Three basic tips for improving your home Wi-Fi network


    When problems with the wireless connection begin, many first of all reboot the router, then rush to call the provider, then start rummaging through the settings ... Quite often, things end up using obscene language and buying a new device.
    However, sometimes, as in my case, the matter is so trite trifles that we simply do not attach importance to them.
    For those who do not want to spend time on digression, I just suggest checking if you have met three simple conditions, the rest can read under my cut my story of “repairing” the home network.

    • Take your router away from a source of powerful pulsed interference, which may be, for example, a nearby open working computer or an uninterruptible power supply.
    • Raise your router one meter and a half from the floor, even if it at the same time spoils the interior a little. Try to play with the orientation of the antennas, and also make sure that there are no metal surfaces that can shield the signal in close proximity to them.
    • Try to power the router from an uninterruptible power supply or, in extreme cases, through a good surge protector. This will greatly reduce the likelihood of its forced reboots and freezes.




    A month after moving to a new apartment, complaints from my wife about the operation of our home Wi-Fi network began to come to me. Every day they intensified and eventually turned into a scandal. It was no longer possible to postpone and had to put aside all matters to rectify the situation.
    It should be noted that I laid a cable in my office, but besides this, we have a large number of endpoints, which are either impossible to connect using a cable, like smartphones, or very inconvenient - a pair of laptops and a candy bar. Until last year, we used an old ASUS and it poorly performed its functions poorly, but its wireless module slowly degraded, the number of connected points in our network grew rapidly, but the number of networks among neighbors, which also did not improve the quality of communication, also increased.
    As a result, we acquired a pixel with a more powerful transmitter and two antennas. To prevent unauthorized access to the wireless network from homegrown hackers, I set up a white list of devices that have the right to connect to the network. After the measures taken, life has become much more fun.
    In less than half a year, a new problem appeared along with the move. At first, the communication speed dropped significantly, then the network began to work jerkily, and the pauses between sessions, especially in the evenings, became longer and longer. Using my magic button to reset the router seemed to help, but not for long.
    To buy a new, even more powerful miracle of technology at the price tag doubled over the last year, we did not smile too much and I decided to try to correct the situation on my own.

    To begin with, I tried conjuring with the settings - I set the maximum priority for WiFi connection. Did not help. After a little thought, I scanned the signal level of the available networks and found the least loaded frequency channel to which I rigged the network. Again close to zero effect. On this, ideas ran out, and the quality of work, if improved, was very slight. It was clear that it was time to take decisive measures - to inspect the son of a teenager in the room, in which the router was installed.
    As a result, it turned out the following - in the month after the initial installation, the router from the computer case (located under the table) migrated to the uninterruptible case, which stood next to the system unit on the floor. The side cover of the computer, which was looking at the router, was dismantled, and the remaining metal parts of the computer case shielded the signal propagation towards our room. I did not like this picture much and despite the fact that I did not really believe in success, I decided to try the last resort.
    Unraveling the coil of wires, he moved the router to the top shelf of the computer table - about one and a half meters above the floor. He turned on his power in the uninterruptible power supply and oriented the antennas to a position close to vertical. This is incredible, but a miracle happened. The signal quality has increased significantly, but the most important thing is that the fading has disappeared and for the second week the network has been working almost flawlessly.

    I hope that if you are faced with a similar situation, then my advice will be useful to you.

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