Recently I helped a couple friends speed up their home WiFi. One of them complained he couldn’t use Zoom teleconferencing at the same time as his wife was using it on her computer. The video connection kept getting interrupted, which can be pretty frustrating.
As our life keeps getting moved online more every day, and multiple family members try to use home WiFi network at the same time, it has become even more important to have a fast connection.
There could be many different reasons why the WiFi is slow.
Here are the top 3:
- Router is located too far from your devices
- Router is old and needs replacement
- Too many devices using the Wifi at the same time
The easiest thing is to replace your router. New routers are made to create what’s called a “mesh network” in order to get a faster better signal, no matter where you are in the house. They are designed to handle many devices using the same WiFi at the same time.
I highly recommend Eero Pro Router.
It will replace your traditional router, and you will not need a signal extender, or booster anymore. Those never worked for me.
It’s easy to set up. When you purchase it, you get a phone number to call for support, if needed. The company behind it is in San Francisco and a year ago Amazon purchased it.
To install, you plug in the main flat unit into your cable modem, install the Eero App on your phone and it guides you through a set up process.
The other 2 rectangular pieces (called Beacons) extend the signal to the rest of the 2-4 bedroom house. You just need to plug them in the wall outlet in separate points of the house and set up in the Eero App on the phone.
If you have 1-2 bedrooms, you can purchase 1 Eero + 1 Beacon instead of 2 Beacons.
If you have more than 4 bedrooms, you can purchase additional Beacons to make the signal reach further.
Eero router works well with Ring doorbell and Ring cameras. You need a strong WiFi signal to get fast and good video quality from outdoor and indoor cameras.
Eero app on the phone has many options to manage your home WiFi network:
- You can schedule, turn on or turn off WiFi access for your kids.
- You can see a list of all devices currently using your home WiFi.
- It shows current network activity and speed.
- You can walk around your house and use it to test WiFi speed in different locations.
Eero app also has an option to add security to your home network.
I tried other routers in the past, and they either have become too slow or not compatible with Ring doorbell and cameras.
Eero router has made a big difference in my home WiFi speed. It was a breeze to set up, and worked well from the start.
We can have several devices streaming video over WiFi at the same time and the video quality is amazing and no reloading problems at all.
It also provides a fast video signal for security cameras and video doorbell.
Another way to speed up slow WiFi is to create a wired powerline network through electrical wiring to bypass the WiFi.
This method only works well for devices that need a fast Internet speed, but you can physically plugin them in the wall outlet, such as a smart TV, roku box, laptop, etc. Then you would set them to use a wired network as described below.
If you need to speed up your WiFi speed on your phone, tablet, or any other wireless device that is not plugged in, I recommend replacing your router, as described in the beginning of this post.
In order to creating a Powerline wired network you need to purchase a Powerline Starter Kit
Here are the steps to install it:
First, you need to purchase a Powerline Adapter Kit. I did a lot of research and decided on TP-Link AV2000. The reason I chose this kit is that it allows for higher data speed – up to 2000Mbps, and it has an extra outlet on the front. This kit comes with all the cables needed, so that’s all you really need.
The kit comes with a quick installation guide and a little diagram with 4 steps. There are 2 white little boxes that come in the set. One box is used to connect and pair it with the router, and the other one can be plugged into the device through which you’re trying to access the Internet (Roku box, game console, laptop, video surveillance camera, etc. – basically any device that is currently connected through slow Wi-Fi).
- First connect one white box to the router via a white cable that comes with the kit. There are 3 little lights on the side of it. After you connect it to the router, you need to plug it in the wall.
NOTE: All adapters need to be plugged in directly in the wall, and not in the surge protector. If you plug it in the surge protector, then it might not work. You can plug in the surge protector in the adapter itself since adapter might take up the whole outlet. (See photo below). The adapter comes with a plug on the front for that purpose.
(Surge protector can be plugged in directly into the adapter)
- Connect the second white box (adapter) into an electric plug somewhere nearby (in the same room is ideal).
- Go back to the first white box and press the Pair button on the side for 1 second. The light will start blinking.
- Within 2 minutes, press the Pair button on the second white box (that you plugged directly into the wall nearby). The light will start blinking, and as it pairs, the home icon light will stay on. You just created a Powerline network.
- Unplug the second white box (adapter) and go to the room where the Wi-Fi is super slow. Connect it to the Roku box (or Game console) with the white Ethernet cable that comes with the kit. Then plug the adapter into the wall directly (not into the surge protector). The icon with the house should be lit, since it’s been paired.
- Now you only have to go to Settings of your Roku box or a game console and instead of Wi-Fi, choose a Wired connection.
If you like how fast the signal is, and decide to add more devices to your new Wired Powerline network, you can also purchase an additional kit. Each kit comes with 2 white adapters, so you can connect additional TV or game console, etc. When you join an existing powerline network, you can press Pair button for 1 second on any powerline device in the existing network, and then within 2 minutes, press the Pair button for 1 second on the new adapter, preferably in the same room. Then when the new adapter is paired, and the little home icon is lit up, you can plug it into another Roku box.
Wired powerline network is fast, secure and it extends far from the router. Wifi often works faster for devices physically located closest to the router, but if you are trying to transmit video over the Internet from a location further away from the router, you’ll benefit from having a fast wired powerline network.
