Your Guide to Getting the Best Whole-House WiFi Coverage
When you live in a big household or have a large workplace, regular WiFi might not cover the entire area. It might have obstructions completely blocking off WiFi signals or diminishing the signal, making it unreliable.
Whole-house WiFi can help you reach a much wider range than regular WiFi can, allowing other people to take advantage of your WiFi connection more effectively. Let’s take a look at the best way to get whole-house WiFi coverage for your home or workplace.
Understanding your home’s WiFi coverage needs
Before anything else, you should take your space as a whole into account. When you set up a WiFi router, solid obstacles like thick walls, large furniture, and mirrors can make the signal weaker or completely block it off.
Ideally, your WiFi router should be set up in a place where it can reach your devices by avoiding as many walls, furniture, and objects as possible. For this, you estimate when, where, and how many devices are going to be connected to your WiFi at any given time. Also, take into account your workspace if you’re working from home.
The role of fiber internet in enhancing WiFi coverage
Fiber optic internet is faster, safer, and more reliable than any other type of internet connection. Fiber optic internet is significantly faster than any cable or DSL connection by a large margin while also being more stable and secure.
To take full advantage of your space’s WiFi coverage potential, you should be using a fast and reliable internet connection from a reputable ISP.
Router placement and other tactics for maximum coverage
One of the best ways to improve your internet speed and connection stability for WiFi is to have a proper router placement. Placing your WiFi router in a central location rather than at the corner of a house or workplace can greatly improve range and speed across every room. However, avoiding obstructions is just as important when placing your router to avoid weak signals.
You can walk around rooms with your smartphone connected to your WiFi and check the signal strength to test the places with the best and worst signal strength. If you find that the signal is still too weak, you can try using a mesh network to improve the signal.
Mesh Networks and WiFi Repeaters
A mesh network is a wireless network of several nodes (devices) that connect to each other to boost and spread the signal. Every node connects to each other, communicating via the network to improve the signal in the most optimal way.
Mesh networks are great for easily scaling up your home or workplace WiFi. It adds extra access points with strong signals, so you can fully use your WiFi from anywhere, even if there are some obstructions along the way.
Meanwhile, WiFi repeaters have the same end goal as mesh networks, but they work in different ways. WiFi repeaters are a single device that receives the signal and then simply rebroadcasts it. This means that your repeater should also be placed in an obstruction-free location and should have no obstructions between itself and the original WiFi router.
Both options are great if you want to improve your WiFi signal. Mesh networks have a higher upfront cost but are considerably easier to setup and manage, with lower maintenance costs. Due to that, it’s the best choice out of the two.
Making the most out of your WiFi
The primary goal of a WiFi network is to have a flexible internet connection across a wide area. By placing the router in the correct place and taking into account where your devices will connect, you can greatly improve your overall network signal for every device.
In addition to our tips on how to extend WiFi range, you should also consider changing to an internet plan that can improve your network even more. With Fidium Fiber’s fiber optic internet plans, your WiFi can improve even more, so reach out to us for more information.