Wi-Fi has become a basic human need. Wherever we go we search for Wi-Fi to connect. So we need Wi-Fi everywhere we go. In our homes, we often use a Wi-Fi router to connect to Wi-Fi. With work from home getting into trend many of us prefer to work outside the home rather than working inside the home. But the problem is having weak Wi-Fi signals outside your home. So in this article, we discuss how to extend the Wi-Fi range outside your home.
Things that decide your Wi-Fi strength
The Wi-Fi range in your home depends on several factors. The type of router you use, type of devices you use, number of devices that are connected to Wi-Fi at the same time are some of them. Besides that, things like where you have placed your router in your home, and the setting of your home is also affect your Wi-Fi range. Here we will describe how to extend your Wi-Fi range outside your home by optimizing some of these factors.
Test your Wi-Fi signal outdoors
Before beginning, you might need to test the Wi-Fi signal outside your home. You can do this easily by installing a Wi-Fi signal strength meter on your mobile phone. You can download one of these apps from the Play Store or apps store. Then you can go to the place where you want to use the internet and check the Wi-Fi strength first. Even you can identify locations in your home where the Wi-Fi strength is good.
How to extend Wi-Fi range by changing the location of the router
One of the best ways to extend your Wi-Fi range is to change the location of the router. Changing the location of the router does not simply mean that you have to plug it outdoors. But you can consider the setting of your house and select an optimal location for your router.
- Choose a room that is close to your garage, or backyard to plug the router.
- Choose a room with windows, and while using the router open the windows.
- Avoid rooms with thick walls.
- Do not place the router on the floor or the top of the wall. Place it on a tabletop or pin it on the wall 4ft above from the floor.
- Keep your router away from other electronic devices if possible.
One of the problems that could occur when you change the router location is that it might result in getting weak signals to other places in your home. So the best thing is to do a signal survey and choose the optimal location for your router to a place where all the rooms in your house get a Wi-Fi signal while you can get a signal outside the house too.
How to extend Wi-Fi range by changing the router
Different routers have different Wi-Fi ranges. If your house is not too big, changing the router does not affect the Wi-Fi signal that much since you will always be in the optimal range of the router signal. But if you have a big house and a big backyard where you want to use Wi-Fi, you may need a Wi-Fi router with more signal strength.
Before you change your router, we strongly suggest that you change the location and check the signal strength by doing a survey using a Wi-Fi signal strength measuring app. Most of the time changing the location of the router fixes the problem. But if you need to change the router look for the following things
- Check the Wi-Fi range of your current router. You can do this by searching the router model of the internet.
- Make sure you have updated the firmware of the router.
- If your router comes with an antenna, connect the antenna to the router.
- Ask your ISP to upgrade your router. Some ISPs do not support some routers.
How to extend Wi-Fi range by using a Wi-Fi extender
A Wi-Fi extender is a device that creates a new Wi-Fi network using the original Wi-Fi network which is provided by your Wi-Fi router. You can buy one of these extenders from the market and set it up as a secondary router so you can extend your Wi-Fi network. But make sure that the extender you buy is compatible with your Wi-Fi router. There are some issues with Wi-Fi extenders such as signal interference but overall, Wi-Fi extender is a decent solution for extending your Wi-Fi range outside your home.
Keep in mind that when you are working outdoors, and if you have a slow connection, the Wi-Fi signal may not be the only issue. Sometimes signals interfere with each other, so when you are further away from the router the network may still be slow. Also if many people are working on the same network, it could drop your internet speed even though you have decent signal strength.
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