Firstly we need to give thanks to the development in radio communications that has made us live in an unplugged world. Often we cannot, or rather do not want to, think of wired internet any more. It has become a thing of the distant past. With the increasing innovation in the technical world, the majority of us enjoy wireless internet access.
Today’s wireless networking systems are easy to set up but whether it is easy to manage or not is a big question. One of the major problems encountered by the majority of the wireless internet users is a weak Wi-Fi signal which prevents a good data transmission speed, causing connectivity problems. This can be a big issue if you are working remotely or gaming on a laptop.
Next time you have some urgent work to get done and find your laptop’s wireless networking capabilities extremely slow or cannot find a signal, here are a few important things you can implement to boost your laptop’s wireless capabilities to the next level.
#1. Upgrade your wireless hardware: Recent laptops are equipped with 802.11g or 802.11n Wi-Fi circuitry and if your router is an 802.11b device that is the speed that you will receive. Therefore, upgrade your wireless hardware so that it matches the capabilities of your laptop. Nowadays, with the increasing capabilities of the wireless connection, the price of the wireless equipment like any other technology have invariably gone down.
#2. Expand or repeat the Wi-Fi signal. To add more strength to the connection a wireless amplifier, also called a repeater or range expander, can be an advantage that picks up signals from the router and then retransmits it. To make the best use of the wireless amplifier place it somewhere near the edge of the existing signal. The device then rebroadcasts the signal to cover other areas for the connection.
#3. Upgrade the standard antenna of the router from the omnidirectional design. The significance of the Omni antenna is to provide a signal in all directions. This directional signal allows you to target the location where you want the signal. However, check with the manufacturer or electronic suppliers to learn more information about purchasing a replacement antenna.
#4. Install an external adpater. If you want to boost the capabilities of your older laptop’s wireless hardware, simply disable its built-in Wi-Fi circuit and antenna and install an external adapter. This usually comes with a large antenna and uses the up-to-date technologies. You can plug the external Wi-Fi devices directly into your laptop’s USB port or attach to it by a cable.
#5. Change your wireless channel for firmware. Wireless signals get broadcast on several channels. If one channel seems to provide a lot of interference change the channel through the router or access point’s configuration settings. However, if the problem still persists, completely reconfigure the router or access point using Linux based firmware or a DD-WRT program. But make sure that the equipment is compatible with the new firmware.
#6. Reposition your equipment for better Wi-Fi capabilities in your laptop. Try to place your router or access point in a central location, preferably where the signal will not be congested by thick walls or obstructing furniture. Also avoid placing your router or access point near any metal surfaces. Metals interfere with the signal broadcaster.
#7. Check transmission power settings – as some network adapters support the connection by adjusting their transmission power. This setting can be adjusted through the adapter’s driver interface program with other wireless profile settings and Wi-Fi channel number. To ensure the strongest signal possible set the transmission power to maximum or 100%. However, if your laptop is being run in a power saving mode, this setting will automatically decrease the adapter’s range and signal strength
#8. Disable the network hogs that run in the background. Always check how many apps are running in the background of the normal user’s laptop. It is no surprise that background tasks can be the cause of a slowdown. Disable unused applications or notifications to maximize primary task speed.
No matter how long you use your wireless laptop, following the above mentioned tips will certainly help you to enhance the Wi-Fi capabilities in your laptop.
Images: ”Wifi Laptop Showing Hotspot Wi-fi Access Or Connection / Shutterstock.com“
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