Having bad internet at home can be extremely frustrating, especially if you have important things to do. You can’t afford to be disconnected constantly if you’re working from home, following courses, or are running a home-based business. If you have bad internet, your provider might be the reason, but there are some cases where your needs and home configuration are the main cause. Some people have very intensive needs and put a lot of stress on their connections. Let’s take a look at a few things that you can do if you have bad internet access at home.
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Get Closer to the Router
If you have a wireless router and you’re getting a bad signal, pay attention to where you are in the house. If you’re in a room tucked away far away from the router, then this might be the reason why you can’t get good access.
In case you didn’t know already, walls and other objects will interfere with your Wi-Fi signal, so the fewer physical obstacles there are between the router and your device, the better the internet will be. You should also try to get closer to the router, as it will make the connection stronger and steadier.
Move the Router to a Central Location
You could also move the router to a central area if it’s at the edge of your apartment or home. This will reduce the distance between all devices in the house and make sure that everyone gets good access.
Use a Wi-Fi Extender or a Mesh Network
Another option you could consider is getting a Wi-Fi extender or installing a mesh network in the house. Extenders and mesh networks often get conflated with each other but are pretty different and you have to know the difference between them.
As their name implies, extenders will extend the range of your Wi-Fi. They are great if you have a relatively small apartment and the signal doesn’t get to the rooms farther away from your router. But the signal will still vary based on location and your devices might be confused between the signal sent by the extender and the signal sent from your original router.
Mesh networks are generally thought to be better as they distribute the signal around the house and are part of one single network. Mesh routers are made of a series of smaller routers that emit the same signal. Every router in the mesh network will emit a strong signal and devices will get a clear connection as long as they’re close enough to them.
If you’re still wondering which option would be the best for you, we suggest you check out this article on the difference between a home mesh network and a Wi-Fi extender.
These are three simple things that you could do right away to improve the quality of your internet inside the house. They’re pretty simple and should fix 90% of the internet access problems most people encounter.