If you live in a large multistory house or there is no way to centrally position a router, the next best solution -- short of running Cat 6 to multiple rooms -- is powerline network adapters. Powerline network adapters work in most modern constructions by utilizing the existing electrical wiring in the walls.
Plug in an adapter near your router and connect it to your router via Ethernet cable. Plug in the second adapter in the room or area where you want coverage. From there, you can use another Ethernet cable to connect directly into your devices or into the Internet port on a second router. Powerline network extenders work in a similar way, but the second or any additional adapters emit a wireless signal strong enough for at least one small room.
It may sound pretty obvious to some, but plenty of networks are left open and unsecured. Not only is this a potential threat to users of that network, it can also cause dramatic slowdowns, thanks to users who leech off open networks and hog bandwidth by streaming videos or downloading large files. Log in to your router's admin page by navigating to the router's IP address in a Web browser, then using the default credentials to sign in.
This varies by brand, but it's generally very easy to find, often on the bottom of the router itself or in the produt manual. Choose WPA2 as the encryption method and select a passphrase -- something you can easily remember. If you're unsure if there are nearby networks interfering with yours or what sort of coverage you actually need, you can download software that will show you everything you could possibly want to know about or know what to do with the wireless signals in your home.
This software will allow you to see what your home's wireless heat map looks like and allow you see exactly what sort of coverage each room is getting. Equipped with this information, you can then reposition your router, antennas or powerline network adapters to eradicate particularly problematic areas. A problem you may not have previously considered is the frequency your router operates on.
If you simply pulled it out of the box, installed it and never looked back, you probably grazed over the dropdown box that let you choose between 2. If you have a ton of electronics in your home, the 2. A former colleague at Pocketnow, Joe Levi, explains that Bluetooth devices, wireless peripherals and even some microwaves cause a lot of noise in the 2. To cut down on the noise and drop-offs, consider switching your router to 5GHz in the administrator panel.
If the option for both 2. If you live in a crowded neighborhood or in an apartment and share a lot of the same signal space with your neighbors, choosing the right channel can cut down on interference and help speed things up a bit. For starters, channels 1, 6 and 11 are most frequently used in the 2.
If you've switched to 5GHz, you have whole host of channels to choose from. The selection of channels varies by model. You can use an application like Wifi Analyzer on Android or WifiInfoView on Windows to analyze the nearby wireless signals and see which channels are being used the most.
Mac has this functionality built in. It's worth nothing that many newer routers will automatically choose the least crowded channel upon rebooting, so pulling the plug may also switch the channel to a less crowded one.
Think of access points as creating a wireless mesh around your house. They transmit Internet signals to each other to create a wireless network. They are created for large spaces with multiple floors. Speed up the data stream. That invisible wireless connection can have a huge impact on our daily lives—determining how much we get done or how much we can kick back and relax. No one wants dropped video calls, choppy video streaming, or slow file downloads. Update routers, gateways, and devices to the latest Wi-Fi 6 standard.
Find a store. Get directions. Visit Website. Performance varies depending on system configuration. No product or component can be absolutely secure.
Nearly 3X Faster: Latency improvement requires that the For more information, visit intel. The IEEE Skip To Main Content. How to Increase Wi-Fi Speed. Safari Chrome Edge Firefox. How to Increase WiFi Speed Learn how to improve the overall quality of your wireless connections for streaming videos, music, or chatting with your friends. Tweak your router settings for optimal performance. If necessary, install a repeater or range extender to boost the wireless signal of your router.
Here are some additional terms you need to know about Wi-Fi connections: Speed—New Wi-Fi technologies deliver data more quickly than previous generations. A faster connection results in faster Wi-Fi speeds. You want a router that can deliver better Internet speed to more devices and at greater distances. New MHz-capable routers offer both — greater capacity and coverage. Other Tips Looking for even more ways to try to increase your Wi-Fi speed and extend the Internet connection range?
It doesn't matter if you have the best possible wires outside your house—eliminating subpar speeds and Wi-Fi dead zones is largely up to you. To help, we've put together some suggestions on ways to troubleshoot and, hopefully, improve the quality of the Wi-Fi inside and outside your place. Be sure to check our guides for more, including our how-to on securing your home Wi-Fi network , our router buying guide , an explainer on Wi-Fi 6 , and our gear guide for working at home.
Updated August We've added some new routers, updated prices, and added more buying advice to this guide. Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day. If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission.
This helps support our journalism. Learn more. That router in the closet? Not a good idea. Walls, cupboards, even bookshelves can potentially dampen your Wi-Fi signal. Physically moving the router can make a real difference to the speeds you get and how far its wireless transmissions can reach. The perfect spot will depend on your home, but try not to hide your router in a corner or under a cupboard or inside a drawer—the more central and prominent it is, the better.
For more info, read our guide to where to put your router for the best possible home Wi-Fi. You might need to apply some creative cabling to get your router in a better place, but it's going to be worth the effort for the end results. The goal is to get your main devices—consoles, laptops, and so on—as close as possible to your router.
Devices that don't need quite so much bandwidth, like smart thermostats, don't have to be a priority in terms of physical proximity. If you don't have a flat surface near the best spot, you can mount your router halfway up a wall.
If possible, keep it away from other devices that use electromagnetic waves; that includes baby monitors, wireless keyboards, and even microwaves. We sometimes forget: Wires still exist! You don't need Wi-Fi. A wired connection to your router is usually preferable to a wireless one. It's faster and more stable and can't be affected by other devices or large fish tanks.
The downside is that it limits where your devices can be, and it's less convenient overall. Still, for hardware that needs the fastest internet possible—a gaming console, desktop PC, or a streaming box, for example—it's often well worth the effort to run a wire. The router will have a handful of Ethernet ports to spare, so all you need is a cable. To do a really tidy job and avoid having wires trailing across your floor, you'll need to deploy some cable management.
For one or two gadgets, it can be worth the extra setup.
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