Troubleshooting WiFi Connection Issues
Everyone is so used to having WiFi access everywhere they go, it's almost impossible to imagine live without uninterrupted Internet access, especially for the younger generation. However, like all technology, WiFi has its quirks and can be a source of issues in certain scenarios.
This article will give you a few tips on how to deal with WiFi connectivity issues in your home and using your devices.
First and foremost, when dealing with home WiFi connection, you have to understand that a lot of the time, the quality of the signal you get will heavily depend on the device that acts as the signal source. In most cases, this will be your router. Router hardware can vary significantly in both its capabilities and signal strength, as well as in its price point.
While it's a good idea to never buy the bottom of the barrel option, no matter what hardware you buy, this is even more valid for routers. A very cheap router's signal strength may decrease significantly with years of use and it will not have the best coverage in the first place, especially if you need the signal to go through masonry and concrete floors.
In addition to that, if you live inside an apartment building, chances are every other household around you has its own router and you will be getting some magnitude of signal interference from those other routers, making it harder to have a stable connection with a cheap router of your own.
You don't need to go crazy with the top-end routers either, as those are often used for larger office spaces or for more devices accessing them than you will ever have in your house. However, finding a nice mid-range router is a must if you want reliable signal.
When it comes to your devices, a laptop is one of the portable devices that will often experience WiFi connection issues. Sadly, with most laptops the WiFi receiver is a bit of hardware that is part of your motherboard, so it's virtually impossible to replace. In cases of connection drops and generally weak signal reception on a laptop, your best bet would be installing a driver update.
Your laptop's OEM should have the most up-to-date drivers on their website. Visit the site and download the respective driver package for your laptop model and chipset, then install it. In some cases, this will help a lot with connection issues.
Of course, hardware issues cannot be easily circumnavigated. If you dropped your phone one time too many and now it has major WiFi issues, no matter how powerful your router is, you will never have the same connection you once had.
