Improve your Wi-Fi network performance

There have been many articles about network setup on TipsMake.com including wired and wireless networks. With some questions and answers later, you can easily improve the speed and range of your own Wi-Fi network.

How to expand the range of home Wi-Fi networks?

First, there are some things you have to do with an existing Wi-Fi router: attach the router to a central location in the house, preferably high positions on the wall; you also need to make sure that other 2.4GHz devices (such as cordless phones, small screens, wireless music players, Bluetooth gadgets and microwave ovens) do not interfere with it; isolate your router from the neighboring neighbor's routers (if available). If they are using channel 1 then you should use channel 12 to minimize interference between channels.

If the received signal is still low, you should consider upgrading to a router that combines multiple inputs and outputs (MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output)) or draft-n technology. Many routers not only provide a wider range of 802.11b / g standard routers, but they are also faster in terms of speed.

Finally, if you have some points that don't take advantage of indoor Wi-Fi networks, such as corners, basements, and rooftop, there should be a set of wired networks available. With these source systems, you can simply plug the adapter into a socket and run the ethernet cord to your router; After plugging another adapter into an outlet close to the device you want to connect to the network and running an ethernet cord to that device. You must be careful to avoid interference with other electrical appliances in the home. However, with the latest technologies such as HomePlug AV and HD-PLC allows working much better than previous technologies.

What is 802.11n? Do I need to upgrade my router?

Wi-Fi standards often evolve according to the development of technology. The first routers used 802.11b, with a maximum throughput of 11MBps. Next up is 802.11g that provides throughput of up to 54MBps. Now MIMO and draft-802.11n routers allow far-reaching throughput of up to 280MBps and more, allowing competition with wired ethernet. This year the Wi-Fi Alliance will start certifying draft-802.11n routers. If you're looking to buy a new router, buy one of the latest ones.

However, if your old router provides a satisfactory throughput performance for your home needs, there is no need to upgrade them immediately. Your device will work well with 802.11n devices when they appear. Wait until you really need to improve performance for high-bandwidth applications like video streams. On the other hand, prices will decrease over time, which is also a reason for cost savings.

How can I share a printer or game controller via Wi-Fi network?

For about $ 50 to $ 100 you can buy an adapter to convert any device using a wired ethernet port into a Wi-Fi capable port. Bridges of this type can be found from companies like D-Link and Netgear that are often marketed as "wireless game adapters" for PlayStations, GameCubes and Xboxes. However, they work just as well as ethernet printers and security camera networks.

Usually adapters work properly with the feature set if your Wi-Fi network is configured to use DHCP, which allows you to configure dynamic IP addressing. If not, you can set up the adapter by connecting it to the computer and then assigning an IP address. Note that with older game controllers, you must attach them to a network adapter equipped with an ethernet port before adding a bridge. Xbox 360 has a USB port, with that port, Microsoft also sells a Wi-Fi adapter.

For printers that do not support Ethernet ports, you can still buy a wireless print server. You can buy it at companies like Belkin, D-Link and Linksys. Make sure you choose a print server that has ports (USB or parallel) that are appropriate for your printer. However, it should be noted that multi-function devices can also lose almost all printing functions if networked in this way.

Can I add a hard drive to the Wi-Fi network?

There are two basic ways to increase storage for wireless networks, but above all you should physically locate the drives close to your router and connect them using wires rather than using wireless adapters. In general, you don't need to set up a network drive in another room and the wired connection is always faster and more reliable with a wireless connection, especially if you have gigabit-ethernet equipment.

What you are looking for is access to this storage drive in your network, so you can do so by connecting any Network Attached Storage (NAS) device to one of your ethernet ports. router. You can buy a device like the Linksys Network Storage Link NSLU2, which can connect two USB drives to any router via ethernet.

Can VoIP be used on Wi-Fi? And how is its quality?

VoIP actually requires relatively small bands - less than 100KBps per call - but while the network throughput is usually MBps. Therefore, the problem of VoIP on Wi-Fi is a much preferred issue: If someone in the network is downloading large files from the Internet at the time you are making a call, the slow may be exported. show.

However, if your router is faster, there will be fewer problems with VoIP networks, most recent wireless routers also incorporate a technology called 802.11e, or QoS (quality of service). (service quality), allowing priority to arrange data before transmission. However, you must choose the correct adapters that also support QoS.

How can I watch or listen to video and audio from room to room via Wi-Fi?

Any audio or video you can watch through a wired network can do the same via Wi-Fi. You only need to make sure that the Wi-Fi device's bandwidth is wide and fast enough to control the data. With high quality video, you'll need 802.11e or its own complement of allowed QoS in both routers and adapters.

To stream media streams, you also need some sort of server arrangement like Windows Media Center PC; a NAS drive with software like open source SlimServer; or one of the dedicated wireless media arrangement interfaces such as D-Link MediaLounge Wireless HD Media Player or Roku SoundBridge M1001.