5 ways to juice your home internet connection
Slow or spotty internet connection got you down?
“The average U.S. household has 25 connected devices – more than double the 11 that the average household had in 2019, according to a new Deloitte report.” Internet connection is something we tend to take for granted, but with so many connected devices in the home competing for bandwidth, you may find your internet slowing down or dropping out entirely at times. There are a number of different factors that impact your home internet speeds and connectivity. To help you get the best connection and optimal performance out of your home internet network, we’ve pulled together a few suggestions you can use depending on your home’s specific needs.
Get a Wifi Extender
If you have dead zones in your home or if your connection is significantly worse in certain rooms in your house, a simple solution may be to add a wifi-extender. A wifi extender - or repeater - is a small device that plugs into any free outlet, about the size of a plug in air freshener. The device rebroadcasts the internet signal with extends the range of your wifi connection throughout the home. While wifi extenders are an inexpensive solution - and simple to install - they will not solve all your home connection issues.
Move your router to a central location...
One common problem with home wifi connections is simply the location of the router itself. For optimal wifi connectivity throughout the home, you should try and limit the number of barriers between your router and connected devices. If your router is tucked away in a back room or hidden in a cabinet, every layer of wood and drywall that the signal needs to pass through will reduce the strength and reliability of the signal.
If speed and connection strength are an issue in your home, consider moving the router to a more central location with the least amount of physical barriers possible. The goal is to get the devices that require the most bandwidth - and that you use most often - like streaming devices, computers, and game consoles, as close to the hub as possible. Keep in mind that other devices
...or get a more powerful router
All wifi routers are not built equal, and while many homes and small apartments are perfectly well served using whichever router the cable company supplies, your router performance needs are determined by the number of heavy duty devices on your network and the total coverage area of your home.
A wifi 6 router like the Netgear Nighthawk, TP-Link Archer, or Asus AX5700 is made to handle all your network-taxing web activity like streaming, gaming, and video calls.
Consider a mesh network
If you have a large, spread out coverage area in your home, even the most powerful router and range extenders still won’t get you the wall to wall connectivity your family needs. One option is to switch to a mesh network. A mesh network replaces your single, centrally located router with a system of routers that blanket your home in wifi signal. Mesh network devices like the Google Nest wifi system allow you to add as many additional “nodes” as your home needs. If you need wifi connection across multiple floors, consider a mesh system to reduce dead zones and provide reliable coverage in every room.
Get hardwired for the fastest, most reliable network connection available
The gold standard in internet connectivity is still a wired connection. No wifi system on the market can compete with the speed and - most importantly - dependability of an ethernet cable connection. Did you know that devices that use electromagnetic waves like bluetooth-enabled devices, microwaves, wireless headphones, and smartphones can interfere with your home wifi signal? With a hardwired internet connection, you never have to worry about interference.
To get the most out of your home security systems and smart-home tech, a wired network connection is undoubtedly the way to go.
At TekDash, our Teks specialize in expert ethernet cable installation service to bring the performance and reliability of a hardwired connection to your home. Schedule an in-home walkthrough to get an ethernet installation quote today.
