If your network keeps dropping, your files take a long time to download, and your favorite online game loses connection to the server, here are three simple tips to fix it.
Lifehack 1: Separate the 2.4 and 5 GHz networks
Today’s routers are dual-band: they can transmit on 2.4 GHz (WLAN b/g/n) or 5 GHz (WLAN ac) frequencies.
Routing at home: how to choose a router?
Eliminate Internet interference can be done by distributing devices to different frequencies. Figure out which of the devices on your network can catch 5 GHz Wi-Fi. This is usually spelled out in the specifications.
Then go into your router settings and create two different Wi-Fi spots instead of one. Let one point operate at 2.4 GHz and the other at 5 GHz. The instructions for creating a hotspot are different for each router, so we won’t recommend anything here.
Accelerating Wi-Fi: How to find a free channel and forget about failures
Select the Wi-Fi frequency in the MikroTik router settings. After that, connect the devices that support WLAN ac to the 5 GHz point, and the others to the 2.4 GHz point. This will speed up the signal for the “5GHz” devices and greatly clear the channel for the “2GHz” devices. The Internet will be much more stable.
Lifehack 2: Find a free 2.4 GHz channel from your mobile device
Those devices that don’t operate on the 5 GHz frequency can also be given a separate Wi-Fi band so that they get a fair share of the signal. You can use the Open Source Wi-Fi Analyzer mobile app to identify it. There are many such apps, but we chose the one that supports Android 9.0 Pie.
Open the app and be horrified at how many networks in a single apartment building are simultaneously using 2.4GHz Wi-Fi (available in the Channel Graph menu):
Boosting Wi-Fi: How to find a free channel and forget about glitches
- Go to the Channel Assessment menu and look at the list. Those 2.4 GHz channels with the most asterisks have the least overlap with your neighbors’ networks. In our case, those are the channels at the end of the list – from 10 to 13.
- Go into your router’s settings and configure your 2.4GHz hotspot to work on one of the least busy channels. This procedure is specific to each router – find out how to do it on yours.
Lifehack 3: Find a free channel from your PC
If you don’t have a smartphone, you can find a free Wi-Fi channel from a personal computer or laptop (if you connect it to the Internet via Wi-Fi).
There’s a free WiFi Analyzer app for Windows 8/10. You can install it right from the Windows store.
The app on the Analysis tab displays the same channel congestion graphs as the mobile app. Overloaded channels are shown in bold.
Go to your router’s settings and switch your 2.4 GHz access point to one of the free channels. Your connection will be much more stable!