How to increase wifi range

How to increase WiFi range: router, antenna, repeater

Some areas, even some rooms in your home, may not receive a good WiFi connection from your router. Continue reading to discover how to solve this issue by increasing the range of your WiFi.

Free Solutions

You don’t necessarily have to spend money to solve a problem of faulty WiFi signal. See below for some free solutions.

Check your WiFi’s current range

Before getting started, you should check your WiFi’s current range. You can do this by using programs such as SpeedCheck or Network Signal Speed Booster.

Positioning advice

First make sure that your WiFi router is correctly placed in your home. Correctly placement of your router can make or break your experience.

Be sure to place your router in the center of your apartment on a surface that is neither too elevated or too low, in an open area.

You should also make sure that the router is as far as possible from any metal objects. Additionally, it should be far from any telephones or microwaves that occupy the same wavelength (2.4 GHz). Finally, place your router as far away from any neighbours as you can to avoid their WiFi from interfering with yours.

After you have taken these steps, you may test your WiFi with the apps cited above to check if its range has been expanded.

Paid solutions

If you have tried all of the free solutions and have had no luck, you may need to move on to one of the following paid solutions to your faulty WiFi problem.

Replace WiFi router’s antenna

To replace your WiFi router’s antenna, unscrew the current one and replace it with a more powerful model of your choice. Not all routers allow you to change their antennas. However, if it is possible, it may be a worthwhile solution.

You can buy WiFi router antennas from electronic and IT stores, like Best Buy or Walmart, for example. Online, they are available on Amazon.

Install a repeater in your home

A repeater is a small device that allows you to extend the range of your WiFi network. More specifically, the device connects to the WiFi network — typically via a router or an Internet box — to «elongate» the network’s connection to the zones or rooms originally left uncovered by the WiFi signal.

To use a repeater, you must first set it up to associate it to the network. Depending on the model, this configuration is done by physically plugging in the repeater to the box via an Ethernet cable. You may also be able to do this by connecting directly via WiFi and modifying a few settings (network name, password, etc.) in an Internet browser or a dedicated smartphone app. The WPS function helps to simplify this step.

There are many different types of repeaters (e.g. with visible antennas or without, with an Ethernet port or without, etc.) sold at very different price points, ranging from a dozen dollars to hundred of dollars. They can be found in electronic and IT stores, like Best Buy or Walmart, and online.

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How to Increase the Range of your Wireless Network

Setting up a wireless home network is pretty simple now. Get a wireless router, connect the Internet port of the router to your broadband modem and then connect any of the numbered LAN ports to the desktop computer through an Ethernet cable.

Wireless G (or 802.11g) routers offer fairly good Wi-Fi signal strength but if you plan to transfer large files or stream videos around the house, you may well consider switching to a slightly more expensive Wireless N (or 802.11n) router – these offer better signal strength and higher data transfer speeds than Wireless G routers.

There’s however one problem with Wi-Fi signals emanating from your wireless router – they only have a limited range. The wireless signal strength will degrade as the distance between the router and your laptop increases and it will further weaken if you have too many brick walls in the house or if your computer is located on a different floor than the router.

Ways to Boost the WiFi Signal Strength

If you too have a problem getting Wi-Fi signals in every corner of your house, here are some tips (and accessories) to help you extend the range of your wireless network.

#1. Install the DD-WRT* firmware on your wireless router – this might help increase the range of your Wi-Fi router by a few meters if not more.

To increase the signal strength, you can increase the router’s transmit power and also disable both frame burst and afterburner (the settings can be accessed from the router’s web dashboard). If DD-WRT firmware is not available for your router, try the Tomato firmware on your router.

#2. Most routers have omni-directional antennas so they emit wireless signals in all directions (just like a light bulb).

That’s fine if you have placed the router in a central location but if the router is in some corner of your room or against a wall, consider adding a home-made reflector behind the antennas of your router.

#3. InSSIDer is a free utility that can help you detect the presence and strength of wireless networks. Install InSSIDer on your laptop, walk around the house with your laptop to determine the wireless signal strength at various places and, based on this information, you can quickly find a more suitable location for the router.

**#4. * * Ideally, you should place the router at a height in some central location and away from other cordless devices. Make sure that the router is not placed near something metallic (like an almirah or window grills) as that will weaken the wireless signals. Avoid mirrors as they can reflect the wireless signals away from the desired direction.

#5. Wireless routers generally ship with omni-directional antennas but you can replace them with more powerful uni-directional antennas and that will keep the signal from getting broadcast in all directions.

If you can’t find a compatible directional antenna for your router model, consider a booster antenna that’s omni-directional but will still boost both the range and strength of wireless signals.

Extend the range of WiFi signals with Hardware

If your router is placed on the ground floor of your home, the Wi-Fi signals will be very weak or may not even reach the basement computer or the printer upstairs. The situation will be no different if you work in a fairly large premises or if there are too many walls in the area.

In that case, here are some hardware device that you can consider to extend the reach of your Wi-Fi network:

Option #1. You can attach a WiFi Repeater (also known as Wireless Range Expander) to your router and quickly expand the coverage of your wireless network without using any cables.

The Repeater should be placed within the range of your existing router and it will reflect the signals to other areas where the wireless reception was earlier poor (or totally absent). The Repeater can connect wirelessly to both routers and access points (see #3 below).

Option #2. (This is my current setup) You can get another wireless router and connect it to your existing router using an Ethernet cable. The advantage is that this setup comes pretty cheap and the Internet speed stays almost the same even for computers that are accessing the web via the new router.

You can get a 100 feet long Ethernet Cable (also known as Cat5 or LAN or RJ45 cable) for less than $10 and wireless routers start at $20. Here’s a detailed guide on how you can connect two routers together.

Option #3. You also have the option to use an Access Point instead of a router to extend the WiFi range but that’s often not required because Wireless Access Points can be more expensive than equivalent routers.

The other advantage with a router is that is has extra LAN ports so, in future, you can connect more wired computers for sharing files or you Internet connection.

Option #4. If you have an old desktop or laptop computer, you should consider adding an external (USB based) wireless adapter or upgrade the internal network card to improve the wireless reception (and thus Internet speed).

More tips on Home Networking:

Update: Eugene Dimarsky says that option #2 can be amended with a more expensive, but prettier option. Instead of running a cat5 cable, consider a homeplug bridge — also known as powerline network adapters — allowing you to use the power lines in the house to connect the two routers. I’ve done this about a dozen times in different places and it works very reliably with no cable mess. It does cost an extra $80 or so, but for many it is worth the expense to keep things neat and ‘wireless’.

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How to Extend or Increase Wifi Range

We are currently living in a time where we need our devices connected to the internet all the time. Without constant and reliable connectivity, managing our professional and personal lives can end up becoming quite difficult. In addition, we also need our internet to be incredibly fast. That’s why, having a good broadband connection has become a necessity.

The work from home and hybrid work culture has also boosted the number of Indian households that have shifted to a new broadband connection. There are a large number of companies that promise a lot when it comes to broadband, but most of them do not often live up to it.

Furthermore, ineffective speed and insufficient range are some of the major concerns when it comes to your broadband connection. As a result, you might be extremely worried and thinking ‘how to extend wifi range’ or ‘how to increase wifi range’. Here are some effective ways to help you extend wifi range.

Ways on how to increase wifi router range

Run a speed test

Running a speed test is one of the most effective ways to understand whether your wifi is performing the way it is supposed to. If the speed test results show that the promised speed isn’t there, then you can certainly try to change the service provider. On the other hand, you may have also subscribed to a very slow broadband plan. It is ideal that you always choose a plan that promises you with 40 Mbps speed or more.

Place your router at the perfect location

Where you place the router in your house can play a significant role and can extend wifi range. Now, you also have to remember that not all houses are designed in the same way. Therefore, in an ideal scenario, placing the router at the centre of the house makes the most sense. In such a case, the wireless network will be able to reach every nook and cranny of your home.

Arrange the router antennas to increase wifi range

Arranging the router antennas can also help to answer your question: how to increase the wifi range. It is always a better idea to arrange the routers vertically. This helps to increase wifi range and you will get a stronger wifi reception at remote locations of your house.

Check the frequency you are currently using

The frequency band that you are using can also affect the wifi speed. If you have a dual band router, then check whether you are on the 2.4Ghz band or the 5Ghz band. If you are always very close to the router, then the 5Ghz band is the ideal bandwidth for you. Similarly, if you are farther away, the 2.4Ghz band is much better.

Check for intruders

If your wifi doesn’t have a password, then there are chances that your neighbours are taking advantage of your plan as well. Therefore, it is extremely important that you put a password on your wifi, always. Reducing the number of external users also ends up reducing the load on your broadband connection, letting you experience more speed.

Upgrade to a new router

Sometimes, upgrading your wifi router can be the best answer when it comes to ‘how to increase wifi range in mobile, how to increase wifi range in house and how to increase laptop wifi range’. Old hardware can also play spoilsport and affect your wifi connection. Therefore, upgrading to a better router with state of the art features can also help you get improved results.

Choose Airtel Xstream for better wifi range

When it comes to choosing a broadband connection that meets the demands of everyone at home, you really cannot go wrong with Airtel Xstream. Here at Airtel, our broadband plans are empowered via the optical fiber technology. This advanced technology makes sure that your broadband connection is never interrupted.

In addition, Xstream also has some of the best wifi plans. Our multiple plans ensure that no matter what your budget is, there is something available for everyone. Still not convinced? Here are some additional benefits of choosing Airtel Xstream:

1. Depending upon the wifi plan that you have chosen, our wifi speeds can go up as high as 1GBps
2. All our wifi plans are unlimited. Hence, you need not worry about surfing the web anymore
3. Our routers can auto troubleshoot. Therefore, you won’t have to get involved every single time a small issue occurs
4. Our wifi routers support wifi calling too

Hence, you can see why choosing Airtel Xstream as your preferred connection is a no-brainer. Switch to Xstream today and see the difference yourself.

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