How to boost your office Wi-Fi

The strength of your Wi-Fi connection can be affected by several factors. Signals from other wireless networks, electronics, and phone systems can impact your Wi-Fi’s speed, and this can make or break your internet connectivity.  Here are five simple ways to boost your office Wi-Fi.

Your router should be well positioned

Where your router is located in your office is key. To get the best signal, your router should be located in the centre of your office, so you have the best coverage possible throughout the space. Never place the Wi-Fi router behind TV cabinets and cupboards as physical obstructions such as furniture, including walls and appliances can all weaken your router’s signal. To experience your router’s full signal, ensure that its position doesn’t reduce its signal by surrounding physical objects.

Secure your connection

Because a Wi-Fi connection slows down when an increasing number of devices are connected to the network, a secured Wi-Fi connection helps to make your internet faster. It’s important to disconnect any extra devices that are currently connected to your Wi-Fi network, which are not used daily, to increase your internet speed.

There are also many ways to prevent prying neighbours or malicious attackers from accessing your Wi-Fi connection. You should ensure that your router is protected with a strong password and that outsiders don’t have access to it. Your Wi-Fi password should be a combination of numbers and letters.

Consider using wired connections

If employees are streaming a large volume of content, they may be making the internet slower for everyone else as intensive video streaming is data-intensive and may require more bandwidth. Fortunately, modern routers support services like QoS (Quality of Service), enable users to prioritize certain applications over others. To modify your router’s QoS settings you can do the following:

– Log in to your router as admin.

– Click on Settings and open the Wireless Settings tab.

– Go to the QoS Settings.

– Configure your QoS rules.

– Save the new settings and allow your router to restart.

While there are routers that make it very simple to configure QoS settings, there are others that don’t make it as easy. Rather consult the manufacturer if you are in doubt.

Invest in a Wi-Fi booster, repeater, or extender

While they are referred to by several names, Wi-Fi boosters, repeaters and extenders are essentially the same thing. Wi-Fi repeaters are easy-to-use devices that receive an existing signal from your Wi-Fi router and rebroadcast it as a new network, which is just an extension of your main network. They also amplify the existing signal before rebroadcasting it to form a new network.

Locate the right wireless channel

If your office is located in a densely populated area, signals from other wireless networks can impact your Wi-Fi signal’s speed. While most routers choose the channel for you, the problem is that they often select a predefined channel, which is not always the best one. If you are on the same channel as other neighbouring wireless networks, you’re likely to experience signal congestion. Modern routers can switch across different channels when communicating with your devices, so it’s important to locate the right wireless channel. If you have a good router that has been set to Automatic, it should select the least congested channel.

By considering all these tips you can boost your office Wi-Fi, and you will have an internet connection that is faster, more reliable and more secure.