8 Tips to Enhance Your WiFi Network Efficiency
Chances are respectable you loaded this page over a WiFi network-- or, as it is much better known in my home, that $# & * #$!! WiFi network. That's since our cordless network constantly chooses the worst possible time to crap out, like when we're getting to the thrilling climax of House of Cards on Netflix.
Still, it's better than it used to be. I have actually learned a couple of WiFi tricks throughout the years, and asked some folks who understand more than I provide for a few more. If you're happy with your existing WiFi setup, that's fine. But if you yearn for quicker speeds, more trusted efficiency, or to simply get more usage from your network, try the following 8 pointers.
1. Get up to speed.
Initially, let's go over some fundamentals. (If you're already a WiFi wonk, you can skip this paragraph.) WiFi does not really mean "wireless fidelity." Its genuine name is a number: 802.11, the technical standard for wireless networks initially established by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 1997. That number is always accompanied by a letter (like a, b, g, or n) that indicates which variation it is. Usually speaking, each new variation of 802.11 is faster and more trustworthy than the last, but "higher" letters don't constantly mean faster speed. For example, 802.11 a is faster than 802.11 b. Go figure.
2. Prepare to pony up.
The most recent WiFi basic, 802.11 air conditioner, is approximately three times faster than the previous champ, 802.11 n. In geek-speak, each 802.11 ac antenna can go up to 1,300 megabits of information per second (vs. a max of roughly 450 megabits for n). So I'll simply get this out of the way: The simplest and fastest method to get more performance from your WiFi network is to buy a brand-new 802.11 ac router.
Older phones and laptops will work great with newer routers, though they will not have the ability to take advantage of the speed or other new features.
However the best 802.11 ac routers aren't inexpensive. You can expect to drop from $100 to $300 on a brand-new one. (Or, if you're a T-Mobile client, you can get a free Personal CellSpot that's actually an ASUS air conditioning router.).
