How to Get Your Wifi to Upload Faster

Better Your Wi-Fi Speed in 10 Simple Steps

Banish slow Wi-Fi with these adept tips.

Jan 23, 2022 Share
Internet Speed Guides

Slow Wi-Fi can interrupt Zoom meetings, cause chaos in online worlds , and break your video stream for buffering. When your earth relies on virtually-instant connections, these little inconveniences add up quickly and become frustrating obstacles to work, school, and life in general.

No one wants that—so we'll walk you lot through ten simple steps to get faster Wi-Fi connections.

Know your internet speed

Before y'all go started, run our net speed test. It's not office of our official list of ten things, only it's good for context. Employ your commencement speed test event as a baseline and compare the results as yous go through each step—that fashion, you know if it's helping.

Y'all could also compare the results, to the maximum speed advertised with your cyberspace program. That way, you know if your speeds are actually underperforming or if information technology's just fourth dimension to upgrade to a faster plan.

Continue in heed, many ISPs guarantee speeds only over a wired Ethernet connection. Information technology's totally acceptable, even somewhat expected, to have a lower number than your advertised maximum speed, especially over Wi-Fi. What's important is that you're having a smoothen browsing experience.

If your speeds are virtually where they should be, merely you find yourself with sluggish internet, y'all're probably overwhelming your electric current connection and need a faster cyberspace program.

Do you need more speed?

Employ our How Much Speed Practise You Need? Tool to run across if you need more speed than what your current programme allows. If so, and then enter your nil code below to notice the fastest plans in your area.

i. Plow things off and on again

Commencement, let's power bicycle everything to see if your Wi-Fi speed improves.

Restart your modem

Unplug your modem or wireless gateway, wait 30 seconds, and and so plug information technology back in. This process allows the modem to articulate its virtual head.

Your modem translates net signals between your home network and your internet provider . If your internet is interim upwards, a power wheel is a good place to start troubleshooting as it often fixes connection issues . Just sometimes you lot need a customer back up amanuensis to reset your modem remotely and brand sure it's properly calibrated to translate your internet connection's signals.

Restart your router

Adjacent, repeat the procedure if you have a standalone router. Like with the modem, a power cycle clears your router's memory and gives it a fresh start on tasks that were bogging it downwardly before.

Finally, plow off the Wi-Fi on all your wireless devices. Await a few seconds and then toggle Wi-Fi back on. Allow these devices to reconnect and run across if your connection improves.

A power wheel might seem simplistic, but turning your home networking equipment off and on once more can really give your network a heave. We recommend rebooting your equipment regularly—at to the lowest degree once every few months. Just go on in heed that doing this will leave you lot without internet for a few minutes, and then plan to restart your equipment at a time when no one needs an internet connection.

2. Move your router to a better location

Wi-Fi can travel only so far, and its signals can get interrupted or blocked past walls, floors, ceilings, furniture, appliances, and basically any large physical object. These signals can likewise get interrupted past radio waves from other devices, including cordless phones, baby monitors, microwaves, and Bluetooth speakers.

So if you place your router in a corner, you may have issues with Wi-Fi at the other end of your home. The best place for your router is in a fundamental and elevated location, near where you use the net well-nigh oft. Don't relegate your router to a basement or cupboard—that'south merely setting yourself upwards for connectivity problems.

Are you lot even so having Wi-Fi troubles in specific areas?

Skip ahead to step nine—extend your network—if your router is already in a great location.

3. Switch your Wi-Fi frequency band

Modernistic routers piece of work primarily on two radio frequency bands: 2.four GHz and 5 GHz. The band yous use for your connections tin can affect your speeds and the quality of your connections at different distances from your router.

Whatsoever frequency ring y'all're on may be experiencing some temporary interference, so try switching to the other ring. Information technology volition show up as a different Wi-Fi network on your device, usually with a label in the network name that identifies the network as either 2.4 Ghz or five Ghz.

The ii.4 GHz band is the most ordinarily accessed Wi-Fi connection. Information technology's used for many other wireless communications other than Wi-Fi, and then the airwaves in this frequency can be a little crowded. This ring trades speed for range—significant information technology's ameliorate at passing through walls and other objects—whereas 5 GHz has amend speeds but a shorter range.

The ii frequency bands often appear every bit ii dissever Wi-Fi networks. To reorganize your connections, log off from the wrong ring and connect to the correct i on each device.

Connections all-time for 5 GHz band:

Gaming consoles
PCs
Smartphones
Smart TVs

Connections best for 2.4 GHz band:

Smart speakers
Smart home devices
Security cameras

4. Arrange your router'southward antennas

Many routers and wireless gateways accept internal antennas—meaning they're mounted within the device, and yous can't adjust them. If that's the case for you, skip this footstep.

But if you practise have adjustable antennas on your router, try reconfiguring them. Router antennas are normally omnidirectional, which ways they transport out signals in all directions perpendicular to the antenna. For example, a vertical antenna sends out Wi-Fi signals horizontally and vice versa.

Then if y'all need to stretch your Wi-Fi signals to multiple floors, adjusting an antenna to sit down horizontally to spread Wi-Fi signals up and down could help.

5. Extend your Wi-Fi network

If your router is in the best location but you lot're still having speed or connectivity issues in certain areas of your dwelling house, you may need to add a device that tin stretch your network'southward range.

There are a few different devices yous can utilise to increase the reach of your network:

Wi-Fi boosters sit between your router and the dead zone and either amplify or redistribute existing Wi-Fi signals into the new area.
Wired access points connect to your router via an Ethernet cable and can distribute Wi-Fi and LAN signals every bit an extension of your router, similar to a Wi-Fi booster. Many devices can be used as access points, including erstwhile routers.
Powerline extender kits come with ii devices—you connect one to your router via Ethernet and plug it into an outlet. Yous plug the 2d one in where you want amend Wi-Fi, and the cyberspace signals travel through your electric wiring.
Mesh Wi-Fi systems replace your router with one or more than devices that work together to create a single Wi-Fi web that blankets your whole home from multiple points.

While all these work to push your Wi-Fi further, the best one for your network depends on your dwelling'due south floor plan . If you have just one stubborn expressionless zone, a booster would probably be a good fit. Mesh systems are better for total-house coverage if your home is particularly large or has a complicated layout. And using an admission bespeak would be ideal if your house is wired with Ethernet.

6. Prune unnecessary connections

If you're running low on bandwidth, y'all should disconnect all unused devices . Everything continued to your network should be essential.

The quickest way to disconnect nonessential devices is to modify your Wi-Fi passwords and reboot your router. You lot volition and then need to log dorsum in to your network with the new countersign on every device you currently utilise. This method volition purge all unnecessary connections, like the emergency cell phone you keep turned on that still quietly downloads updates.

Pro tip:

Your router may come with a abode networking app similar NETGEAR Genie, TP-Link Tether, or Xfinity xFi that tin can show you what devices are connected to your network. If y'all accept an app like this, yous could hands observe errant connections and disconnect them without having to disrupt your whole Wi-Fi network. Your router'southward web interface should have a like map of all your networked devices.

7. Alter your Wi-Fi frequency channel

The 2.iv GHz and 5 GHz bands divide into channels: 11 in the former and 45 in the latter. Most routers automatically choose the best aqueduct for y'all, but sometimes you need to change them manually .

Frequency channels tin go crowded, then if y'all and all your neighbors use the same channel in the 2.4 GHz band, that could affect your Wi-Fi speeds.

To find the all-time Wi-Fi channel, you tin can utilise the Wireless Diagnostics feature on a Mac computer —only concur downwardly the Choice cardinal and click the Wi-Fi icon on the menu bar in the meridian correct corner of your screen. The Scan window will list the best 2.four GHz and five GHz channels available to you lot.

On Windows, yous can use a control in Windows PowerShell to see all the available channels or install an app like NetSpot . These methods don't summarize the all-time channels for you simply instead require you to decide the best channels past examining the scan's results.

To modify your Wi-Fi to the all-time channel, you'll need to log in to your router's online interface . You lot can exercise this by typing your router'due south IP address into a web browser and logging in. Once logged in, look for your Wi-Fi settings. The pick to change your band channel should be there.

8. Upgrade to faster net

While we promise these tips will do the trick for you lot, sometimes your internet connectedness is simply besides slow to sustain your net consumption. If that'south the example, you'll need to upgrade to a faster net plan to get ameliorate speeds.

Unsure what cyberspace speeds you demand to support your online habits? Check out our guides to internet speed for online gaming and video streaming requirements.

And if you're confused because you lot're sure you've paid for plenty internet speed merely your connection still doesn't cutting it, that might exist because your net connection doesn't always perform at 100%.

Internet providers advertise speeds up to a certain speed—they don't promise that you volition always get those speeds. So even if you have a 100 Mbps plan, you might not always get that much bandwidth. In that case, you might need a bit of a buffer or a plan that'southward actually faster than you lot think yous would need. That manner, network slowdowns will notwithstanding happen, just you lot'll probably notice them less.

Fix for an cyberspace upgrade?

Y'all tin can discover every cyberspace provider in your area and compare internet speeds and prices by entering your zip code in the box below.

9. Supercede your equipment

Your router and modem process all your internet data—if either 1 isn't upwards to that job, it tin slow down your whole network. And then if you're dealing with older, out-of-date equipment, it's time to go a replacement.

If y'all rent equipment from your internet provider, you can request new units if you believe they're out of engagement—particularly if they're causing poor network performance. Internet providers supply either a single wireless gateway or pair a standalone modem with a router.

Buying your own modem and router could save yous coin over time, peculiarly if y'all're renting both . A store-bought router, for instance, unremarkably gives you more control over the features, speeds, and security of your dwelling house network.

If yous're in the market place to purchase a new modem or router, we recommend a DOCSIS three.ane cablevision modem like the ARRIS Surfboard SB8200 . It sets y'all up for 10 Gbps cable internet when the connexion becomes bachelor . A Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 6 router like the Google Nest Wifi or ASUS RT-AX86U are besides great choices .

If you want more recommendations for a new modem or router, check out some of our favorites:

Best Wi-Fi Routers
Best Wi-Fi 6 Routers
Best Modem/Router Combos
Best Modems for Gigabit Internet

10. Update your router's firmware

If you lot have a modem/router combo unit of measurement (besides called a gateway), your Internet access provider probably updates the unit's firmware for you automatically. Simply if you accept your own split up router, it may be worth checking for updates.

Your router is a minor computer dedicated to network management and traffic routing. Like any calculating device, it requires an operating organization—in this case, firmware. Since no software is entirely perfect, developers release updates that optimize the lawmaking, stomp out pesky bugs, and fill security gaps.

Keeping the firmware current is a major priority for performance and security. Many newer routers have automatic firmware updates, but checking the firmware version tin can give you better peace of listen. Log in to your router and verify that automatic updates are toggled on. If not, update your router's firmware immediately and then switch on automatic updates.

Bonus tip for faster net

Wi-Fi is keen, just wired connections are faster and more reliable. If you have high-priority devices like a desktop, gaming panel, or smart TV, it might be worth your while to plug them in to your router with an Ethernet cable instead of relying on Wi-Fi.

More cyberspace speed resource

Author - Rebecca Lee Armstrong

Rebecca Lee Armstrong has more six years of experience writing about tech and the internet, with a specialty in hands-on testing. She started writing tech product and service reviews while finishing her BFA in artistic writing at the Academy of Evansville and has found her niche writing nearly domicile networking, routers, and net access at HighSpeedInternet.com. Her work has also been featured on Meridian 10 Reviews, MacSources, Windows Central, Android Central, Best Company, TechnoFAQ, and iMore.

Editor - Cara Haynes

Cara Haynes has been editing and writing in the digital space for seven years, and she's edited all things internet for HighSpeedInternet.com for v years. She graduated with a BA in English language and a minor in editing from Brigham Immature University. When she'south not editing, she makes tech accessible through her freelance writing for brands similar Pluralsight. She believes no one should feel lost in internet land and that a expert cyberspace connexion significantly extends your life span.

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Source: https://www.highspeedinternet.com/resources/improve-your-wi-fi-speed-in-10-simple-steps