Chicago
Track Your Order
0
5 things you can do to optimize your router for the best performance
- Optimize Wi-Fi bands, channel width, and power levels for best speed and coverage.
- Enable MU-MIMO, OFDMA, and QoS for better device management and consistent connection.
- Update router software, place router centrally and elevated, and consider mesh systems for wider coverage.
For a set of invisible radio waves, it’s impressive just how ingrained Wi-Fi has become in our daily lives. Wi-Fi signal is a bit of an abstract concept for a lot of people, with some routers coming with a slew of large antennas sticking out the back and others sticking to a more compact internal antenna layout. Regardless of the sort of router you have, you want to make sure you’ve optimized your Wi-Fi for the best possible connection throughout your house.
Set your Wi-Fi bands properly
Reduce interference and improve speeds
Most likely, your router offers a dual-band wireless connection using 2.4GHz and 5GHz spectrum. There are multiple channels at each frequency, so multiple routers can coexist without too much interference. Newer high-performance routers, however, use much wider bands, up to 160MHz at 5GHz, so a single router uses up the same spectrum previously used by two routers at 80MHz. Most of our devices still use 5GHz primarily, including smartphones and laptops.
When you’re setting up your Wi-Fi network, some routers allow you to choose the width of the band, which channel it’s using, and sometimes, power levels. For the best possible speed, you’ll want to set your router to the maximum width, which is usually 160MHz. Some older or budget routers will only support 80MHz. One thing to keep in mind is that as you widen your band, you’re reducing your coverage area due to the power levels available to routers. This is one of the reasons you might feel that your old router offered better coverage, even if its speeds were lower.
You can use an app like Wi-Fi Analyzer on Android to see which bands are the most congested in your area. If you’ve got a tri-band router with two 5GHz bands, you can use both the common 5.2GHz channels at the same time as the higher 5.8GHz channels, giving you the best of both worlds. Keep in mind that some older Wi-Fi devices won’t support higher 5GHz channels, so if some of your devices aren’t connecting, you may need to use the lower channels. The same can be said of DFS bands, which are used by RADAR, so if you live close enough to an airport, they may not be available at all.
: Struggling with WiFi? Here Are 6 Reasons to Consider a Mesh System (Debt Free Family)
When it comes to advanced software, every manufacturer takes a slightly different approach, with some offering more settings than others. Mesh systems, for example, offer the fewest settings, so you might not be able to manually change your Wi-Fi channel settings. That being said, many of these systems offer Wi-Fi optimization in the app, which isn’t as reliable as setting your router manually, but should be fine for most people.
Enable MU-MIMO and OFDMA
Don't let congestion slow you down
Newer routers, including most Wi-Fi 6 routers, are adding features like MU-MIMO to help manage a large number of devices at once. MU-MIMO stands for Multiple User, Multiple Input, Multiple Output, and it’s designed to keep speeds consistent across multiple devices using the same Wi-Fi at once. Some routers don’t enable features like this by default, so it’s worth making sure it’s enabled when you set up your router. Some other tech to look out for with Wi-Fi 6 would be OFDMA and QAM, which can slightly modify your wireless signal to avoid slowdown from congestion.
While these features can be helpful, they’re sometimes disabled by default to maximize compatibility. While you can make a new router as fast and advanced as you can, it doesn’t mean anything if your devices can’t support it. Some older devices or those with cheap Wi-Fi components could struggle to connect reliably to Wi-Fi with some of these software features enabled, so your mileage may vary. For the most part, however, most of our tech from the last few years will work just fine with these features enabled, and the speed and connection quality improvements will be worth it.
Enable QoS if you have a slower connection
Your most important devices will be first in line
If you’re frequently maxing out your internet connection with multiple devices accessing the connection at once, you can enable your QoS to keep your network running smoothly. QoS, or quality of service, is software that prioritizes certain devices and services over others. This can be helpful for those who share an internet connection but have some devices that are more important than others, like a work computer during the day, or a gaming console at night.
A QoS isn’t necessarily designed to speed up your connection, but to keep it consistent so you don’t end up with big lag spikes while gaming, or run out of upload speed when trying to share your screen for a work meeting.
Depending on which router you have, your QoS could be as simple as setting which devices are the highest priority or optimizing for specific activities, like gaming or streaming. With your QoS off, the router will deliver data as fast as possible on a first-come, first-serve basis, but may feel unresponsive if your internet connection isn’t keeping up with your bandwidth demands.
Update your software
Fix known issues
If you set up your router with an app and enabled notifications, you’ve likely seen a few router updates before. If you haven’t, it’s a good time to check and make sure your router is running the latest software. Most modern routers make updating easy, with an option in the app or web browser settings to check for and download updates. If there’s no option, you may need to head to the support page for your router’s manufacturer to grab the update file there.
If your router is provided by your ISP, it very likely has automatic updates enabled already, which will apply sometime overnight, often without the customer even noticing. These ISP-provided routers are often fairly locked down in terms of software, but even your ISP wants you to be on the latest software.
While updating your software won’t have a huge direct impact on your Wi-Fi performance, performance issues are often handled with a software update. If TP-Link, for example, finds that one of its routers isn’t performing optimally in a certain kind of setup, it can release an update to patch the issue to keep your network running right, hopefully before you notice any problems.
Get your router off the floor
Don't block your own signal
One of the simplest, cheapest, and most effective improvements you can make to your Wi-Fi network is just making sure your router is in the right place. A router should be placed in the center of your home, which can present a problem for those with inclinations toward interior decorating. As a result, routers often get stuffed behind TVs or furniture, or worse, on the floor.
Even furniture can block Wi-Fi signals, so if you’ve got your router hidden away, you could be giving up a lot of performance. If you can, position your router higher up so its antennas sit higher than most of the furniture, and keep it away from TVs. TVs are large flat panels, sometimes with a large sheet of metal inside, that excel at blocking wireless signals. While it may seem logical to stick your router behind your TV, it’s one of the worst places for it. Besides blocking your signal, things like power supplies and power strips can create interference that can also hurt your signal.
Place your router off the floor on a shelf, or even mounted against the wall. If you’re having trouble reaching a specific room with your Wi-Fi signal, you can also try to find a place for your router that minimizes the number of walls between the router and the destination.
Do not replace your router just yet
If you haven’t touched your Wi-Fi router’s settings since you set it up, you may be able to get a little more life out of it before you need to go out and pick up one of the best Wi-Fi routers. Our Wi-Fi needs are growing by leaps and bounds every year, and the number and type of devices you’re connecting to your network could be quite different than when you first set it up. For example, things like MU-MIMO could be much more important after you’ve added a bunch of smart home devices to your network.
If you’re simply not getting enough coverage with your old router, even after trying these suggestions, then there’s not much you’ll be able to do via settings to improve things. Some routers have power level options, but by default, these are usually set to their maximum allowed value. If you need wider coverage, you will likely want to upgrade to one of the best mesh Wi-Fi systems instead of another router. That being said, a lot of newer routers support some mesh expansion options.
