Tech Talk - Secure Online Shopping
Steve Stultz, FCLL IT Coordinator
There is a little bit of black magic involved with how Wi-Fi works. By that I mean that sometimes things seems a bit mysterious as to why Wi-Fi works well or doesn’t in any given physical environment. I’ve compiled some ideas to help you troubleshoot your Wi-Fi network problems.
Wireless Router Location
Wireless signals tend to fall sort of like an umbrella, meaning that the signal is stronger below your wireless router or access point than above it. So never put your wireless router or AP on a floor below where you need to use it. Keep it up high. Wireless routers or APs are also best positional away from walls, because walls tend to “soak up” the Wi-Fi signal.
Consider your Walls
In older buildings with denser walls, or walls made from plaster instead of drywall, you’ll find that the signal doesn’t penetrate as well through those walls. In that case you might consider upgrading to a mesh network. With a mesh network, you have multiple wireless access points, and you place them strategically around your space so that you get good coverage everywhere. One of my favorite mesh network products currently is the
TP-Link Deco S4 system.
Something else to consider is the Wi-Fi frequency. Most modern wireless routers and access points operate on the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. The lower 2.4 GHz frequency band will penetrate walls better than the 5 GHz signal. The former is better for spaces with lots of walls, while the latter is better for big, wide-open work spaces.
Time to Upgrade Your Wireless Router or Access Point?
If your wireless router or access point is older, it may just be time to replace it with something more modern. Some modern wireless routers and access points will “beam form,” which means they concentrate the signal in the direction of the Wi-Fi devices using the signal. Older routers and access points don’t do this. Another reason to upgrade is that newer wireless routers are often more secure than older models. And in many cases, newer wireless routers will auto-update when security patches and bug fixes are released by the manufacturer. Older wireless routers do not. Again consider the
TP-Link Deco S4 system. And newer wireless routers and access points have higher levels of Wi-Fi using better, faster Wi-Fi technology with more range. WiFi3 is in common use, but WiFi 4, 5, and 6 are newer and more robust in many ways.
Power-Cycle Your Devices
Don’t under-estimate the power of just restarting your wireless router, access point(s), computers, and other devices that make use of Wi-Fi. Wireless routers and access points are really just small computers that send and receive Wi-Fi signals. So much like a Windows computer, restarting those devices can sometimes fix problems with Wi-Fi.
Upgrade Older Wi-Fi Adapters
Adding a USB Wi-Fi adapter to a laptop or desktop computer to replace the device’s built-in Wi-Fi is sometimes a great answer. Maybe your new-ish wireless router or access point supports WiFi5 or even WiFi6, but your laptop’s built-in Wi-Fi adapter may only support WiFi3. That means that your laptop is only communicating with your wireless router or access point using WiFi3, missing out on the advancements in the higher Wi-Fi levels including better speed, rejection of interference, more range, and the like.
Fix Your Network Stack
Your Windows computer communicates with network devices using the network stack. This “stack” is simply several layers of software that allow data to flow from your computer out through your Wi-Fi antenna to the wireless router or access point and back. These software stacks can get damaged or corrupted and would then need to be fixed. One good free software product to reset and repair your network stacks is
Complete Internet Repair by Rizonesoft. It’s easy to use, but you will need administrative access to your computer to use it.
Other Ideas and More Reading
