How to upgrade speed for wifi?
How to upgrade speed for wifi?
Hi everyone, I’m new to networking and haven’t really understood it before. I’m facing some signal issues where my strength fluctuates between 2/4 and full, but my download speeds are much lower than expected—around 13.2 Mbps down and 8.5 Mbps up on my phone. On my laptop, I see speeds of 210.2 Mbps down and 94.2 Mbps up when using the same app. My setup looks like this: I have uploaded photos of my router and switch. My home is three floors up, with the ISP router on the first floor, connected to a switch that links to a second-floor router. When testing near the second floor, speeds drop to about 20 Mbps down and 24 Mbps up. I’m not sure if this is due to distance or interference. I have no fixed budget, just want something effective. My network uses Cat 5e. Any tips to boost both speed and stability?
Do you operate in the 2.4 GHz frequency range or the 5 GHz spectrum? With your gigabit connection, you're experiencing speeds between 10 to 40 Mb/s on the 2.4 GHz band.
The 5 GHz option is significantly quicker but offers a shorter coverage area. You need to activate it on your router, which involves entering the internal IP address in the browser—like 192.168.1.1 for me, and all internal addresses begin with 192.168. Then connect your devices (some older models might not support this).
I doubt the device from my ISP supports 5GHz. The manual doesn’t mention any options for adjusting settings, so it might be worth upgrading if you want full performance.
You could purchase an access point for your third floor and link it to your router. Your Wi-Fi devices would then connect via that instead. I took a closer look and found a suitable option for your budget at https://gadgets-reviews.com/review/838-b...oints.html. The NETGEAR AC1200 Dual Band Wireless Access Point (WAC104) is listed as $20 used on Amazon Warehouse. It offers 300Mbps on 2.4 GHz and 867Mbps on 5 GHz. Just run a cable from your router to the access point and set it up—should be straightforward. You’re likely to locate something similar in your area too.
You have an outdated single-band router that only supports 802.11n. For better Wi-Fi performance, consider upgrading to a newer standard like 802.11ac or ax, which also operate in the 5 GHz band. To improve coverage in larger spaces, adding a wired access point can help, especially on floors like the third level. Signal quality is poor with regular antennas in the vertical direction, so avoid placing them near walls or obstacles.