When Restarting the Router Isn’t Enough: Fixing Your Home Network
Your Guide to Wi-Fi, Hardwiring, and Building a Better Network
The way people talk about their home network, you’d think it has a mind of its own. “The Wi-Fi’s being weird today,” one might say. Or: “Just wait for it to come back on.”
Many homeowners are perplexed as to why their internet connection suffers. We think that if we just restart the router and pause the movie, it will figure itself out.
And yes, sometimes restarting the router is enough. If the network is overcrowded and lacks proper bandwidth, the system may have stalled. But what if you’re repeatedly running into problems?
If it feels like your internet is never working, there’s a tangible solution out there. It might not be the fix you expected, but there are always ways to build a more stable, secure home network. As home networking professionals based in Cedar Rapids, IA, we’ll share our tried-and-true Wi-Fi advice below.
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How Wi-Fi Works
We connect to Wi-Fi in three steps. First, a modem (or a combination modem and router) must be wired to the internet via an Ethernet cable. Next, the router distributes radio waves through antennas, broadcasting the signal into your home. Then third, your wireless devices (smartphones, TVs, computers, etc.) pick up the radio signal, allowing your technology to connect to the internet.
Simple, right? Well, it’s not always so easy…
Why Your Wi-Fi May Be Suffering
Are there entire rooms and floors of your Iowa house that don’t connect to Wi-Fi? Maybe it’s the basement or your bedroom upstairs—regardless, the little Wi-Fi symbol on your laptop will show very few bars. Even if you complain to your Internet Service Provider, your ISP is concerned with getting service to you— not necessarily spreading it evenly across your house.
Many factors could be contributing to your unreliable Wi-Fi. If there are materials in your house like steel, brick, concrete, glass, or wire in the walls, it will block wireless signals from traveling through. You could also be trying to cover too much ground. After all, Wi-Fi can only go so far. And if there are too many devices on your network, that could be slowing down speeds, too.
Time for an Upgrade?
Mobile networks may be upgrading to 5G, but it’s not the only wireless technology getting a boost. Wi-Fi has a new standard, Wi-Fi 6, now available in routers and access points.
Until recently, the latest Wi-Fi standard was Wi-Fi 5, also known as 802.11ac. But the new standard, Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), lets routers communicate with more devices at a time. It’s nearly three times faster than Wi-Fi 5, with bandwidth speeds of 9.6 gigabits per second. If you own many smart home devices, upgrading to Wi-Fi 6 will help them run faster.
Another way to improve your home network is by adding wireless access points to spread the signal farther. This will help in those hard-to-reach dead zones. Wireless access points connect to your router via cables and then rebroadcast the internet signal.
Hybrid Wired & Wireless Networks
While upgrading your router and adding access points can assist some home networks, occasionally, some devices and areas just can’t adequately reach the Wi-Fi. If it’s imperative that your home office is connected, for example, and you’re experiencing weak Wi-Fi, we recommend building a hybrid network.
This means you’ll still use Wi-Fi for your portable devices. But work computers, smart home devices, security cameras, and other important technology will be wired to the internet. Wired connections may not be the hottest trend today, but wiring is still the fastest, most reliable way to stay online.
Does your Cedar Rapids-area home need a Wi-Fi checkup? Contact Reference Audio Video & Security here to learn more about our home networking solutions.
