As a network operator, my friends have asked me about how to improve their home WiFi. The best thing about covid-19 is the real-world lesson that videoconferencing users are getting on the importance of low-latency WiFi— many homes just aren’t properly setup for it.

If you’re WFH and have trouble getting your WiFi working well: sometimes the easiest solution is moving closer to your router. If you can’t move closer, consider a long Ethernet cable and going wired instead of wireless. For WiFi: Use 5Ghz instead of 2.4Ghz.

There are some hardware products that do “meshing”, and this might improve your experience as long as the “hop” between the extender and the base has good signal between each other. Rogers and Bell both offer these products and you can buy them separately too. YMMV though.

Of course, your ISP could be overloaded— especially during times like this. And the SAAS service (videoconferencing and other services that rely on low-latency) could also be a problem. That makes troubleshooting Internet problems very difficult.

Some users of consumer-grade routers are finding reboots necessary in order to keep the routers running properly. It’s too bad home routers aren’t more reliable given their importance, but hopefully that will change.

People ask me what I use. Although my company needs/trusts Ruckus hardware for enterprise use in student housing— for IT “prosumers” need I recommend Ubiquiti’s Unifi lineup. I have: USG as router, 4x In-Wall AC access points, wired back to a 24port PoE switch. (No meshing)