Browsing through slow and laggy internet due to weak Wi-Fi signal with one or two bars is extremely painful and tedious. You lose it from time to time wanting to throw the wireless router out the window.

 Optimal Router Placement

First and foremost thing you can do is place the router at a height in a central location of your house. Keep away from cordless devices like cordless phones, microwave ovens, remote controls, etc. Avoid placing the router near mirrors as they reflect the wireless signals away from the desired direction. Metals like window grills can interfere with the signals so placing them far away from these can help boost the signal.

 Update your firmware

Check and update your router’s firmware from time to time. Router companies manufacture routers that can be updated to boost a little more performance and speed. Most of the current routers have built-in firmware upgrade button which can you push to automatically update the firmware. If you have an older one, you will require downloading the firmware from the manufacturer’s website.

 Repeaters or wireless range extenders

Routers have certain range to broadcast the signal. After exceeding this range the signal becomes weak. What repeaters do is they pick up the Wi-Fi signal from the router and rebroadcast or amplify the signal. In order for a repeater to work, you must place it at the point where the signal is weak but good enough for it to pick up and rebroadcast. You can get good signal for a larger area.

 Switch Channels

Like walkie-talkies, the signal from routers broadcast on a series of channel to the wireless devices, between one and eleven. If the routers of your neighbors in your locality are broadcasting signals through the same channel, there will be congestion in network which leads to slow internet. You can choose the least used channel via wireless network’s administrator interface from your PC to reduce the chances of congestion.

 USB Dongles

USB dongles are portable devices that receive wireless signals transmitted by wireless routers. This device is very useful if you are using a desktop computer and want wireless internet. The built-in wireless receivers of laptops have comparatively lower signal receiving strength than that of a USB dongle. So if you want stronger wireless signal for smooth browsing, this is a very convenient and economic option.