Make Tech Easier - Thursday, March 5, 2020 at 5:25 PM
How to Get Rid of Dead Spots in Your Smart Home
It should be simple. You have a wireless router, so you shouldn’t have a
problem connecting any devices, right? Wrong. Depending on where you’re
standing, you might not have any signal at all. Dead spots are all too common
and limit your smart home’s capabilities.
Usually, you notice annoying Wi-Fi dead spots when you can’t stream a video on
your phone. You might also find that your new smart bulb in the hallway lamp
won’t set up at all. The good news is you can eliminate most dead spots easily.
Common Causes of Dead Spots
One of the most common solutions is to simply move your router. This does work
sometimes, but it won’t work if there’s still a major barrier in the way.
Before you try to eliminate any of these spots, it’s a good idea to learn what
causes them to begin with. It’ll also be easier to quickly find these spots
when you’re mapping out your connectivity later.
Some of the most common causes of dead spots include:
Walls – the thicker the wall, the weaker the Wi-Fi signal. Thin walls won’t
give you much of a problem, but concrete might cut you off completely.
Appliances – appliances often interfere with your Wi-Fi signal. Refrigerators
are one of the worst culprits.
Older wiring – older types of metal wiring can interfere as well.
Larger metal objects – while you might not have things like metal filing
cabinets in your home, these can still be problematic. If you have a home
office with metal cabinets of any type and your Wi-Fi signal is weak, this
could be the problem.
It’s important to remember that a dead spot is an area where you rarely, if
ever, get a signal. Depending on your ISP, your speeds might vary throughout
the day. If you have slow Wi-Fi in the evenings, this isn’t a dead spot – it’s
just a busy time of day. The same is true if your speeds slow down when you
have too many connected devices at the same time.
Testing Your Home
Now you get to have some fun. It’s time to map out your home to find all the
dead spots and see where your signal is the strongest. You’ll need this map to
help you eliminate the bad areas for a more even signal throughout your entire
home.
The most straightforward method is to turn on Wi-Fi on your phone and slowly
walk around your home. Pay close attention to the signal strength. Ideally, do
this early in the morning or late at night when there aren’t as many people
using it.
You can also use special apps and tools to map out your signal strength and
even determine if there’s interference from other wireless routers around your
neighborhood. A few popular options include:
NetSpot – afree version allows you to create a basic map or use the seven-day
free trial. The app works on Windows, Mac, and Android.
Network Analyzer – this is a basic app that measures signal strength. It’s only
available for iOS.
Ekahau HeatMapper – while it’s marketed for enterprises, the free version works
well for homes. It’s for Windows only.
Read the tutorials for each before using them to ensure you fully understand
what the maps mean. NetSpot and Ekahau use color-coded maps to help you easily
visualize dead spots to see where to place more access points.
Eliminating Dead Spots
Now that you know where the dead spots are, it’s time to start eliminating
them. The first step is to move your wireless router to a more central
location, if possible.
For example, if your router is located on the far-left of the first story of
your three-story home, you’ll have more dead spots on the right side and upper
floors. Moving your router to a central location on the second story will
eliminate many of your issues.
A few other simple ways to eliminate dead spots include:
Raise your router’s antenna, if it has one.
Ensure all devices use the same 802.11 protocol. (This can slow performance
even if it’s not a dead zone.) Open your wireless network properties on all
devices and ensure the “802.11” protocol is the same for each.
Install a repeater or extender. Look for a model that creates a dual-band Wi-Fi
network to prevent performance issues. These systems give you two or more
routers that send a boosted signal to each other for better overall coverage.
Install signal boosters. Boosters help your signal reach further. These are
great for smaller dead spots. Extenders actually create a second network to
rebroadcast your original Wi-Fi signal.
Move your router away from major interference. For instance, move the router
closer to a doorway or away from kitchen appliances.
Use Wi-Fi analyzer tools to use a less congested frequency. This can cause dead
spots when you have numerous Wi-Fi networks in an area, such as a close
neighborhood.
Upgrade to a more powerful router. If your router is older or doesn’t broadcast
a signal wide enough, you’ll have dead spots.
Don’t worry if it takes a little trial and error to eliminate your dead spots.
All the work is worth it to ensure your smart home devices work wherever you
want to place them.
Image credit: Selective focus of businessman holding wire with connector near
router by DepositPhotos
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David Goldfield
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