After the onset of the Coronavirus Pandemic in our lives in 2020, it has been observed that people have chosen many new changes in their lives. Nothing is the same anymore; it is attending live classes, official meetings, watching series, movies, and playing games online. Keeping an eye on modern network systems has become a necessary step since then.
If you have a look here such an IP address as 192.168.0.20 is used for this purpose. Today, the concept of ‘Work from Home’ has become a necessary luxury, and it feels like the new normal. As a result, the mean bandwidth usage in the residential areas, mainly homes, has seen a dramatic spike. That has meant crawling Internet speeds for some and even frozen video conference meetings and subsequent loss of work.
Most of the significant and marginal Telecom providers face a lot of trouble in keeping up their network with the sudden surge in demand of the users. Adding to this problem, due to the online traffic, poor network connectivity is also challenging their psychology to accept this shift convincingly.
Here are five tips to solve this problem and strengthen today’s critical home network.
1. Mind the Router Placement:
It might be handy and an attractive option to place your router out of general sight since the gadgets generally tend to be ugly and bulky. Still, a convincing home network strongly relies on an optimally placed router. Routers transmit radio waves in all directions, so to maximize coverage to your convenience, they should be fixed in high, central spots in the home. IT and technical experts suggest that you place your router in a non-enclosed area, preferably near the middle of your home, a distance away from the walls as possible. If your router has antennas, they should be carefully pointed where your essential devices, such as laptops, are mostly placed.
In addition to making sure that your router’s signal accesses every corner of your house, an optimally placed router will also minimize signal interference from other appliances such as microwaves and wireless devices, phones, etc. Setting your router in a central area also dilutes the Wi-Fi signal’s risk of being accessible outside your home and leaving your network crawling.
2. Change Your Network’s Name and Password
New routers have a default Service Set Identifier (SSID) name and password. Whereas you need to have this default information for the first time you connect your computer to the Internet, IT experts strongly suggest that you revise it immediately. If you keep using your router’s default SSID and password, hackers can conveniently intercept them (based on your router’s manufacturer and other public information) and gain access to your router. Be sophisticated about it and decide on a name for your Wi-Fi network that doesn’t give away personal information, such as your full name or office address. To keep your Wi-Fi network free from hackers, choose a strong password, write it somewhere if you can’t remember, and change it every month or two.
3. Critically Encrypt Your Wi-Fi
Depending upon the type of your router and Internet Service Provider (ISP), you may get to decide how to encrypt your Wi-Fi network. When you’re installing your router, you will, in most possibilities, be given various options for how to encrypt your Wi-Fi network. For maximizing your security, try selecting WPA2-AES (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 – Advanced Encryption Standard) as a smart option to protect your Wi-Fi network from strong digital force attacks.
4. Pick the Right Wi-Fi Band
Many routers are dual-band to broadcast both 2.4 Gigahertz (GHz) and 5 Gigahertz (GHz) bands for their Wi-Fi signal. You might experiment with both bands before going for the best suited for your physical space and speed demands. If you have a vast space and want Wi-Fi transmission across multiple walls or floors, opt for the 2.4 GHz band. Otherwise, you’ll achieve better network speed and a higher protection grade against hackers.
If you live in a congested area or a big apartment building, you can also try changing the band’s channels (such as 1, 6, or 11) to check if a different channel reduces the amount of interference and boosts the network speed.
If you are still facing a problem, change to a new network: The variety of networks being utilized significantly impacts the quality and speed of an internet connection. While picking a home internet connection, it’s necessary to be as mindful and strategic as possible. There are a lot of options for network providers in the market.
You may get a good network signal from several providers. Due to a shortage of technical and critical support, some network providers may limit their transmission of proper strong signals. This has a direct impact on their network and internet connection speed. You are left with no choice except to switch to another service provider.
Conclusion
These tips will significantly help you maintain a good internet speed of your home network connection. It is also necessary to do so, as most of the work in today’s time is dependent on the Internet only. As your home becomes ‘smarter,’ you can have several Internet-connected devices in your personal space, from computers, tablets, and smartphones to even smart light bulbs, smart fans, and home security systems.
Although smart homes can provide convenience and extra security, any smart appliance connected to your home network is prone to hacking. So, surf the Internet without obstacles and install software updates and security patches.
