How to increase wifi range

Although this term may not be found in the admin interface. But it is always measured in units such as "dBm". That is, "decibels per meter." For example, in the technical specifications of the transmitter they write – 20 dBm, 30 dBm and so on. Various countries even have laws limiting this maximum value.

Wi-Fi optimization: increase range of your wi-fi router, improve wireless signal strength

How to configure a wi-fi router I have already devoted 2 articles to setting up a wi-fi router: Home wireless network | How to set up a wi-fi router and How to set up a wi-fi router or wi-fi access point. There is also material on optimizing the wireless network – Optimizing and configuring the wi-fi connection, but I think it is necessary to expand this topic. Often, we buy expensive wi-fi routers, hoping for a decent performance, but the quality of the wireless home network still leaves much to be desired. We will need to make some modifications that will help Increase wi-fi network range and signal strength.
The problems of optimizing a wireless network are especially relevant now that most modern devices offer wireless support: smartphones, tablets, TVs and laptops. After all, they can all simultaneously connect to a home wi-fi network, so it must work steadily and quickly. Many older wireless routers are not able to provide an acceptable quality of connection, as their capabilities are limited. This article will tell you about ways and special equipment to ensure confident wi-fi router reception at distances of up to 100 m and above.

The first thing you need to take care of, Choosing the right location for a wi-fi router and other devices on the network. This is an important measure when setting up a wireless network in your home. First, find the best location for your wireless router in your apartment or home and make sure that all clients on the network can receive the signal with confidence, since the effectiveness of any wireless connection will always be at the level of the weakest link in the chain. Don't ignore the possibility of using additional devices, as they can extend the boundaries of the network wirelessly or wired. This is especially true if your apartment (house) has thick walls or you need to to distribute wireless internet on several floors.

Finding the best place to install a wi-fi router

To get a reliable wireless network, you need to find the right installation locations for all components, and choose a channel that is not susceptible to interference.

Selecting a free channel for your wi-fi network. Interference in a wireless network

Extraneous radio signals, the source of which can be the neighbor's router or the radio nanny, is background noise for our wireless network, which it constantly struggles with. Neighbor's wi-fi routers especially often cause problems with the wireless network.

The solution to your neighbor's router problem is simple:

• Select the channel (frequency range) with the least amount of interference using the inSSIDer program.
• Go to the "2.4 GHz Channels" tab to see which channels are occupied by devices.
• In the settings of your wireless router, choose the channel with the least interference.

Caution. If your router and all receiving devices support the 5 GHz band, switch to it and check the quality of your wireless connection.

Note that there is less interference on this frequency, but sometimes you have to put up with a slightly shorter signal range and worse ability to pass through walls. Note right away that this feature is not true for all routers that support the 5GHz frequency.

Router placement: center the router

The best option for creating a reliable wireless network is to connect all devices to the router directly, without intermediaries. To achieve this, place the router in the center (with some tolerance to the geometric center, if possible). This way it will be surrounded by all the clients that will be connected to the router.

Be sure to consider walls, furniture, and other obstacles. In an open space, the signal is practically unaffected, but it is severely weakened by passing through them. Consequently, you need to install the router closer to those devices that are placed behind a wall. To get the greatest wi-fi router signal range, it should stand on an elevated position. By choosing a position that is too low, you will be jamming the signal with various kinds of obstacles.

What is wifi signal strength in reality?

But this is all just theory. And we, practitioners, have a reasonable question – 20 dbm, how many meters? Answered it unequivocally impossible. After all, the reception area is very dependent not only on the signal transmitter itself, but also on many other factors. For example, obstacles or partitions on the way from the source to the receiver. Or the surrounding electromagnetic waves, which can cause interference.

In the settings of the router, we can forcibly reduce or enhance TX Power. The property of reducing the signal power is very useful for those who think that wifi is bad for health. And although many routers have the ability to turn it off on a schedule, the ability to make the wireless signal one or two divisions less also does not hurt, especially if you have a small apartment.

Managing TX Power on the Asus router

On the Asus router, the output power settings are in the Wireless section, in the "Professional" tab, but it's not available in all models. Here, if you scroll to the bottom of the page, you'll see the last item, "TX Power Signal Control." In some Asus routers, the wifi power must be prescribed independently in numbers in video units of mW – a maximum of 200mW.

In others, this is done more clearly in the form of a slider as a percentage of the maximum signal strength

Factors that affect WiFi signal range

There are several popular ways to increase a router's wifi signal to extend the reception area and improve connection quality that you can use on your own in any apartment or private house. And it does not matter what manufacturer the router will be – TP-Link, Asus, D-Link, Zyxel, Keenetic, Tenda, Netgear, Xiaomi, Rostelecom, Beeline, MGTS and so on.

The first category is the elimination of external influences on the radio waves, as well as the use of additional devices.

Place wifi router

Many during the repair in the apartment determine the place of installation of the router somewhere in a special server room, or in the dressing room, or in the electrical switchboard. In a word, out of sight. But the configuration of the apartment layout is often such that the wireless signal from the router does not reach the remote rooms. As a result, the wifi range is not enough to get any kind of acceptable speed on it.

The way out is to use the advice from the FAQ section of Asus – move the router closer to the "geographical" center of the apartment, so that the signal from it in a circle evenly distributed throughout all the rooms. You can hide it somewhere behind a cabinet if you don't like the look of it, as long as there is an outlet for it.

Interference from Household Appliances

You should also avoid placing your router near appliances that emit strong electromagnetic waves. For example, near a microwave oven. The interference created will greatly affect the proper and uniform amplitude of the wifi signal propagation through the rooms.

Wifi Signal Boosting Devices

You can also boost the wireless signal coming from the router with special devices and accessories.

External wi-fi antenna

As a rule, the specifications for each wifi router specifies how much range it is designed for in an open space under ideal conditions. But this data is pure theory, and in reality they are simply unattainable. The easiest way to roughly estimate the signal range is by the characteristics of the antenna that the devices are equipped with. One for transmitting and one for receiving. Antennas can be either concealed, built-in, or external, screwed onto the device itself. The power of an antenna is measured in DBI. The higher it is, the more powerful the antenna is.

Below is a sample unit with the included external antennas.

If you've been paying attention, there are router and adapter models that have multiple antennas – two or even three. Using more than one, you can greatly improve the reception quality of the wifi adapter and increase the distance from the router. That is, a router equipped with one 8 dbi antenna will retransmit weaker than a higher level and more expensive model equipped with 2 or 3 8 dbi antennas.

When choosing a receiver, also look at the "Receiving mode" setting – the higher it is, the better the reception.

However, even this will not be enough if we are talking about a decent distance of up to 100-150, or even 500 meters. To provide the desired radius of wifi signal in this case we will help an external booster antenna, which works directionally in a certain sector.

If you have a router with a fixed antenna, you should pay attention to their location. The point is that the signal is evenly distributed in a circle from the center, which is the foot of the antenna. If it stands vertically, the wifi will spread horizontally. This is how they should be positioned when installing a router in an apartment or single-story house.

How to improve wifi speeds

Depending on the root cause, there are different ways to fix the problem. You can both strengthen the signal coming from your Internet router and get into its parameters and use third-party software.

Choosing the best location for your router

If you're wondering how to increase your wifi speed, the first thing you need to do is position your gadget closer to your web router.

The further away your smartphone is from the network equipment, the weaker the Internet connection becomes. Also, signal strength is affected by walls that become barriers between devices.

Group Policy Editor

To speed up the Internet using the Group Policy Editor, follow these steps:

• Hold down the Windows + R combination.
• Type "gpedit.msc."
• Go to "Computer Configuration", then to "Administrative Templates", then enter "Network". then enter "Network". and finally go to "QoS Packet Scheduler".
• Enable "Limit reserved bandwidth" and set the value to 0%.

Using SG TCP Optimizer

Free SG TCP Optimizer software helps you find the most appropriate parameters for your Internet connection and optimizes it to give you a speed boost afterwards.

The interface is not translated into Russian and may seem overwhelming, but actually using the application is simple enough. You just need to open the program, set the connection speed you want to get, choose your Internet adapter, select "Optimal" at the bottom of the window and apply all the changes by clicking "Apply changes".

Then a window with the old and changed configurations will pop up, where you only need to click on the "OK" button. After that, the only thing left is to reboot the computer.

Configuring the device

Wi-Fi-routers use the 802.11 specification to operate. There are different standards, routers usually work on one of the three:

As you might note, the 802.11n specification has greater signal speed and range. But not all devices can work with it, older devices may simply be left without Internet access.

As long as 802.11b and 802.11g are not deactivated, the presence of a device that only supports these standards puts the entire network in b/g mode, which has a negative impact on speed. In the router's settings, using a special Wi-Fi client, you must select wireless connectivity with 802.11n only.

Wi-Fi channel .

In apartment buildings, almost all residents have their own router. Since they operate on the same frequencies, the signals overlap each other. The network is overloaded, reducing the speed and quality of the connection. In Russia, routers support 13 frequency channels – from 2412 MHz to 2472 MHz.

Usually the router automatically detects the least busy channel and switches to it. If there is no such function, you can use special software to track the available channels and switch to them yourself. The freest band is 5 GHz, but not all devices are compatible with it.

However, provided that all equipment is connected to a Wi-Fi network with this frequency, you can switch to it. Then the speed will increase noticeably. You can determine your channel load using these apps: WiFi Analyzer, WiFi Analyzer (open source), Network Analyzer, Network Cell Info Lite.

Changing power

Signal strength is adjustable in the router's settings. Standard power varies from 0% to 100%, with most routers set at 75% by default. There are devices that can raise the power above the standard level. These functions are in the wireless mode settings.

It is worth noting that with a high signal level the receiving device may simply not work. Too high power can overload the network, and the quality of work will only deteriorate. A value set to 100% will not achieve a stable connection near the router itself due to interference.

Other common methods

New router

A simple yet effective way to increase your Wi-Fi range is to purchase a new router. The Internet is filled with instructions on how to make routers or amplifiers for them with your own hands, but in practice such devices do not do their job well.

Officially registered routers also have power limitations, but in home use it will not play a big role. The speeds promised by the manufacturer are usually far from real. When choosing, it is worth relying on the characteristics mentioned earlier:

• Frequency range. Routers that work only on 2.4 GHz usually cost less. But their speed is also lower (even the claimed speed), in addition, this range is heavily loaded, the signal may not pass at all. The advantage of this frequency is that it is supported by almost all devices. The 5 GHz band has high speed and low congestion, but not all devices are compatible with it. The optimal solution would be to buy a router that simultaneously works in two bands.
• Connection standard. 802.11n wins over its predecessors, but data can only be transmitted to one device, the speed is not shared between users. When buying a new router, it is possible to choose a device with a higher standard. 802.11ac supports multithreading, which avoids loss of speed. The best option is 802.11ax or WiFi 6. It has the highest speed, works with multiple devices, and supports multiple bands. If your home equipment is not compatible with this router, it can always be converted to an earlier standard.

• Not all devices are comfortable working with a wireless connection. If your laptop or computer needs Internet access, a router with more LAN ports or even SFP ports is a good choice. The latter are used for high-speed connection via fiber optic line.
• The situation in the world is such that restrictions on the Internet are becoming more and more. To bypass blockages, you need a VPN. Therefore, when choosing a router, you should pay attention to the availability of VPN support and the list of available protocols.
• Usually the router is connected to the provider's network with a cable. But if there is no wired connection, there is still a way out. There are routers with access to the Internet via 3G or 4G, depending on the coverage area. Also, a router with the ability to connect a USB modem can be a replacement for the cable connection, then you will need to buy the modem itself.

Read More: