How to improve wifi pickup

Your ability to maintain a consistent connection to Wi-Fi depends on many factors, including the physical location of your wireless access point. Placing your router in the best possible location and minimizing interference both physical and wireless can greatly improve network performance.

Support wikiHow by unlocking this staff-researched answer. Remove physical obstructions. Switch to 5 GHz. Eliminate network interference. Log into the router and change the channel. Keep router far from cordless phones and microwaves.

Use a repeater or try a mesh router. Place a curved sheet of foil behind the router. Update the router firmware. Did this summary help you? Yes No. Log in Social login does not work in incognito and private browsers. Please log in with your username or email to continue. No account yet? Create an account. Edit this Article. We use cookies to make wikiHow great.

By using our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Cookie Settings. Learn why people trust wikiHow. Download Article Explore this Article Steps. Tips and Warnings. Related Articles. Article Summary. All rights reserved. This image may not be used by other entities without the express written consent of wikiHow, Inc. Remove physical obstructions between your computer and the router.

A Wi-Fi signal can usually travel about feet, but every wall drops that by about feet. To maintain the most reliable connection, make sure your computer has line-of-sight access to the router.

If that's not possible, you can still improve reception by minimizing some barriers: Place the router high up, such as on a wall mount or high shelf. If the router is on the floor or on a low table, you'll be wasting much of the router's signal degree range. If you can't move the router away from glass, try covering the glass with a curtain or cloth.

Thicker walls, such as those made of brick, concrete, or stone, seriously impact signal strength. You may also run into trouble if your walls contain metal ducts, studs, and pipes.

If your walls are impeding the Wi-Fi signal, open the door to the room where your router is, and place the router is as close to it as possible.

Tall furniture and appliances can block signals, especially when leaning against thick walls. Avoid setting up your wireless router in rooms with lots of tall objects. If you have a dual-band router 2 GHz and 5 GHz , log in to your router's admin website and switch the wireless band setting to 5 GHz. Eliminate 2. If you're using 5 GHz you can skip this step. If your only option is 2. Try minimizing interference from the following sources: Your neighbor's wireless network. Move your router closer to the center of your home or office if your neighbor's router is too close to yours.

High-voltage household items like air conditioners, microwaves, refrigerators, and washing machines. Baby monitors and wireless security equipment. Connect the Wi-Fi router to a less-busy channel. If you have a 2. This can be done in your router's administration portal in the Wi-Fi or Wireless section.

Look for a sub-menu called Radio or Channel. If you have a 5 GHz router, there's less chance of a crowded channel resulting in a slow connection, though it's still possible. Add a wireless range extender or additional antennas.

If so, then enter your zip code below to find the fastest plans in your area. Unplug your modem or wireless gateway, wait 30 seconds, and then plug it back in. This process allows the modem to clear its virtual head. Your modem translates internet signals between your home network and your internet provider.

If your internet is acting up, a power cycle is a good place to start troubleshooting —it may even fix your connection issues. Next, repeat the process if you have a standalone router. Finally, turn off the Wi-Fi on all your wireless devices. Wait a few seconds and then toggle Wi-Fi back on.

Allow these devices to reconnect and see if your connection improves. A power cycle might seem simplistic, but turning your home networking equipment off and on again can really give your network a boost. We recommend rebooting your equipment regularly—at least once every few months. But keep in mind that doing this will leave you without internet for a few minutes, so plan to restart your equipment at a time when no one needs an internet connection. Wi-Fi can travel only so far, and its signals can get interrupted or blocked by walls, floors, ceilings, furniture, appliances, and basically any large physical object.

These signals can also get interrupted by radio waves from other devices, including cordless phones, baby monitors, microwaves, and Bluetooth speakers. So if you place your router in a corner , you may have issues with Wi-Fi at the other end of your home. The best place for your router is in a central location, near where you use the internet most often. Skip ahead to step nine— extend your network —if your router is already in a great location. But if you do have adjustable antennas on your router, try reconfiguring them.

Router antennas are usually omnidirectional, which means they send out signals in all directions perpendicular to the antenna. For example, a vertical antenna sends out Wi-Fi signals horizontally and vice versa.

So if you need to stretch your Wi-Fi signals to multiple floors, adjusting an antenna to sit horizontally to spread Wi-Fi signals up and down could help. Modern routers work primarily on two radio frequency bands: 2. The band you use for your connections can affect your speeds and the quality of your connections at different distances from your router. The 2. The two frequency bands often appear as two separate Wi-Fi networks. To reorganize your connections, log off from the incorrect band and connect to the correct one on each device.

Everything connected to your network should be essential. The quickest way to disconnect nonessential devices is to change your Wi-Fi passwords and reboot your router.

You will then need to log back in to your network with the new password on every device you currently use. This method will purge all unnecessary connections, like the emergency cell phone you keep turned on that still quietly downloads updates.

If you have an app like this, you could easily find errant connections and disconnect them without having to disrupt your whole Wi-Fi network. Most routers automatically choose the best channel for you, but sometimes you need to change them manually.

Frequency channels can get crowded, so if you and all your neighbors use the same channel in the 2. To find the best Wi-Fi channel , you can use the Wireless Diagnostics feature on a Mac computer —just hold down the Option key and click the Wi-Fi icon on the menu bar in the top right corner of your screen.

To set up this WiFi range extender, you need to plug it into any wall outlet and press the WPS button on your router. If so, it may be the right time to get a new one. Modern routers can broadcast on multiple bands at the same time, and they support features like Multi-user MIMO, which allows them to communicate with multiple devices simultaneously. The router also has eight gigabit Ethernet ports and two USB 3. Because this Asus router is geared toward gamers, it can super boost WiFi signal strength with its Game Boost technology, which analyzes network traffic and prioritizes gaming packets above everything else.

This award-winning WiFi router from D-Link offers combined speeds of up to Mbps, the ability to simultaneously broadcast to multiple devices, and sophisticated yet easy-to-set-up parental controls that can protect the youngest members of your family from inappropriate content.

Created to satisfy the needs of heavy internet users who spend a lot of time streaming 4K content, playing online games, and downloading files from the internet, the Netgear Nighthawk X10 is one of the fastest routers in the world. This relatively affordable router as far as powerful dual-band routers go is equipped with a 1.

The app works on both Android and iOS, and its simple and intuitive user interface lets you quickly and painlessly accomplish all common router management tasks, including installing firmware updates. You can get the Netgear Orbi WiFi 6 System with two or three units included in the box and expand it by purchasing an additional satellite unit in the future. The only downside is the steep price of the system.

WiFi mesh systems are one of the best ways how to improve WiFi signal strength in large buildings. Here are the top 5 best WiFi mesh systems that you can purchase right now. Even in the most basic configuration, Google Nest Wifi is able to handle up to connected devices and stream multiple 4K videos at a time. Each Wifi point doubles as a smart speaker powered by Google Assistant, so you gain the ability to play your favorite songs or find answers on the web with natural voice queries.

The Netgear Orbi 6 is a high-end mesh WiFi system designed with ultimate performance in mind. Thanks to its support for the latest generation WiFi 6 technology, it offers 4x increased capacity compared with WiFi 5 and the ability to connect as much as devices at the same time. Included with the Netgear Orbi 6 is an online threat protection solution called NETGEAR Armor, which can protect all connected devices from the latest malware and send instant alerts to your smartphone or computer to keep you informed.

You can conveniently manage your security and WiFi settings using the Orbi app, which is available for Android and iOS devices. The eero is one of the most affordable mesh WiFi systems available.

A single unit can provide up to 1, sq. The Linksys Velop is an entire family of mesh WiFi systems that can seamlessly cover any home with a strong WiFi signal regardless of its shape or size. If you want the strongest WiFi signal you can get, then you should check out the Velop AX, which is ideal for large households looking for the latest WiFi 6 technology.

Regardless of which Linksys Velop mesh WiFi system you choose, you can always download the Linksys Mobile app to your smartphone and use it to set up parental controls, create a guest WiFi network, change your password, and more. With these ten tips, you should have no problem boosting your WiFi network without buying a new router. Make sure to have NetSpot at hand to check whether our tips helped each time you try one.

We guarantee that by the time you get to the number ten, your WiFi will feel faster than ever before. For example, you can use a WiFi signal analyzer to determine a more suitable place for your router, or you can switch to the 5 GHz band for an instant boost in performance, especially if you live in a densely populated urban area.

If you want to boost your WiFi without purchasing a new router, you can start by tweaking your settings. You should also make sure that your router uses the least cluttered channel possible, especially when using only the 2. Use a WiFi analyzer app to determine the best settings. Yes, WiFi extenders really work, but their effectiveness greatly depends on their placement.

The most expensive way how to boost your home WiFi is to buy a new router. Fortunately, there are many far less expensive ways that you should try first, including buying a stronger antenna for your existing router if it has an external one , installing a WiFi repeater, or moving your router to a more suitable location.

You can instantly boost your WiFi signal for free by cutting all out WiFi leeches, which are basically unauthorized users of your internet connection. Yes, WiFi boosters can greatly improve signal coverage by amplifying your existing WiFi signals and rebroadcasting them as a new network, which is why we recommend them to all WiFi users who want to know how to increase WiFi signal strength without buying a new router.

Getting into some detail, not every spot will do for your WiFi router. A router won't do great near metal objects and the appliances that emit electromagnetic waves the strongest ones are from electric stoves, microwave ovens, and dishwashers. Obstacles made from other materials than metal, can also affect the strength of WiFi signal.

You also want to have your router installed on an elevated surface for a better signal broadcast. Keeping your WiFi router up-to-date helps keep hacker attacks away. Malware developers keep coming up with new viruses that can steal bandwidth and spread themselves across the network to other devices. Getting new security firmware versions on your router consistently will keep your network secure.

WiFi repeaters, boosters and extenders help you get your WiFi signal to farther rooms and levels of your home or office space. Choose what will work best for you according to the size of your space, compatibility with your router and your budget.

There are multiple wireless channels a WiFi router can broadcast on, however there are only a few non-overlapping available on 2. Usually when you get a router it broadcasts on default channel 1 or 6. Because many owners leave their routers with the factory settings, those channels get overloaded. Find the least occupied channel in your area with the help of such software as NetSpot and switch your router to it. Get NetSpot. Menu NetSpot. Jump to Best WiFi Boosters. Best WiFi Extenders.

Best WiFi Routers. Best WiFi Mesh Systems. Check out a video guide on how to boost Wi-Fi signal at home—some tips and tricks as well as how to use NetSpot to see surrounding WiFi networks and perform a WiFi site survey. Cheaper routers may even struggle to cover a relatively small apartment with a strong WiFi signal — let alone an entire house. Obstructions: WiFi signals can be partially absorbed or even completely blocked by various obstacles and objects, including walls, duct work, furniture, home appliances, and even people.

Interference: WiFi signals occupy the same radio frequency band of the electromagnetic spectrum actual radios, cell phones, microwave ovens, walkie talkies, baby monitors, and many other devices, all of which can interfere with WiFi signals. Router capacity: Just like some computers can barely handle casual web browsing and some can render complex 3D objects, not all routers are equally powerful.

Video chatting or streaming on multiple devices can bring even a strong WiFi network to a crawl. Your internet service provider: You can easily waste an entire day troubleshooting poor WiFi performance without realizing that your internet service provider is actually to blame. The measured download and upload speeds should correspond to the speeds advertised by your ISP. Enter the IP address of the router into the web browser. Log in with admin username and password.

Select an option called Firmware Update or Router Update. Because there are many different routers, you may need to do some digging and detective work to find the right option. Wait until your router finds and installs the latest firmware. Never interrupt the update. If it takes a long time and your router appears to be unresponsive, give it a few more minutes before you disconnect the router from power and turn it on again.

A strong password should: Include a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, symbols, and numbers.