Remember the days where you had to wait for someone to get off the phone so that you could connect to the internet?
We might have moved quite a way on from that, but we do still get the occasional connection problems with todays Wi-Fi.
Over recent years we’ve seen internet speeds and Wi-Fi improve massively. Wireless connections are now more reliable than they ever have been, and data speeds are faster.
Unfortunately though, that doesn’t mean there’s never an issue. I used to work from a well known coffee shop a few afternoons a week while my little boy was at pre-school and I can say first hand that Wi-Fi isn’t without issue, whether it’s slow to load or just no connection, sometimes it just doesn’t do what you want it to.
Below are the most common problems you’ll encounter with your home network internet and how you can fix them.
S L O W Connection
This is a common problem and even though the speeds reaching most homes are getting faster and faster, wireless networks can get still get bogged down. You’ll likely find that your internet connection is still working, but it’s just the speeds that are slower than normal. Luckily there is usually a completely logical explanation that is quite straightforward to fix.
Cause: The most obvious (and probably more straightforward) problem with slow Wi-Fi speeds is being physically too far away from the router. The further you and your device are from the router, the more unreliable the connection will be.
Fix: It’s pretty simple… In the words of Phyllis Nelson, moooooove closerrrrrr. Get a bit closer to the router. If it’s in a different room, then try moving into that room and see if it speeds up. If this is an issue that frequently annoys you, and stops you connecting from where you want to, then try moving the router to a better spot. Try putting it in the most centralised location possible within your home, up high, perhaps on a shelf, and away from any other devices which could cause interference. (We’ve got a few blogs which touch on interference and what to avoid when placing your router). If that doesn’t fix the problem, then you could also consider extending the reach of your network by purchasing a second router and a set of powerline network adapters.
Cause: Another potential cause of slowdowns is a lack of bandwidth. If everyone is at home and sitting scrolling through their social networks on their phone, working on their computers, and catching up with a boxset on tv, all of these data-hungry applications will be causing your typically speedy internet to be spread rather thin.
Fix: If there are any devices which aren’t actively being used, then disconnect these. If you’ve got multiple people all trying to stream videos from Netflix, and someone else trying to game online, you could try connecting one or more of their devices directly to the router using a Cat-5 ethernet cable. This would free up some of the wireless bandwidth. If that doesn’t help, then unfortunately the problem may just be that you don’t have fast enough internet speeds to support everything at once. Perhaps you could suggest a family boardgame or a walk outside instead…
There is also a sneakier possible reason for the slowness, and that’s the chance that someone nearby, perhaps a neighbour, is leeching off your Internet. This is entirely preventable – Make sure you stay on top of your setup security, always have your network password protected, and only give it out sparingly.
Cause: Interference. We’ve blogged about this issue a couple of times and it can be a real problem. If you live in a crowded area then this issue is a very real possibility, but there are ways around it. Most people leave their settings unchanged when they initially set up their internet. Default wireless frequency channels (for example 1, 6 and 11) become very over-used.
Fix: Nowadays, we as a consumer are lucky with many newer model routers being capable of automatically selecting the least crowded frequencies upon rebooting. To check this, perform a power cycle on your router. You can also change them manually by logging in to the admin panel and choosing a different channel.In addition to this, if you have a dual-band router, you could try enabling both 2.4GHz and 5GHz. You can use the 5GHz channel for your most important connections.
Cause: Unfortunately, internet speeds during peak hours can slow for everyone, especially, again, in crowded, urban areas.
Fix: The down side to this is there’s not really a great deal you can do about it. If you can try to schedule your internet usage outside of peak hours then obviously that will help, but probably not always possible.
Cause: With wireless technology changing all the time, and having improved enormously over the last decade, you’ll be forgiven for not realising that the problem is simply an outdated router. New wireless standards have been put in place, speeds are faster than ever, fiber is being offered in more areas and devices you never thought would require an Internet connection now need Wi-Fi who’d have thought you’d be connecting your lights and fridge to the internet?
Fix: If you suspect that the router may be the issue, then it might be time to raid the piggy bank and invest in a new one. Best practice is to upgrade your router about every two years and can help you avoid certain issues altogether.
No Internet Connection
Cause: Every now and again, there’ll be a glitch in the matrix and the router or modem (or a combination or both) just stop communicating with each other. Annoyingly, there isn’t always an explanation, it’s just one of those things.
Fix: First and foremost – Try pulling the plug. Disconnect the modem and the router from power and wait at least 30 seconds before restoring power to both. More often than not, this will sort the problem and get everyone talking again.
Cause: Another common problem is the connection dropping completely, and not due to a hardware issue or anything like that, but rather a massive service outage.
Fix: This again, is one of those things that you unfortunately can’t do much about. Head to the nearest coffee shop (hopefully not the one I previously mentioned…) or get on the phone with your Internet service provider (ISP) and tell them affected. Whilst this frustratingly won’t do a lot to speed up the recovery time and get you back online, it will help the ISP know more about which areas are affected by an outage.
Hopefully one of these fixes will have fixed your Wi-Fi issue!
