The wireless connection between devices can be disturbed by various factors that can cause slowdowns in data transfers, downloads and internet browsing . We have already seen what are the main causes of a slow wifi connection, talking about problems such as:
- Network interference
- The location of the router
- A program that occupies network bandwidth
- Possible congestion on the network during peak hours
While already in another article I had explained how to speed up the router and optimize the Wifi network, in this we see some free programs and tools that can be used to optimize the wireless and understand the cause of any slowdowns on the Wi-Fi network .
In this way it becomes easier to understand if there is good wifi coverage, if the channel has no interference, if there are other devices that are transmitting data and taking up bandwidth or creating interference and if the settings of the wireless router are correctly configured.
READ ALSO: Wifi speed test: how to do it right
1) Vistumbler (or inSSIDer)
inSSIDer and Vistumbler are two similar programs that allow you to analyze the wireless realms in order to trace the intensity of the signal over time. These are Wi-Fi optimization and troubleshooting software to make it easy for anyone to find out if there is interference in the channels and the causes of an intermittent or disturbed signal. inSSIDer is the best program of its kind, although not free, Vistumbler is free and also offers support for detecting hotspots on the map.
NOTE: As already explained in a guide on how to connect to the wireless channel of the wifi network with the most powerful signal, you must be careful to set, in the router configurations, the channel with the least traffic for 2.4 GHz networks (for 5 GHz networks, reverses, there is no problem of interference).
Programs like Vistumbler help to detect the most free wifi channel so you can know for sure which one to use.
2) Acrylic WiFi Home
This free program is a complete wifi analyzer, very rich in information. You can therefore discover all WiFi access points detected by the computer (SSID), devices connected to networks, information on security mechanisms, signal level monitoring (RSSI), passwords and predefined WPS keys, channels, Mac addresses and other useful data.
3) Fing
Fing is one of the best programs to do network analysis and find connection problems, to be used in case of intermittent network, poor signal or even if there is no internet connection even if everything seems correctly configured.
Fing is also helpful in figuring out if someone is stealing our wifi connection
4) HeathMapper
To check the signal coverage in every room, especially for offices, you can use a program such as HeathMapper that allows you to create a wifi network map to know where it takes the signal best. It is a job to be done with a certain patience, which however provides incontrovertible and precise results, going to find all the points without connection or where the signal is poor.
5) Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector
QWuesto is another important and powerful program for monitoring Wi-Fi networks and managing the Wi-Fi operation of a computer.
We talked about this program in several articles of this blog because it can be used for different purposes including:
- Improve the wifi signal and avoid frequent disconnections
- Know all about the WiFi networks around us
6) Wlan Optimizer
This is a tool for Windows PC different from the others, which aims to optimize the wireless connection by turning off the search service for new networks.
Since the continuous scan of the computer's network card can slow down the already stable connection and create lag or delays, it is convenient, in the case of a desktop PC that is kept at home and that always uses the same wifi network, to turn off that service permanent through this little tool.
7) TCPOptimizer
I have dedicated a specific guide to this program because it is one of the best to optimize the ADSL internet connection and the TCP / IP network by modifying some internal Windows parameters.
This type of program is not specific to wireless networks, but it also works for wired networks.
8) QoS (Quality of Service)
This is not a program to download, but a function to be activated on the router.
Activating QOS to enhance the internet, as written in another guide article, means giving priority to the traffic of an application over the others and therefore optimizing the network to watch movies or to play or for other special programs.
9) TMeter
This type of program is perhaps the only free one among those that allow to limit the internet traffic of the processes and the network bandwidth for the programs
10) DNSJumper
With DNSJumper you can automatically configure the fastest DNS servers available, in order to optimize the internet connection to the websites that will respond faster.
READ ALSO: Solve slow internet connection problems
