Friday, March 29, 2024

How to improve your phone’s Wi-Fi signal

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Best answer: Make sure everything is up to date and working properly. If the phone is working correctly, remove obstacles that might cause inferences for your router. If all else fails, a stronger router may be needed.

  • Strong signal in a sleek housing: Asus Blue Cave ($138 at Amazon)
  • Spread your connection in three parts: Google WiFi 3-Pack ($259 at Amazon)

Make sure everything is up to date

A poor wireless signal can be extremely frustrating, mostly because it’s inconsistent, so it can be hard to tell exactly what’s causing the issue. You don’t have to order a new router or phone just yet, there are still a few tricks to try and improve things.

The first thing to check if you’re having a connectivity issue is to make sure that both your phone and router are up to date. Most modern electronics update themselves or notify the user that an update is available. While it may be tempting to ignore these messages, connectivity issues could have been addressed in an update. Every router is going to have a different update procedure so you will have to check your manual or the router’s support web page for details.

If everything is looking good there, we have to talk a bit about physics.

Is there any interference?

Wi-Fi signals use either 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz signals, and some newer routers can use 5.8Ghz, too. These frequencies are higher than most cell signals and will be more affected by objects in the way. Higher frequency radio waves are closer together which makes it harder for them to pass through solid objects.

The first thing to check is your phone case. Some cases that are thick or have metal in them may be blocking your phones antennas. While it may not be noticeable most of the time, if a signal is already weak, this may be just enough to block the signal from connecting.

Different frequencies are affected differently by things like drywall or interference from a microwave. Since most routers have both a 5GHz and 2.4Ghz broadcast simultaneously, you may be able to get a stronger signal on one over the other. You can try removing a weak connection in you your phone’s Wi-Fi settings.

How is your router positioned?

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If you still aren’t getting a solid connection you should focus your attention on your router. Sometimes there is nothing you can do about the position of your router. Even so, you should make sure that the router is sitting upright with the antennas pointing up. The waves will be moving directly from the long side of an antenna so for the best connection, this side of the antenna should be facing your device.

There’s also electrical interference. Make sure that things like power strips or microwaves are located as far away from the router as possible. Electrical interference can even affect ethernet wires if they’re not shielded.

If you have the ability to move the router, it should be placed as close to the center of the house as possible. It also should not be placed on the floor or directly next to walls. Metal and concrete will also cause signal degradation. In the end, there’s no perfect place for a router so a little compromise will always be necessary.

Time to buy new equipment

The last thing to consider is new equipment. It may not be necessary to replace the router. If it is a mesh compatible router, you could add another mesh point. If not, a Wi-Fi extender may help as well but since this creates a new network, it’s not a perfect solution when moving around a home.

If all else fails it may be time to upgrade your router. Check the router’s specification to find out how much space it covers before buying. It also might be the right time to upgrade to a mesh network or a hybrid mesh network if your home has a lot of interference.

Big and stylish

Asus Blue Cave

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$138 at Amazon

Powerful internal antennas

The Asus Blue Cave is a powerful AC Wi-Fi router designed to provide good coverage and fast speeds that doesn’t stand out too much. It also can be expanded with other Asus routers to form a mesh network.

Make it mesh

Google Wifi 3-Pack

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$259 at Amazon

Spread your connection

Google Wifi 3-Pack is a great entry point to mesh networking with a great app and fast software updates. With two Ethernet connections on each router and fast AC Wi-Fi, Google Wifi can keep your whole home connected.

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