use a DNS service other than the default
- Disable all the "remote management" services offered by the router
9) Avoid interference from other equipment
It is good to know that some appliances such as microwave ovens or cordless telephones interfere with the wifi signal.
It is therefore advisable to keep them away from the router.
10) Avoid using band sucking programs
Unless you really want to, internet speed can drop dramatically if you use programs that download or share files such as, for example, BitTorrent or Emule clients.
The same can be said for streaming services such as Netflix, which obviously can decrease the speed of downloads from the internet to the PC.
Conclusion
To conclude, I refer to the general guide that explains what slows down the network speed (wifi or wired) and the internet connection, explaining all the factors that can cause a drop in network performance.
Both in the case of fiber connections, and for ADSL and especially for those with a slow connection, it is always possible to increase and improve the speed of the wifi connection by making small configuration changes or by replacing some devices and devices.
In this article we will not see special and magic tricks, but the simple and correct way to set up the home wifi internet connection to exploit it to its full potential and to solve existing performance problems, which perhaps we had never noticed.
For example, even having the fastest internet connection in the world, it may be that the pc connected via wifi antenna is too far from the router and receives a signal so poor as to bring about huge slowdowns, or that the router is old and needs to be replaced.
Other more technical measures may concern the same settings of the router, which by default are never optimized for the current situation.
Let's see how we improve the home wifi to increase the speed of the internet connection trying to limit as much as possible problems that can cause slowdowns.
READ ALSO: Improve the wifi signal and avoid frequent disconnections
1) Buy an 802.11ac router
If you have an old modem router or one of the poor ones provided on loan from Telecom, Fastweb or other operators, it is worth buying a new one to increase and improve the speed of the wifi in a very sensitive way, especially if you choose the latest technology, that of 802.11ac routers.
A modern router offers more sensitive and visible improvements in internet connection speed and also in the signal range compared to a very old 802.11n router.
The increase in performance could transform the slow internet line into a fast line, discovering that it can download at download speeds, for example, from 40 or 50 Mbps.
We saw, in another updated article, the best WiFi Routers to buy today, even for less than 50 Euros.
2) Replace the network card of the old laptop or PC with a new one
If we have a PC a few years ago, portable or fixed, it is possible to improve the data transmission speed with the router by replacing the network card with a modern 802.11ac.
Without doing complicated jobs, you can buy an 802.11ac 5 GHz network adapter.
In another article, the best 5 GHz WiFi adapters for PC, for faster connections .
3) Wifi repeater
If the house or office is large or with thick walls that block the arrival of full signal in all rooms, it is better to buy a wifi repeater.
The repeater is a stupid device to be connected to the electric current that must be placed halfway, far from the router but so that it receives the signal well, to bounce the signal at full power.
We talked about repeaters among the ways of extending wireless reception and amplifying wifi.
As explained in another article, instead of the repeater (more convenient and cheaper) you can also connect a second router to increase the wifi signal.
4) Restart the router every now and then
Restarting the router is only good for network and internet speed because it updates all the router settings, clears the cache and clears all empty packets.
There are those who recommend restarting the router once a day, but even once a week can be fine.
In another article, the guide to restart the router or reset, from the PC, even automatically .
5) Enhance the antenna and signal range
You can increase the wi-fi signal strength by about 1.5 times with a very special trick, putting a can cut along the vertical around the antenna of the router.
In this video there is the practical guide to make the cut of the can and to position it.
Keep in mind that the signal, in this way, is directed on the empty side and muffled on the other side so this solution is good if the router is kept on one side of the house.
If you have a modern router with three antennas, you can try the trick on one of the antennas, leaving the other ones free to expand the signal 360 degrees.
Alternatively, you can always buy an enhanced antenna on Amazon by replacing the basic one.
6) Find the best location for the router
Depending on the shape of the rooms, walls and doors, a router can spread the signal for the wifi connection more or less uniformly in a room or room.
Ideally it should be placed in a central position at home, to make sure that the signal spreads in every room.
Of course, the router should never be placed in cabinets or drawers and there is no need to hide it behind furniture either.
Idea
In another article, the guide to find the best location for the router and to have more wifi signal coverage.
7) Change the wifi transmission channel
This is probably the most important point of this article and the main problem factor in a wireless network.
The big problem is that normal 2.4 GHz routers transmit only on 3 non-overlapping channels, among the 14 available.
This means that if you live in an area crowded with wifi networks, everyone will use these three channels and the signal will be full of interference.
The only way to solve this problem is a router with a 5 GHz band, which however has the defect of having a shorter signal.
All the talk about what wifi channel means and how to improve speed avoiding slowdowns has been explained in two different articles on:
- Connect to the wireless network of the wifi network with the strongest signal
- How to avoid interference on wifi from neighbors' networks
8) Protect Wifi from external intrusions
Sometimes the reason for a slow internet connection is in the simple fact that someone else is using it without our knowledge, scrounging the internet.
It is therefore important to check if someone steals the wifi internet connection, to protect the wireless network as explained in this and other articles on:
- Find out who is connected to your wifi network and connects wirelessly
- Security configurations on the wifi router.
The basics of wifi network security are:
- Keep the router firmware updated
- Use WPA2 encryption for passwords of wifi networks
- Change login and password to access the router (not "admin" / "admin" or "admin" / "password")
- Disable the WPS function unless you can configure the router to use only the button method.
- Use a DNS service other than the default
- Disable all the "remote management" services offered by the router
9) Avoid interference from other equipment
It is good to know that some appliances such as microwave ovens or cordless telephones interfere with the wifi signal.
It is therefore advisable to keep them away from the router.
10) Avoid using band sucking programs
Unless you really want to, internet speed can drop dramatically if you use programs that download or share files such as, for example, BitTorrent or Emule clients.
The same can be said for streaming services such as Netflix, which obviously can decrease the speed of downloads from the internet to the PC.
Conclusion
To conclude, I refer to the general guide that explains what slows down the network speed (wifi or wired) and the internet connection, explaining all the factors that can cause a drop in network performance.
