How to check the WiFi signal strength?
WiFi is a reliable source of Internet access and is recommended for an uninterrupted connection with good speed. However, sometimes you may experience slow speeds and pages that are slow to load in your browser.
Why can download and upload speeds vary in your home?
Download and upload speeds can be slow or fast at different times and places in your home. This means that your WiFi signal strength is not the same throughout your home and will provide different speeds in different locations. To find the best spot with a good connection, you need to check the signal strength. Or simply, you may want to know what your WiFi signal strength is by chance; this is quite easy.
Checking WiFi signal strength on mobile devices and laptops
For devices such as laptops and smartphones, there are always signal bars that show the strength of the WiFi connection you are connected to. The lower the number of these bars, the weaker the signal. You can walk around your house while connected to your WiFi and see how the bars decrease as you move away from the router.
This is just a casual method of checking signal strength and does not provide accurate information in numbers. A more reliable process to check your WiFi signal strength is to use apps designed for this purpose.
Applications to measure WiFi signal strength
Applications such as WiFi Analyzer can help you get data on the strength of your WiFi signal. The unit used to measure WiFi signal strength is dBm (decibels relative to a milliwatt) and ranges from -30 to -90 on the scale.
The -30 on the scale indicates that the signal strength is perfect and the best possible, which is only possible when you are right next to the network source. On the other hand, -90 indicates that the WiFi signal strength is the weakest possible and you may not even be able to connect at this stage.
Intermediate values of -50 and -60 are good enough to work with and anything higher than these will cause you to feel sluggish when using WiFi.
Improving WiFi signal strength
Once you have identified the areas of your home with low WiFi signal strength, you can take steps to improve the connection. Here are some useful tips for improving WiFi signal strength:
1. Change the location of the router
The position of the router plays a crucial role in the distribution of the WiFi signal. Try to place the router in a more central location in your home, away from walls, metal objects and other electronic devices that may interfere with the signal.
2. Upgrade the router’s antenna
If your router has external antennas, you can consider upgrading to higher gain antennas to improve signal coverage. You can also orient the antennas in different directions to maximize coverage in specific areas of your home.
3. Using WiFi signal repeaters or extenders
WiFi signal repeaters or extenders can help you extend the coverage of your wireless network. These devices pick up the signal from your router and retransmit it, improving signal strength in areas with poor coverage.
4. Update the router’s firmware
Router manufacturers often release firmware updates to improve performance and fix security issues. Be sure to keep your router’s firmware up to date to get the best possible performance.
5. Change the WiFi channel
Sometimes, congestion on the WiFi channel can affect signal strength. You can use applications such as WiFi Analyzer to identify the least congested channels and switch to one of them to improve the quality of the connection.
By following these tips, you can improve the WiFi signal strength in your home and enjoy a faster and more stable Internet connection.