Here at The Bunch, our job is to help remove some of those mundane stresses of student life, and what is more stressful than having slow Wi-Fi whilst trying to complete your degree online? If you have been experiencing irritably bad Wi-Fi signal whilst watching a lecture, doing research or whilst in a tutorial, then look no further; this post is for you! Below are eight ways to improve your Wi-Fi connection for no (or very little) cost.
1. Move your router
The location of your router has more of an impact on your Wi-Fi connection than you would think! The reason why your housemate might be getting a better connection than you is because of the placement of your router. You should try and put the router in the middle of the house so that the signal can reach each room. This should improve your Wi-Fi (and your housemates).
2. Avoid obstructions
It is best to have your router off the floor, and on a shelf or a table, as the Wi-Fi will have more reach this way. Another way to improve connection is to keep your router out in the open, and keep doors open between rooms to allow a smooth connection from the router to your devices.
3. Mobile phones
If you can, whilst you are studying online switch your phone on to 4G. This will mean that there are less devices connected to the router, allowing for a faster connection. Another trick you can do with your mobile is to end sessions in apps that may be using the internet in the background, even when you are not active on them.
4. Update your router’s settings
If you haven’t updated your router in a while, you might be able to update it’s firmware, allowing for a faster and more stable connection. If you take a look at your router’s manual, it will give you instructions on how to do this, or go to your providers website for more information. The software of routers are constantly being improved to enhance the functionality of them, so updating your router might be the way to go!
5. Changing channels
Believe it or not, living in a densely populated place (like most student areas) can interfere with your wireless signal, as there is more chance for interference. Wi-Fi routers use channels to connect with different devices and signals from other networks can interfere with the speed of your Wi-Fi if they are on the same channel as you. This means if other houses around you are on the same channel, this can cause congestion and reduced speeds. A new router will try to automatically choose the least busy channel, but if you have an old or cheap router you may have to do this manually.
6. Boost boost boost to improve your Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi boosters are an easy way to speed up connections all around the house, and they can be purchased easily online from websites such as Amazon. Here at The Bunch we recommend the TP-LINK, which is only £34.99 on the Currys website.
7. Plugging in
Plugging an ethernet cable from your device straight into the router is another way to pick up your internet speeds. These are widely available on the internet and the one which we recommend is from Kabel Direct and available on Amazon for just over a tenner!
