If you have recently transferred your office or study nook, WiFi connections can be a problem especially if your new area is on a closed space covered with thick walls. Getting good WiFi signals in these kinds of areas can be difficult. Sometimes, people opt to transfer their modems for better connections. Luckily, there are ways where you can boost wifi signal through walls.
WiFi signals are like TV and radio signals that are absorbed by certain materials before they reach the devices used. Aside from the strength of wifi connection, materials that surround your room can disrupt the wifi signals that enter. Since each home is constructed differently, the type of walls may affect your wifi connection. The good thing is it can be solved without the need to change your walls, of course.
Read through the article to know the easy steps that you can follow to boost your wifi signal through walls.
How do Walls Affect the WiFi Signals
The strength of your wifi connection is affected by how thick your walls are and the materials used by the building. The thicker walls and more materials used on it, the more it affects the speed of your wifi connection. Walls that have materials such as metal pipes and wirings beneath make the connection slower. Rooms that have plywood and glass as walls can have better wifi signals than those which are made of concrete.
If you are thinking of how to boost wifi signals through concrete walls, you might need a wifi extender to get a better wifi signal. WiFi connections are worse if you are in a room with concrete walls especially if you are using a low-quality or old router.
How to Boost WiFi Signal through Walls
Though your walls are thick or made of materials that electromagnetic signals could not pass through, these ways may help you get a better wifi connection:
1. Moving The Router
This is the most basic solution you can do to get a better wifi connection in a closed space. However, moving the router to a different space needs to have a master socket, especially for modem-based routers. It can be a very effective solution to your poor wifi connection but it can only be effective on short distances. You may consider transferring it to a place near an area where you regularly use your device.
If someone else is connected to your wifi, they might not be able to connect to it if you move the modem. In this case, you may transfer your modem to a central location. This solution is effective for homes with many rooms which use the wifi connection.
2. Using a Mesh WiFi
Using a separate radio system that connects your wifi connection to a device can be a simple and effective solution. A mesh system can communicate with other devices while communicating to your device as well. It extends the reach of wifi connection even to dead spots in your area. It can also be easily expanded by adding more devices to the network.
3. Using a Range Extender
If you are in a basement and trying to connect to a wifi signal, it is most likely to have poor to no connection at all. Basements are considered to be hard-to-reach or dead spot areas. By using repeaters or range extenders, you will be able to extend wifi connections from your modem to these hard-to-reach places without spending too much.
These are wirelessly connected to your routers so placing the extender in a spot where the wifi connection is strong makes it more effective. This method is also most effective when you are trying to extend your wifi signal on your garden or patio.
4. Using a Powerline Adaptor
A Powerline adaptor also works as an extender of your wifi signal. However, it needs to be plugged into an outlet to work since it uses your home’s wiring to create signal extensions. This method works excellently on homes or buildings with modern electrical wirings and is more cost-effective than getting rewiring work. However, if your home has a lot of devices that are plugged or connected to your main electrical’s, it may also slow down your connections.
Other Materials that Blocks your WiFi Connection
As mentioned earlier, metals and concrete are the worst materials that wifi connections deal with. Metals absorb the electromagnetic waves of the wifi signal. The whole concrete is very thick which can completely block the signal. Aside from these materials, plaster and metal laths can also weaken your wifi connection.
Though these materials are not thick, it is still made from metal pieces which affect the wifi connection as it travels to the device. Another material that weakens wifi connection is ceramic tiles. These may be light and thin but ceramic tiles can interfere with the wifi connection of your device just like drywall. Windows and tinted glass also affect the speed of your wifi.
If you think there does not interfere with your connection, glass is often made with a metallic film that interrupts your connection. If you have windows that are made with low-emissive materials, it is most likely to block the signals that should reach your device. A tinted glass works the same as regular glass walls and windows.
Other devices that use radio frequency may also disrupt your wifi signal. Since wifi routers use wireless radio waves, devices that have 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies may interrupt your connection. These devices include two-way radios, Bluetooth devices, cordless phones, and other wifi channels that overlap with your current connection. The good thing is there are wifi routers that allow you to switch channels for less interruption on your current connection.
Conclusion
Having a poor connection can be annoying especially if you are in the middle of a meeting, class, gaming, or just simply streaming a movie. Now that you are aware of the ways how you can boost your wifi connection, you may choose the easiest and most convenient way to extend wifi signals to your room without knocking on your walls.