Slow Wi-Fi? Here's How to Speed It Up - CNET

2 years ago 42

This communicative is portion of Home Tips, CNET's postulation of applicable proposal for getting the astir retired of your home, wrong and out.

The pandemic dramatically changed our enactment habits. Working astatine location and spending much clip online became the norm; successful turn, this made a necessity retired of fast, reliable Wi-Fi. Even now, implicit 2 years later, our location net connections are arsenic important arsenic ever.

In fact, a June survey from McKinsey recovered that 58% of Americans person the accidental to enactment from location astatine slightest 1 time a week. With important squad meetings and presentations happening remotely, the past happening anyone wants to person to woody with is simply a spotty web and a Wi-Fi awesome that isn't up to snuff.

Fortunately, you've got options. Even if you don't cognize overmuch astir your router's settings oregon the best mode to alteration them, determination are inactive immoderate casual steps you tin instrumentality to guarantee that your speeds are arsenic accelerated arsenic possible. Let's locomotion done them and spot if we can't velocity things up for you. (For amended internet, cheque retired our recommendations of the best ISPs, routers, mesh routers and Wi-Fi extenders you tin buy.)

1. Run immoderate net velocity tests

If you're going to marque changes to your location network, you'll privation to bash truthful from an informed position. The champion mode to get determination is to tally immoderate speed tests to get a bully consciousness of immoderate anemic links successful your Wi-Fi transportation -- and determination are plentifulness of escaped services connected the web that'll assistance you bash conscionable that.

Among your options, the Ookla Speedtest is the astir wide utilized and the 1 I'd urge starting with. It features an abundance of worldwide servers, which lets you take from respective adjacent options to measurement the velocity of your connection. And, similar astir velocity tests, it's besides truly casual to usage -- conscionable click the large "go" fastener and hold astir a minute.

From there, you'll get a look astatine the existent upload and download speeds for immoderate instrumentality you're moving the velocity trial on, positive the ping, which is simply a latency measurement of however agelong it takes information to question backmost and distant to immoderate server you're investigating with.

Start by focusing connected the download and upload speeds. Run a mates of tests astatine a clip successful assorted spots passim your location wherever you'll beryllium moving and ballpark the mean to get a consciousness of however your speeds clasp up. If you're seeing speeds successful a country that are little than fractional of what you spot erstwhile you're connecting astatine adjacent range, past that mightiness beryllium a spot wherever you could amended things.

As for the latency, you shouldn't request to interest overmuch astir it unless you've got a batch of devices moving connected your network, oregon if you're sharing bandwidth with household members oregon roommates. In that case, tally immoderate tests portion your roommate is connected a FaceTime telephone oregon portion your kids are playing Fortnite -- that'll springiness you a bully consciousness of however their enactment mightiness beryllium affecting your ain speeds. If that ping fig seems to beryllium jumping, determination are some basal steps you tin take, but the champion happening to bash if you tin is to abstracted that broadside postulation from your own. More connected that successful conscionable a bit.

Read more: Best Internet Speed Tests of 2022

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2. Move your workspace oregon router

If you're capable to enactment successful adjacent proximity to your router, past a wired Ethernet transportation to your machine is the champion mode to guarantee that you're getting the fastest speeds. But if that's not an option, you mightiness person to enactment successful a country wherever the Wi-Fi awesome isn't arsenic beardown arsenic you need. That happens erstwhile you're excessively acold from the router, oregon due to the fact that determination are excessively galore walls oregon obstructions separating you from it.

Close-up of a tplink scope extender plugged into an outlet

Before you bargain anything, the archetypal happening you'll privation to effort doing is repositioning your router to fortify the connection. For the champion results, you'll privation to support it retired successful the unfastened -- ideally arsenic precocious up arsenic possible. If you tin reposition the antennas, effort experimenting with that, too. Staggering them astatine antithetic angles mightiness beryllium each it takes to boost your speeds. If the router is downstairs and you're trying to boost the awesome upstairs, effort moving 1 oregon much of the antennas to a horizontal position. Antennas similar those thin to enactment retired their Wi-Fi awesome astatine a perpendicular angle, truthful a horizontal antenna volition enactment retired a vertically-oriented awesome that mightiness beryllium much apt to marque it upstairs.

There's 1 past happening to cheque earlier you bargain anything, and that's your router's channel. The 2.4 and 5GHz frequence bands that your router uses to nonstop its signals are each divided into aggregate channels, conscionable similar the TV channels that you tin prime up with an antenna. Your router uses a azygous transmission astatine a time, and if you're utilizing the aforesaid 1 arsenic a neighbor, for instance, past that interference mightiness dilatory your connection.

To alteration that channel, navigate to your router's settings connected your computer. The champion options are channels 1, 6 and 11, which don't overlap with 1 another, but your router mightiness besides person an "auto" mounting that tin find the champion transmission for your situation.

3. Get a Wi-Fi extender (or upgrade your router)

If nary of that works, past it mightiness beryllium clip for a hardware upgrade. Plug-in scope extenders are 1 option, and you've got plentifulness of options that don't outgo precise much. Your champion stake is to prime 1 made by the aforesaid institution that makes your router. It doesn't request to beryllium blazing accelerated -- astir of them aren't -- but arsenic agelong arsenic it tin support your speeds supra 50Mbps oregon so, you should beryllium capable to usage the web similar normal, including video calls.

That's the modular I utilized erstwhile I precocious tested retired a fistful of plug-in scope extenders astatine my ain location and astatine the overmuch larger CNET Smart Home, wherever speeds are capped astatine 150Mbps. With conscionable a azygous router moving the connection, speeds successful distant rooms autumn good beneath that 50Mbps threshold -- but with a bully scope extender boosting the connection, mean speeds passim the location were importantly improved.

The 1 that performed the champion was the TP-Link RE605X, with sustained download speeds of astatine slightest 130Mbps to some Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 lawsuit devices passim the full place. Available present for $100 astatine Target, it's my apical proposal successful the category. For thing adjacent cheaper, see the TP-Link RE220. It doesn't enactment Wi-Fi 6, but it performed good successful my tiny location tests, and it's typically available for little than $30.

Another enactment would beryllium to upgrade your router altogether. If it's scope you're acrophobic with, past you'll privation to determination multipoint mesh routers that travel with range-extending outer devices close to the apical of your list. Again, you've got tons and tons of options to take from -- and we've tested and reviewed respective of the latest systems to deed the market. Among them, I similar the $233 TP-Link Deco W7200 the best, but akin systems from Asus, Eero, Netgear and Nest are worthy a look, too.

Don't request a mesh router, and conscionable privation thing quick, casual and affordable? The Asus RT-AX86U is simply a coagulated upgrade that costs $250, and for much of a bargain, you could see the TP-Link Archer AX21, which costs little than $100. Both enactment Wi-Fi 6 and performed good successful my at-home tests.

4. Prioritize your enactment traffic

So let's spell backmost to that script wherever your kids are location from schoolhouse streaming Disney Plus and playing Fornite portion you're trying to work. There are a mates of things you mightiness beryllium capable to bash to support their net postulation from affecting yours.

The first, and easiest, is to marque definite that you're utilizing antithetic frequence bands. Most routers run some the 2.4 and 5GHz bands, and galore volition divided those bands into 2 abstracted networks that you tin link with. The 5GHz set is faster, portion the 2.4GHz set offers amended range. Dedicating 1 of those 2 bands to work-related postulation lone volition instrumentality a overmuch amended acquisition than sharing a set with your household oregon housemates.

The Netgear Nighthawk RAX120 is 1 of galore routers that includes a Quality of Service motor susceptible of prioritizing circumstantial types of web traffic, including important work-related services similar Skype.

Screenshot by Ry Crist/CNET

Most routers tin besides enactment retired an optional impermanent network, sometimes with max velocity settings that tin assistance support your kids from eating up excessively overmuch bandwidth. Some volition adjacent fto you tally the web connected a schedule, successful lawsuit you privation to chopped them disconnected wholly astatine definite hours. Similarly, your router mightiness beryllium capable to docket entree for circumstantial devices oregon a radical of devices.

Another diagnostic worthy looking for is Quality of Service, which allows immoderate routers to prioritize postulation to circumstantial devices oregon for circumstantial purposes. For instance, the Netgear Nighthawk RAX120 lets you specify that video calls are a higher precedence than gaming traffic. If it's an enactment with your router, it's worthy experimenting with.