Getting the best WiFi signal around your house

If you’ve got slow or no internet access in certain rooms of your home, it’s not your broadband connection letting you down, it’s your WiFi.

Although we provide a high speed connection to your house, it is your internal network and WiFi which carry the signal around the property.

WiFi problems can be really frustrating - especially when there are a number of people living together. But when you have brilliant broadband like Wessex Internet’s full fibre or wireless services, you want everyone to be able to use it in every room at the same time, not have the kids complaining that movies keep buffering in their bedroom.

Unfortunately the solid stone walls of many of our countryside homes are probably not helping the issue. But help is at hand, and most connection issues are easily fixed.

Which room is your hub in?

Many of us keep our broadband hubs or routers in the corner of the house - maybe on a windowsill to avoid too many wires. But this means your hub will struggle to get signal to the other side of the house as too many walls are in the way. If you can, move it to a room more centrally located to help you get more even coverage across your home.

Think height

It may be tempting to put your hub behind the sofa or under a table to keep it out of the way/out of sight, but height matters. By placing your hub on something that is eye level or higher you have a much better chance of getting a strong signal upstairs. Don’t forget that sofa or table are both big physical barriers that can block the signal too.

Take it off the desk/TV stand

Many of us like to put all our devices together, but that’s actually the worst thing you can do. Putting your hub on the TV stand, or on your home office desk, near a cordless phone or a printer, is not a good idea. Electronic devices like TVs, radio, printers, cordless phones and even microwaves, all emit their own wireless signals that can interfere with your WiFi signal.

Change the WiFi channel

If it’s not possible to improve where your hub is positioned in the house, changing the WiFi band may help. All of our latest hubs are dual-band. That means they support both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands.

Generally 2.4GHz is good for transmitting a strong signal across a large area in your home, but interference can be a problem. If you have lots of devices such as wireless speakers, baby monitors or other Bluetooth devices you could have a problem with interference and switching to the 5GHz channel may help. On the other hand, 5GHz is less able to travel long distances through thick walls.

Each device in your house, including laptops, televisions, and games consoles has the opportunity to choose one band or the other. It’s easy to switch, you just have to find the settings on your device and select either WessexIntxxx5G or WessexInt_xxx depending on which has more bars of signal.

If you don’t see both options, it might be that your device only supports one or the other. If you are unsure, you’re always welcome to get in touch with us.

Does your connection drop at specific times?

What may seem random could actually be a pattern. Is your connection dropping when you use the microwave or an old TV upstairs is switched on? Or do your WiFi problems get worse in the evenings when more people are using the Internet?

Changing the WiFi band will help with many of these interference problems, but do keep an eye out for problems caused by any really old devices in your house.

Beware of extenders

Low cost WiFi extenders may seem like a solution, but they’re not without problems too. Some models can cause slower network speeds.

Also, with traditional extenders, each one will create a separate WiFi network and to move from one to the other will mean changing networks on your device. This means your connection can drop out as you move around your house with your mobile or tablet.

Total WiFi

Most WiFi issues can be solved by moving your hub to a better position or changing WiFi band, but if you have tried these but still have WiFi dead zones around your house, our Total WiFi service may be the answer.

More than just a booster or extender, our Total WiFi service provides a seamless network across your house, giving you faster speeds and a stronger signal in every single room. Find out more here.