6 Reasons Why WiFi Speeds Are Slow: Problem Analysis and Strategies to Improve It

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6 Reasons Why WiFi Speeds Are Slow: Problem Analysis and Strategies to Improve It [Copy link]

I often encounter the situation where I connect to WiFi but it is very slow, and I can only worry about it. The general explanation is that it is related to network bandwidth and the number of users. I want to know what other reasons can cause WiFi to slow down?

Slow Internet speed has become the most frequently complained topic by customers for almost every broadband operator. Studies have shown that the WiFi speed currently used by most consumers is generally only about 50% of the upper bandwidth limit of their routers.

The reason why WiFi speeds don’t meet everyone’s expectations is related to these six factors.

1. WiFi signal congestion

When users access the Internet through WiFi, it is actually like listening to the radio, using a fixed frequency wireless band. Therefore, the number of similar signal transmitting and receiving devices around the user's area will have a great impact on the WiFi experience.

"If you live in a central apartment building in the city center and there are hundreds of wireless networks in that apartment building, that's pretty much the worst possible environment for using WiFi," Steve Biddle, a New Zealand engineer who has studied wireless hotspots, wrote last week.

Even if the Wi-Fi signal bars on your phone are full, the actual Wi-Fi signal may be very slow, and other devices including cell phones, cordless phones, microwaves, Bluetooth devices and even wireless baby monitors may affect the Wi-Fi signal quality.

2. The device cannot send and receive data at the same time

Since WiFi signals cannot send and receive data at the same time, this network access method will produce more data delays than other methods. In addition, many people using the same WiFi channel at the same time will greatly affect the WiFi signal strength.

In fact, your router can usually use hundreds of WiFi channels, but most people only adjust the router channel selection option to "automatic" mode, so most people are using the 2.4GHz frequency channel, which is extremely crowded now. In addition, if you are in an area with abundant network signals, your router will continue to search for the best network channel, which will also cause network delays, and this is not a problem that broadband operators can solve.

3. Congenital defects

No matter how much WiFi technology improves in the future, it will be difficult for wireless connections to surpass existing wired Internet access modes.

WiFi won't completely replace wired Internet connections, it's just a more convenient networking solution.

4. Background work

If your WiFi speed still doesn't improve after eliminating all the above factors, you might want to check whether your software is automatically syncing data and photos. In fact, applications including Steam, Netflix, and BitTorrent, the world's largest comprehensive digital distribution platform, will transfer files in the background, which will greatly affect the user's WiFi speed. Moreover, since most of these applications work silently in the background, many users don't even remember their existence.

5. Router Location

The placement of the wireless router has a great impact on the signal strength. For example, if you place the router next to a concrete wall, the signal strength will be greatly reduced. If possible, the best placement of the router is naturally on the ceiling in the middle of the room (of course, many consumers do not have such conditions).

6. Differences in connection devices

Don't be surprised if your iPhone 3G WiFi connection speed is not as fast as that of iPhone 6, because the WiFi connection speed is also closely related to the information processing speed of the connected device.

Four suggestions:

1. Upgrade your router to a dual-band router that supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies. However, it should be noted that the 5GHz frequency signal is not as good at penetrating walls as the 2.4GHz frequency, and many older devices do not support this WiFi frequency.

2. Use the channel viewer to check the WiFi channel usage in your area, and then select a relatively unobstructed channel to use.

3. If you have an idle wireless router, you might consider strengthening the indoor WiFi signal strength by wireless signal relay or amplification.

4. If your router has different power usage plans such as high power and low power, the low power plan will usually have better WiFi signal strength.