Internet Speed Drop Inside: If you live in most parts of Bangladesh (especially Dhaka) and step outside, you’ll notice that your internet connection is much faster than inside. You may also pay for a high-speed broadband internet connection, but find that it is still not fast enough at home. The problematic factor isn’t necessarily with your internet service provider; rather, it’s typically related to the environment.
Reasons Why Your Internet Doesn’t Work Well Indoors
Thick Walls
In Bangladesh, most homes use brick and concrete for their construction — great for durability but not so great for transmitting WiFi signals. These types of materials block and absorb signals and are especially problematic when the wireless router is in a different room.
Too Many Networks
It is common to find many different WiFi networks running at the same time on many apartment building floors, and most of these networks share the same 2.4 GHz frequency (i.e., frequency interferes with one another), making it very difficult to retrieve a good signal from your network.
Old Routers
Many homes in Bangladesh are using low-cost wireless routers that cannot handle higher-speed internet connections. Therefore, if you subscribe to an internet service that has speeds of 50 —100 Mbps, that plan is limited by the ability of your wireless router, so you only receive about 20 —30 Mbps.
Distance
As you get farther away from the wireless router, the WiFi signal gets weaker. With the addition of walls and pieces of furniture placed around your living space, the signal gets weaker and therefore slower.
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Top 3 Hacks to Boost Your WiFi Signal
1. Position Your Router Appropriately
- This is an easy solution to an otherwise common problem.
- Locate your router in a central area (if possible).
- Place it on a shelf or high spot so that the signal can travel freely.
Avoid having walls or other materials (e.g. metallic items, microwaves, etc) between the router and any intended use of the device.
This means you also don’t want to place it in a corner or inside a closed cabinet. A small change to the router’s location could produce a large increase in performance.
2. Change from 2.4 GHz to 5 GHz Band and Use More Optimal Channels
If your router is dual-band, it should allow you to use the 5GHz frequency because it has less congestion than the 2.4GHz frequency and is faster than using the 2.4GHz frequency, plus it is a better option for video streaming and gaming.
You can also monitor the level of congestion on each band and each channel by using the WiFi Analyser app. If you find that the 2.4GHz channels are congested, you can try using channels 1, 6, or 11 to see if the performance improves, as these channels are considered optimal for 2.4GHz.
3. Place a WiFi Extender from Device to Endless Coverage
With there being so many rooms in a house, it’s possible that only using a single router may not be enough.
If your home can benefit from multiple routers, using devices such as the TP-Link RE200 or Cudy RE300 has been shown to help provide WiFi coverage throughout the home by transmitting the signal through walls and effectively enhancing it in the areas with the weakest coverage.
Summary
Slow speed Wi-Fi is a very common issue; however, you don’t always need to go out and get a new Internet connection. By utilising some simple and smarter techniques to utilise your Wi-Fi connection, you’ll likely see a significantly greater experience while using your Wi-Fi to browse the Internet, stream videos and/or game. Try any of these three solutions, and I feel confident that you will see an improvement in your experience on a daily basis.
