How to Improve Your Home Network’s Wi-Fi Performance
Be Wary of Wireless Solutions that Promise Too Much
When it comes to networking and connectivity, you might think it's a wireless world. Just think about all you can do with your smartphone, untethered to any wires – and all those smart devices at home, from smart speakers to smart TVs that connect wirelessly to a huge fountain of information and entertainment.
Yet all that high-speed wireless connectivity is helped by more than a few wires. In fact, a couple of wired connections can significantly improve the wireless network performance and range of your Las Vegas, NV, home. Keep reading below to see how the right home network installation can maximize your wireless network access and speeds.
SEE ALSO: Upgrade Your Home Network with Higher Speed and Capacity
Wireless Trouble Zones
Many homes have areas where wireless connectivity and/or performance are weak or nonexistent. It has nothing to do with your internet speed, which may be excellent, but with the ability of your router to reach certain parts of your home. Wireless signals can't cut through everything, and too many walls, steel construction, and interference from other signals might cause weak performance in some areas. When the router location is not ideal – that is, centrally located and elevated – wireless performance may suffer.
Wireless Repeaters and Mesh Networks
A couple of highly touted solutions for better home connectivity are wireless repeaters and mesh networks. Both can be effective but not necessarily the cure for all connectivity ills. Wireless repeaters create an access point in a room with a poor wireless signal and then relay that signal back to the router. The problem? The repeater also relies on a wireless signal, and if that area is far from the router or affected by walls and layout, wireless performance won't improve that much. These repeaters also create separate subnetworks, which can also cause problems when devices move around the house, and the device stays locked on the weaker network rather than a stronger one.
Mesh networks create links between mesh nodes on the network, so you can place network access points in various parts of your house. It creates a more distributed approach to connectivity, where the wireless device locks on to the nearest node. The problem here is that these mesh nodes might rely on a wireless “backhaul” network to connect with each other. Again, if your home's layout and construction are a hindrance, this solution may not be the ultimate answer either.
Add a Little Wiring
As networking professionals, we look for the issues related to poor wireless connectivity rather than having a singular approach to every problem. One solution that we have found to be highly effective is strategically located access points (AP) hard-wired back to a router. These APs enjoy a solid, unfettered connection back to the router wherever it's located and offer a strong wireless connection for those areas of your house that have had weak connectivity. Commercial-quality access points can even get power from the ethernet cable that connects them for easier installation with the right setup. This is the type of solution used in many commercial environments, and you can have it in your home too.
Fusion Home Systems can upgrade your home network installation to the performance level you need for today’s connectivity demands. Get started by reaching out to our team today! We look forward to working with you.
