You’re talking with your hubby over Viber when you remembered that the stew simmering in the kitchen is almost done. You ask your hubby to wait while you check the pot, adding that you’re cooking his favorite. When you get back to hubby, however, you find the call has been dropped. Oh, no! You’ve completely forgotten that your kitchen is a WiFi dead spot. Major fail!
You all know what we’re talking about. There’s always that one spot – or two – at home where all WiFi connections are lost. Some of you may have tried raising your phone to get a whiff of signal. But no matter how high you go, you never get one. You might as well be in The Twilight Zone.
Like it or not, WiFi dead spots or dead zones do exist and are sometimes inevitable.
It’s like this: WiFi signal travels throughout your home like radio waves. When these waves are blocked or disrupted, you may experience a poor WiFi connection or lose it altogether. Such interruptions may be caused by thick walls or massive doors. There are also some appliances which actually interfere with the WiFi signal. The sound system in the living room, the baby monitors in the bedrooms, the microwave oven in the kitchen, and the security system you had installed all throughout the house – all these may cause some amount of disruption. Another possible cause is the density of the wireless network where you live. If you live in a condominium where every unit has a wireless connection, for example, you may experience poor connections or encounter dead spots.
There are a number of easy fixes to turn a dead spot into a happening spot. Here are some suggestions:
FIND THE SWEET SPOT. It is important that you place your router in a central location, consciously rearranging furniture that may block radio waves. In this way, the WiFi signal can seamlessly travel throughout your home. If your house has several levels or has a non-traditional design, it might be best to get a wireless repeater that could extend your WiFi coverage.
LEVEL UP YOUR DEVICES. If your router is already a couple of years old, then it might already be outdated in terms of features and performance. Getting a new router equipped with the latest driver software will definitely improve your WiFi signal at home.
WORK THE PROBLEM. There are applications which can actually help you figure out which rooms in your home have fluctuating signals. Once you’ve identified the spot, try to figure out whether you’d have to change the location of the router or get a repeater. If that doesn’t help, then perhaps changing your channel to a less crowded one could be the answer.
Yes, dead spots are inevitable. However, there is always a way to transform a dead spot into a good spot for your WiFi needs. Though this requires a bit of time and a whole lot of patience, these temporary resolutions can be a quick fix. With the fast developments in technology today, we all hope that we can find that long-term solution that will totally eliminate our dead spot problems at home.
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