Not so long ago, configuring a couple of computers so they could talk to each other meant buying expensive hardware, hooking it up to a serial port, or, if you were lucky, Ethernet. But you couldn't just cable them together, oh no.
You needed a router, or was it a hub, or a switch? See what we mean? Those days are long gone, and for that we're all very grateful. That doesn't mean networking is completely free from problems, of course. But at least most of us can set one up and connect to it, and be reasonably confident that it'll still be there in the morning.
While for most of us networking means radio signals rather than cables, there are some occasions when that old Ethernet cable comes in handy; so while the bulk of what we're about to reveal to you will refer to Wi-Fi, we haven't forgotten
Faster networking
Most of us only ever give a thought to our Wi-Fi network when something goes wrong. That something might be a sudden drop-off in signal strength, a reduction in speed, or an inability to connect to the network altogether.
Each of those problems can either be caused by the device you're using, or by the network itself. You can easily check for the former by testing with different devices. It's worth noting, however, that just because you can connect to your Wi-Fi network with one device and not another, this doesn't mean there's a problem with the device.
Router location
Whether we have cable broadband or DSL, most of us have one box that doubles as a modem and router. Its location will be dictated by the location of your phone or cable point, and so you'll be limited in how far you can move it.
Nevertheless, you should, as far as possible, place it well off the floor – either wall-mounted or on a desk or shelf, and as far from the corner of the room as possible. Wireless routers broadcast omni-directionally, and the closer you place yours to an obstacle like a brick wall, the more you'll restrict its signal.
Ideally, you'd have it floating in mid-air just below the ceiling in the room that is closest to the centre of the house! Place it as close to that point as you're able. If your telephone or cable point is in the living room and your study is at the other end of the house, you might have to extend the range of your network or create a new one that has a wired connection to the router – we'll discuss both of these options later.
Surroundings
As we've said, wireless signals are obstructed by walls and other obstacles. Try and keep the area immediately around the router clear of sofas, bookcases, and anything else that might block the signal. If your telephone or cable point is close to the ground in the corner of a room, buy yourself a longer cable and give yourself more flexibility in where you can position the router.
If that's not possible, consider buying a separate wireless router and connecting it to the modem/router with an Ethernet cable. Finally, wireless signals tend to be stronger below the router than above it, so when placing the router, the higher the better.
If you plan to use the same one upstairs and downstairs, consider placing the modem/router upstairs, if possible.
Check the signal
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Both Windows and OS X have tools that allow you to monitor wireless performance. In Windows, click the wireless icon in the notification area, bottom right. A list of networks will appear, with a number of bars representing its strength – the more the better.
On the Mac the tool is hidden away in the System/Library/CoreServices directory. You'll need to use Go To Folder (Command+Shift+G) in the Finder's Go menu to access the directory. The tool is called Wireless Diagnostics. When you've found it, launch it, click the Window menu and select Utilities (Command+2). Click the Performance tab.
Depending on which version you're using, you'll see one or two graphs; both display the signal-to-noise ratio of the wireless signal. You can monitor the effect of any changes you make to router location.
Your aim should be to maximise the difference between signal strength and noise, but focusing on reducing noise. Why? Because most of the time, your wireless network is a direct conduit to your internet connection, and it's the internet connection that acts as a bottleneck, not the signal strength of your wireless network.
An unacceptably high level of noise, on the other hand, can lead to dropped packets, poor performance and dropped connections.
Channel hopping: avoiding interference
Wireless routers broadcast data on a specific channel. In reality, however, data overlaps five adjacent channels. Lots of devices in close proximity, all using the same channels on the 20MHz spectrum, can cause interference.
With only a dozen channels available, options for switching are limited (you'd need to switch a device on channel 6 to channel 11 to benefit). A 40MHz network has channels that are twice as wide but occupy a huge chunk of the spectrum on a 2.4GHz network, and so don't really solve the problem.
A 5GHz network uses channels much further along the spectrum, well away from the channels used on 2.4GHz, and so by putting those devices that support 5GHz at that end of the spectrum, you keep the 2.4GHz channels free for those devices that need them.
Wi-Fi tinkering tips
1. Switching channels
If having scanned local networks you decide to change the channel on your router, don't just move it to the next seemingly available channel. On a 2.4GHz network, routers operate on five channels on narrow band and seven channels on wide band.
They do a pretty good job of sorting themselves out and using the channels efficiently. Changing your router from, say, channel 5 to 6 may do more harm than good. Instead, jump several channels, to 11, or 14 if your router supports it, to avoid the five channels currently in use altogether.
2. Channel width
Modern routers typically default to 40MHz or wide band – which uses seven channels – rather than the five used by 20MHz. However, if there are lots of routers in your neighbourhood using 40MHz, it can cause congestion.
In this case, according to ISP Zen Internet, switching to the 20MHz band can improve the performance of your network by reducing interference.
source : Tech Radar
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