The fact of not being able to obtain a good wireless connection in various areas of the home not far from the signal source, i.e. the position of the router or repeater, almost always depends on physical impediments or interference. The consequences of these factors are not only a weak wifi signal, but also an inadequate internet speed or the constant loss of the connection, i.e. the fact that the devices lose the connection for a few seconds and then reconnect intermittently.
In this article we see what a weak wifi in the house depends on and all the factors that can disturb the wireless internet connection on computers, smartphones and other wireless devices.
Before seeing the causes of a weak wifi signal, however, we must be sure that everything is working properly.
First of all, therefore, you need to do an internet speed test with a computer that we already know is working well and that is connected via ethernet cable to the modem router.
We must therefore be sure that the router is intact and works well, because if this was old or with configuration problems, it is very likely that problems with the wifi depend on this.
The connection speed measured by an Ethernet cable attached to the router can be higher than the speed of a wifi connection, but the difference between the wifi connection and the cable connection is above all in the stability of the connection, which never suffers from transmission delay via Ethernet data or intermittence.
Once the internet speed has been measured using an Ethernet cable, it is possible to make comparisons with that of the wifi.
If there is a significant difference in speed even if you place the computer very close to the router and with a full signal, then there is a good chance that the router needs to be changed.
But first, it is better to try to reset the router and restore the factory settings (be careful though that if it is the modem router provided by the internet provider, its technical support may be required for the reconfiguration).
If, on the other hand, there are no large differences in speed when the signal is full, but there is a weak or intermittent wifi signal as soon as you move away from the router or in some areas of the house, these problems depend on the following factors that can disturb the wifi quality or block it .
- Proximity of a microwave oven.
- Portable cordless phones
- Large metal objects, such as the refrigerator, freezer, cupboards, washing machines.
- Metal inside the walls, the floor or the ceiling, as well as any large steel beams.
- Other electronic devices such as TV
- Neighbors who have their router close to ours.
- Presence of cranes close to home or other things that use extended radio signals
- Presence of two or more different wifi networks (it is never convenient to use two routers at home with different networks, one of the two must be configured as a repeater so that the network is only one).
- The positioning of the wireless router.
On the position of the router you have to be very careful, for example you don't have to close it in a closet or drawer to hide it otherwise the signal will be immediately blocked.
The router should ideally be placed in the center of the house, it should be on a high floor and never on the bottom, not near a wall or next to another electronic device.
Sometimes it may even be enough to move the router one meter to make a big difference.
If your router has antennas, they should never point to a wall or floor.
The most common cause of a weak wifi signal is however related to interference disturbances.
In this regard, we have written a guide dedicated to how to avoid interference on wifi from neighbors' networks .
Another thing that can adversely affect the quality of a wireless connection is the protocol used by the wifi.
The most popular today is the Wireless N which should be supported by all newer routers (if it turns out to have a router it does not support 802.11N wireless then it's time to change it).
The problem is that if even one of the devices connected to the router does not support wifi N, everyone else's performance loses quality.
In the case of smartphones there are no problems because they all have support for the N standard, while for the computer it is advisable to check the network card and, if necessary, change it.
A new network card costs very little (10 Euros for a Desktop PC) and can give enormous benefits.
In other articles, we have also seen:
- How to increase / improve the wifi speed
- What slows down the network speed (wifi or wired) and the internet connection
- 10 ways to amplify home Wi-fi and extend wireless reception
