To improve wifi speed of your system, the first thing we need to learn is to understand how the Wi-Fi system works. This kind of connection is also known as a wireless internet connection or shortly WLAN.
Speed Up WiFi
WiFi actually uses a group of frequencies clustered around 2.4 GHz to transmit and receive data between one or more connected devices simultaneously.To make sure that transmitted data actually gets through, the WiFi uses a specialized protocol called 802.11. Meaning that if any network within the range use the same frequency (2.4 GHz), the various devices could swamp each other’s signals.
802.11 Protocol Standard
The original version of the 802.11 protocol was released in 1997, but today this version is obsolete. Here are protocol standard transfer rates and versions by years.
Name
|
Released
|
Freq. (GHz)
|
Transfer Rate
(Mbit/sec)
|
Initial
|
1997.
|
2.4
|
up to 2
|
802.11a
|
1999.
|
3.7 | 5
|
up to 54
|
802.11g
|
2003.
|
2.4
|
up to 54
|
802.11n
|
2009.
|
2.4 | 5
|
up to 150
|
802.11ac
|
2012.
|
5
|
up to 867
|
802.11ad
|
2014
|
2.4 | 5 | 60
|
up to 6912
|
Check internet speed
The first thing you should do is to check your current internet speed. You can easily test out your internet download and upload speed with online speed check tools.
I would recommend you these two services:
Speed of Me
Speed Test NET
To make sure your internet speed results are correct, turn off any internet-dependent software, such as BitTorrent clients, download managers, steam, system updates…
1. Re-position your router
The walls and other large object might distract or block your wireless router signal in general. The best router position would be somewhere close to the center of your house or an apartment.
2. Use the best possible protocol
Make sure to use the fastest possible 802.11 protocol which is supported by your own device. Using the newest and the fastest protocol, you will get a wide area covered with your wifi network signal – not only boost in bandwidth.
3. Test different channels
If your wireless router share the same channel with some other device in your area, the best thing to do is to try to change the different channels.
You can use tools, such as inSSIDer to check channel usage for your wireless region and potentially choose the best (least popular) channel for your connection.
inSSIDer is available for Windows and Mac OS. If you use Linux, try out with Kismet alternative.
4. Get the newest firmware and drivers
Another useful tip that can speed up wifi connection is to update your router’s firmware and your computer’s network driver. These updates are often available on the router’s manufacturer’s website.
Make sure to download official firmware for your exact hardware model. Getting new (unofficial) firmware is not supported by all internet service providers.
When downloading and upgrading to a new firmware, download the newest manual which can tell you everything about the new features and additions from that update.
5. Change your antenna
The signal on the main wifi base station is transmitted with equal strength in a circular shape perpendicular to the aerial.
The antenna that come with your base station usually has a power transmission rating of about 2dBi. The higher this number is, the more efficient the aerial is at transmitting the power passed through it.
Getting a new and more quality antenna for your wireless router is a definite must-have – especially if your wireless signal strength is too low.
This should definitely improve quality of your wireless signal and speed up wifi connectivity.
6. WiFi Security and Password
If your Wi-Fi connection is not protected with a strong password, everyone around your wireless signal might get access to your internet and use valuable resources that you are paying for completely free.
This means you would have a slower internet simply because it is shared among more than one devices at the same time.
To prevent this, it is highly important to setup the WPA or WPA2 encryption with a strong password to protect your wireless network from the unauthorized access.