6 factors that affect WiFi speed

Slow Internet access is almost the most frequent topic for each broadband operator to receive complaints from customers. Research has shown that most consumers currently use WiFi speed is generally only about 50% of its router bandwidth limit.

WiFi speed does not meet expectations, with these six factors.

1. WiFi Signal Congestion

When a user accesses a network via WiFi, it is like listening to a radio station, using a fixed-frequency wireless band, so how much similar signal launches and receiving devices around the user's area can have a significant impact on the WiFi experience.

Steve Biddle, a New Zealand engineer who has studied wireless hotspots, wrote last week that "if you live in a central apartment building in the middle of the city, and there are hundreds of wireless networks in the building, this is almost the worst WiFi environment. ”

Even if the WiFi signal on your phone is full, the actual WiFi signal may also be very slow, and including mobile phones, cordless phones, microwave Shanghai, Bluetooth devices and even wireless baby monitoring devices can affect the quality of WiFi signals.

　2. The device cannot send or receive data at the same time

Because WiFi signals cannot send and receive data at the same time, this means that the network access mode will generate more data latency than other methods. Moreover, many people using the same WiFi channel also have a significant impact on the WiFi signal strength.

In fact, your router can usually use hundreds of WiFi channels, but most people simply adjust the choice of router channel to "automatic" mode, so most people are using the 2.4GHZ frequency channel that is now unusually congested. In addition, if you are in a region where the network is abundant, your router will continue to look for the best network channel, which will also create network latency, and this is not a problem that broadband operators can solve.

　3. Inborn defects

Regardless of the future improvement of WiFi technology, wireless connectivity will be difficult to exceed the existing wired Internet access mode.

WiFi will not completely replace the wired Internet connection, it is just a more convenient networking solution.

　　4. Background work

If the WiFi speed is still not improving after all of the above factors are eliminated, check to see if your software is synchronizing data and photos automatically. In fact, these applications, including the world's largest integrated digital distribution platform, steam, Netflix and BitTorrent, will transfer files in the background, which can greatly affect the user's WiFi speed. And since most of these applications work silently in the background, many users simply can't remember their existence.

　5. Router Location

The location of the wireless router has a great effect on the signal strength. For example, if you put a router on a concrete wall, its signal strength will be greatly compromised. If possible, the best placement of the router is naturally in the middle of the room ceiling (of course, many consumers do not have such a condition).

6. Connection Equipment Difference

Don't be surprised if your iphone 3G WiFi connection is no faster than the iphone 6, because the connection speed of WiFi is also related to the processing speed of the connecting device.

Four recommendations :

1. Upgrade your router device to a dual-band router that can support both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies. It should be noted, however, that the 5GHz frequency signal has less wall-piercing capability than 2.4GHz, and that many older devices do not support this WiFi frequency.

2. Check the WiFi channel usage in the area through the Channel Viewer, then choose the more unblocked channel to use.

3. If you have an idle wireless router on hand, consider using a wireless signal relay, or amplification to enhance the indoor WiFi signal strength.

4. If your router has a choice of different power schemes, such as high power and low power, the usual low-power use scheme will have better WiFi signal strength.