Ever find yourself absolutely infuriated by the fact that the corner of your house, where you wish to relax, is exactly the spot where Wi-Fi is the weakest, or unusable? Yeah, we all go through it and these are called dead zones. They ruin more than your work or leisurely time, they ruin your mood. The good news is that you can fix it, and you do not have to spend a fortune to do so.
The very first thing that you can do is repositioning your router, because placement makes a huge difference. Ideally, the router should be placed in an open source, somewhere high up, and that by itself can solve coverage problems in, at least, a decent chunk of households.
Walls, sofas, physical objects basically, aren’t big fans of Wi-Fi signals and so they interfere with it traveling. So, ensure no mirrors, microwaves, or heavy metal furniture is in its path.
Like our mobile phones or PC, a router’s firmware needs to be updated as well. Many do update themselves, but many don’t. Running older versions means weaker performance and being exposed to now-known security flaws. So, it is best to check for updates manually every now and then.
If your signal starts acting strange, a simple reboot is worth a try too. Just turning it off and back on again clears up memory issues and refreshes the connection.
Purchasing certain equipment can really help. If the above did not help you, consider investing in:
Wi-Fi extenders are a budget-friendly way to push your signal farther into hard-to-reach rooms. You plug one into a socket between the router and the dead zone, and it repeats the signal to cover that gap. The trick is to find a spot where the extender can still grab a strong signal from your main router, and sometimes moving it between outlets helps find the sweet spot.
These clever devices send internet through your home’s electrical wiring, so you can plug one into an outlet near your router and another in the dead zone and get a stable wired connection without having to run long cables across your house. They can work really well if your home has good wiring.
If you are curious about whether you should wait for Wi-Fi 7 or stick with Wi-Fi 6, here is the simple truth. Wi-Fi 7 promises theoretical speeds up to 46 gigabits per second compared to Wi-Fi 6 which tops out at around 9.6 gigabits, and it also offers wider channels, lower latency, and smarter interference handling. That means in the future, Wi-Fi 7 could be a serious upgrade for things like 8K gaming or households with an extreme number of devices.
However, right now most devices cannot take advantage of Wi-Fi 7, while Wi-Fi 6 is affordable, widely supported, and more than enough for nearly every household unless you have very specific high-bandwidth needs.
Now, if your main concern is running 8K gaming smoothly or supporting a huge number of smart home devices, you’re going to have to get Wi-Fi 7 eventually, since it was very much built for such heavy demands. It is going to cost a little more, but if such are your requirements, it is worth the extra penny.
Wi-Fi dead zones are annoying, but they do not have to drain your wallet or test your patience. With a little repositioning, a few updates, and maybe a low-cost gadget or two, you can enjoy smoother connections throughout your home. Instead of standing in the hallway to catch a signal, you can relax knowing that your devices, your Smart Home setup, and even your gaming sessions are supported with simple fixes that actually work.
HOW MANY SMART HOME DEVICES CAN A BASIC ROUTER HANDLE?
A standard router can usually support dozens of devices, but the performance depends heavily on your bandwidth and what those devices are doing. Heavy activities like streaming or gaming can slow everything else down.
CAN A FIRMWARE UPDATE REALLY FIX DROPPING WIFI?
Yes. Firmware updates are often released to improve stability, fix bugs, and patch security issues, so keeping your router up to date can make your Wi-Fi more reliable.
IF I GET A WI-FI 7 ROUTER, WILL MY OLD PHONES STILL WORK?
Absolutely. Older devices will still connect, but they will only use the speeds they are built to handle, not the newer faster standards.
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