Laptops Arena

If you usually surf the Internet using a WiFi connection, there are high chances that you are connected to the Internet at a speed that is less than what you should get from your service provider, due to loss of wireless signal. There are two good methods to keep the original signal at its original strength, and maybe even boost it.



The simplest solution to have a stronger wireless signal is to reposition your router (or the access point), in such a position to avoid obstructions and any radio interference. These are the main influence factors that can change the range of WiFi network equipment, and the have a negative influence, as in reducing the signal's strength. You can also replace the antenna on your router (access point) with a more powerful one.

If you have a large residence, maybe you need two access point, because of the large area you need to cover with wireless signal. For example, if you need wireless signal in a large business area, or in a hotel or you just have a big house, you should connect your primary wireless router to the second one with Ethernet cable. Home routers (wireless ones) and access points don't communicate with each other directly.

A bidirectional WiFi signal amplifier would make the situation better also. These laptop wireless signal boosters, added to a router, access point or WiFi client amplify the wireless signal in both directions, transmit and receive. Other possibility is to use a wireless repeater, which is an independent unit position in the range of a wireless router, and they serve as a two-way relay station for WiFi signals. Clients which are too far from the original access point, they can associate with the signal from the repeater.

Updates are very important to the router firmware or your laptop's network adapter, so you should update the software from time to time. The updates should be done to fix bugs, increase performance and reliability and sometimes add new features. It is a great idea to stay up to date with the latest releases and you can use software like RadarSync to easily update, automatically, your computer's drivers at a glance.

Another important aspect is the compatibility between the pieces of equipment you use, and it is often a big problem in the two way transmissions. It would be good if you bought the adapter and the router from the same company. Some companies have embedded enhancements that improve speed or signal strength when everything is from the same producer.

WiFi routers use the radio frequency of 2.4 Ghz and many other households may use the same frequency or some close to this value frequencies (cordless phones for example, or microwave ovens). The channel, in this situation, becomes bogged down because of the excessive traffic which slows down the connection. In the U.S., very interesting, routers have a set of11 channels and usually the default is channel number 6.

Changing the channel might improve the quality of the wireless signal and there are some applications which allow you to make changes on your wireless connection's settings. Many people use NetStumbler, a tool for wireless networking which, among other options, offers you the possibility to switch your wifi channel.