I really need to do a WiFi optimisation thread.

Tomorrow...

Ok as promised... how to make you WiFi work better!

First things first, the most effective way to make your WiFi work better is to not use WiFi at all. If you can, use a network cable to connect your devices, it will give you a much faster and much more reliable connection

Assuming that you haven’t just plugged in every device you own, the next thing you need to do is make sure your WiFi router is as close to the middle of your home as possible. Your kitchen is usually in the middle of your home, so if you can then move your WiFi router there

Next up, RF channel selection. Take your street number, add your unit number, divide by 3, and find the remainder:

0 - use channel 1 and 36
1 - use channel 6 and 40
2 - use channel 11 and 44

This means turning off “auto channel selection”. If you have a problem using the channel assigned, use the next pair of channels, or get a WiFi consultant in to find which channel will work best for you.

Next step is to adjust the channel width. NEVER use 40MHz wide channels in the 2.4GHz band, so make sure your channel 1, 6 or 11 is using 20MHz wide channels. Some router manufacturers may call it “High Throughput” mode.

In the 5GHz band, you should use 40MHz wide channels, unless you need more range (switch to 20MHz) or more speed accessing a local server or something (switch to 80MHz and then use channel 116, 132 or 149)

Speaking of frequency bands, always use the 5GHz band if your device supports it. Every 802.11ac device will support 5GHz, but not every 802.11n device will support 5GHz. The 2.4GHz band is a bin fire of noise coming from microwave ovens, baby monitors, Bluetooth devices, etc

Hint: it’s the cheaper 802.11n devices that won’t support the 5GHz band...

So how do you get devices to use a weaker 5GHz signal rather than a stronger 2.4GHz signal? The option is usually called “band steering”, and you should enable it unless you have a lot of 2.4-only devices

Band steering works by basically ignoring the first network join request received on the 2.4GHz band by a new client, hoping the client will try the 5GHz band next, so enabling this option will delay 2.4-only devices on joining the network

Anyway daughter just woke up from her nap, and these settings will get you most of the way to a nice stable WiFi network, so I’ll call it there for now.

Please send through any questions you might have and I’ll answer them later this evening