Wireless networking has come a long way over the years, and whether it be at home or at the office, you’ll want to have the best possible Wi-Fi experience wherever you are. For many, it’s no secret that setting up your computer is more involved than just unboxing it and pressing the ON button.  Much to this regard, setting up your wireless network now-a-day’s is no different.  Although by taking into consideration WiFi best practices, proper positioning, security, and determining the best hardware, you’ll be well on your way to setting up a fast, and secure wireless network.

Before purchasing any new hardware, its best to first identify the needs of your wireless network.  Take into consideration the amount of wireless traffic your network will need to handle.  Today there are more wireless devices in existence than there has ever been before, and more electronics are starting to come with built in wireless capabilities.  This includes devices like Refrigerators,  Smart TVs, Cars, Smart Thermostats like Nest, and even Bathroom Scales.  All of these devices can connect wirelessly and produce traffic on your network when connected, and that’s before even taking into consideration phones, and wireless computers.  If you find that you have a lot of these IoT (Internet of Things) devices around, then you’ll absolutely want a dual-band router to separate the traffic between these devices and more active ones like phones and computers.

A dual band router will allow you to create a 2.4 GHz wireless network, and a 5 GHz wireless network. The main difference between these two networks is speed and signal strength.  The 5 GHz signal can be up to 2 – 3 times faster than the 2.4 GHz signal, but also has an overall weaker signal strength limiting its range.  With this trade-off in mind, you’ll want to make sure devices like Computers and Phones, which will produce a much more dynamic stream of traffic, be on the 5 GHz network.  This will allow simpler devices that produce less overall traffic to work better on the 2.4 GHz network.  By placing less-demanding devices on the 2.4 GHz signal, it frees up the 5GHz signal to provide the best possible connection to the devices that need it most.

You can further optimize the router for your wireless network by adding a guest-network for less-frequent devices to access.  Many dual-band wireless routers come with the ability to create a guest wireless network, which can allow you to better control devices joining your network that might not belong to you.  A guest-wireless network can allow you to separate off access to particular devices that you may not want on your main wireless network.  It’s also a good idea to impose a bandwidth cap on your guest-wireless network so that guests can’t overburden your network by downloading or streaming content.  Overall, a guest-wireless network is an excellent addition to consider when setting up or optimizing your wireless network.  It’s also important to recognize the differences in Wireless Routers various signal types that are provided, typically classified as 802.11g, 802.11n, or the newer 802.11ac broadcast types.

Here are the various speed and wireless range outputs according to flashrouters.com -

1. Maximum Throughput (Speed)

  • Wireless-G: 54 Mbps
  • Wireless-N: 600 – 900 Mbps
  • Wireless-AC: 1200-530

2. Wireless Range (Radius): 75ft vs up to 200 - 500 ft.

  • Wireless-G: 20 MHz
  • Wireless-N: 40 MHz
  • Wireless-AC: 20/40/80 MHz

 

These are the ranges and speeds to be expected under absolute perfect conditions.  It is important to note that when building your wireless network, having clear line of sight to the router is always best.  Know that interference to your wireless signal could come in various forms.  Typically, your wireless signal can travel through wooden walls, doors, and most non-reflective, non-metallic material such as fiberglass, insulation, windows, and other various materials in your home.  However metallic surfaces such as sheet metals which can sometimes be found in walls, floors, or ceilings can weaken the signal.  Realistically, perfect line-of-site is almost never achievable when setting up a wireless network in a home, or larger office.  When you run into instances where a room or area is getting a weak signal, or no signal at all from the router, you’ll have to take advantage of utilizing Wireless Access Points which can rebroadcast the weaker WiFi signal from the router.

Using wireless access points, you can bend your routers wireless signal around materials that could be causing interference.  Placement is key when it comes to Wireless Access Points, so it’s important to know exactly which areas are losing signal strength to best determine the position of your Access Point.  Using one of the many free WiFi Analyzer apps available to your smartphone, you can more easily map out the areas of your home or office which have weaker signal strength.

access-point-bend

There are some caveats to remember when setting up a home or office with multiple Wireless Access Points.  When using more than one wireless access point, you will need to ensure that they are all using the same channel applied in your Routers Network Settings.  Channels 1, 6, and 11 are typically best for wireless signal strength.  It’s also a good idea to ensure that when setting up a Wireless-N or higher router, the access points are also at least Wireless-N, or Wireless-AC.  Finally, you may think overlapping wireless signals will increase their signal strength, however this only works when configured properly.  It is important that you set your wireless access points to different channels, if not they will interfere with each other causing the signal to be weaker overall.

wireless-ap-overlap

You'll find that when setting up your wireless network there are many solutions to a single problem.  By following best practices however, working with the proper hardware, and identifying your wireless needs, getting the proper setup is fast, easy, and sometimes a little fun.  Wireless connectivity is one of the most rapidly changing technologies, and all things written here are considered best practices at the time of writing this.  Know that wireless connectivity will change over time, and it’s important to keep up-to-date with changing technology to ensure you always have the best possible connectivity.  Natural Networks is constantly researching, and keeping up with the latest technology trends.  When you work with Natural Networks, you can be assured that your wireless connectivity will be up-to-date, secure, and have the best possible reach.