When you’ve got three kids that are all completely addicted to the internet, it can be tough. The moment the internet cuts out they’re screaming their heads off, complaining that they can’t watch their favorite cat videos or Pew Die Pie on Youtube. What’s worse, you don’t often have a clue about what has actually gone wrong. Sometimes a simple reset of the router fixes the problem, but often it doesn’t.
Here’s some advice for what to do if your internet connection sucks.
Change the Channel
Your router communicates with the outside world using a type of radio wave. Its how information gets from the internet and onto your computer. The range of radio waves that routers can communicate using is split up into different channels. This is a little bit like how radio stations communicate on different radio frequencies. The idea is to keep transmissions separate so that they don’t interfere with each other. The problem comes when somebody in your vicinity is using the same channel as you are – a neighbor perhaps. When this happens, their signal interferes with your signal, and it can cause your internet to randomly cut out. Super annoying.
The good news is that all you have to do is go into your router settings and change the channel using a drop down menu. Just click a different channel to the one that you have right now and see if it solves the problem.
Improve The Signal Strength
Another problem, especially if you live in a house with a large footprint, is signal strength. If signal strength is weak, your kids won’t get consistent access to the internet and you’ll never hear the end of it. The Smart Future suggests a possible solution. It points out that there are many adapters that you can use around your house to extend the range of your WiFi without having to route Ethernet cables from room to room. These adapters plug into wall sockets and then amplify the signal that they receive from the router so that your wireless devices can pick it up. Problem solved.
Find Out If Your Burglar Alarm Is Wreaking Havoc
The security equipment in your home is ideal for keeping your family safe. But it’s not so good when it comes to your internet. Pulses from things like electric fences and signals from your alarm system can interfere with your router, just like other people’s routers can if they are emitting signals on the same channel. To prevent this, it is important to make sure that your alarms are properly filtered if they share an ADSL connection to the Internet.
Sort Out Problematic Home Wiring
According to NZGamer, between 40 and 60 percent of all bad internet connections aren’t the fault of the web service provider, they’re the fault of home wiring. If the cable carrying the internet connection is running parallel to cables carrying electric current around your house, then the internet connection will appear intermittent. The only solution to this problem is getting a professional to come and do rewiring for you.
