How to Boost Your Wi-Fi Speed?

Here’s the thing, you can never have too much bandwidth. Even if you have subscribed to a gigabit fiber internet plan, there might still be room for improvement in your Wi-Fi performance. And that is completely in your hands.

Using a choppy Wi-Fi connection that lags is very 2023. However, many of us are still making do with what we have. The good news is that we don’t have to compromise on speeds anymore.

You can easily improve your Wi-Fi speed with some simple tips and tricks. So Let’s get down to it.

Easy Tips to Boost Your Wi-Fi Speed

1. Relocate Your Router

Where you place your router is as important as it gets when it comes to signal strength. Your Wi-Fi speed can dampen because of walls and sometimes even things like bookshelves. We recommend you pick a central and prominent location.

It is natural to want to place your router somewhere concealed like in a cupboard. However, with creative cabling, you can place it where it is not an eyesore and also transmit signals evenly throughout your house, without leaving any dead zones. This may not be an issue with a provider that offers wall-to-wall coverage like Cox Internet.

If you are experiencing a subpar Wi-Fi signal, you can try to move your router, preferably to a place where it is closest to your devices.

2. Use an Ethernet Cable

We often forget about wires since the onset of wireless culture. If you want an uninterrupted connection for an important task or need consistent connectivity for a device, you should consider connecting your device via an Ethernet cable.

This offers a faster and much more stable connection that you can depend on. Every router has several extra Ethernet ports. It is recommended for non-portable, bandwidth-heavy devices like gaming consoles, desktop computers, or smart television sets to connect using an Ethernet cable to boost speed.

    

Pro Tip: To avoid a cluttered space, use small brackets to mount your Ethernet cable with the wall. For several cables running in the same direction, use adhesive cable management wall-mounted clasps/ cord holders.

3. Upgrade Your Router

If there is no plausible explanation for dead zones and dampened signals in various areas of the house, you likely need to upgrade your router. If you live in a large house, you will need a router that is compatible with signal repeaters.

Here are some tried and tested routers that are effective for different functions:

• TP-Link Archer AX55 Best all-round router in an affordable range.
• Asus RT-AX86U Slightly upper tier router with great speeds and coverage.
• TP-Link Archer AX21 Best router on a budget.
• Cox Wi-Fi Panoramic Gateway Offers the best wall-to-wall coverage with Wi-Fi pods.
• Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX6000 Offers excellent coverage and the best router for gamers.

4. Use Wi-Fi Extenders

It is natural to be cautious while messing with your Wi-Fi device. If you don’t want to get into it and keep relocating your router, don’t worry. You can just invest a few dollars into getting a Wi-Fi range extender.

Luckily if you have Cox Internet, you can subscribe to its Panoramic Wi-Fi which offers Wi-Fi pods (signal extenders) as an included service. Other than this, Linksys and Netgear models offer some of the best signal extensions.

Wi-Fi extenders are the quickest antidote to dead zones. They are fairly simple to set up and easy to use. After a while, you will forget they are even there because they require little to no maintenance.

One thing you have to be mindful of is to locate the right areas where extenders are to be installed. It is better if you connect the bandwidth-heavy devices to the router and others to the repeaters.

5. Change Your Wi-Fi Band/Channel

Signal congestion is real. Every router uses a Wi-Fi channel to connect with the devices around your home. Sometimes you may have a neighbor who is using the same channel as you, which could result in signal congestion.

In the event you are facing this problem, you need to switch your Wi-Fi channels. You may find directions in the manual that came with your router, or online.

Most routers now offer two tiers of frequency in band technology, i.e. 2.4-GHz, and 5-GHz. Prioritize your device based on the bandwidth it requires. You can always change your frequency to 2.4 GHz. Here is a quick rundown of which kinds of connections are apt for which devices.

6. Extend with Electrical Wiring

You can also use a power line kit in place of a Wi-Fi extender to boost your Wi-Fi speed. Electrical wiring also facilitates digital signal transmission. Power line devices are made for this purpose. The way they work is by powering your router to a wall socket using a power line.

You can extend another power line from the router and plug it into any other room. This can equip you with a wired or wireless connection to a room. This may result in a speed drop to some extent, however, it is one of the simplest options for signal extension.

TP-Link TL-PA9020P and Zyxel PLA6456BB are some of the fastest power line network kits.

    

Caution: If you have a particularly old house that has somewhat outdated wiring, it is not recommended to use electrical wire extenders due to risks of circuit breakdown.

Additional Steps

Some extra steps are comparatively simpler that you likely already know of. You can make this checklist to improve your Wi-Fi speed. These are as follows:

• Password protect your Wi-Fi and keep your neighbors from binging off your network. A strong Wifi password acts as a barrier from unauthorized users to access your internet connection.
• Remove dormant devices because they take up extra speed like smart regulators that you never end up using. You can also prioritize devices that are more crucial on the routers mentioned above.
• Shut down programs running in the background. They slow your connectivity down. Go to your Task Manager or Activity Monitor to have visibility on which extra programs are consuming data. This tip is specific to computers.
• Restarting your router is the oldest trick in the book. And like all old tricks, this may or may not work.

Summing Up

With these simple steps, you can improve your Wi-Fi experience. Once you have taken measures to protect your connection, upgraded your hardware, and optimized your router location, you may resolve your issue.  

If you still face the same choppy signal, get in touch with the customer service of your provider and they can help you troubleshoot issues with your Wi-Fi. We recommend choosing a provider that offer 24/7 customer support like Cox Customer Service.