The noisy pub, a wifi parable

We’ve all been there – you’re the first in the pub, and you start a conversation with a mate and you’re both talking normally, then someone else comes in and you start having to talk louder, or you start missing what the other person says… it’s even worse if you’re in a weird part of the pub, you know, where you’re stood either side of a pillar and you can’t quite make out what your friend is saying because they keep moving just out of view. OK, so maybe the last bit is a bit of a stretch, but this is a bit like what happens with wifi. If you were in a pub and you couldn’t talk, you’d move to somewhere it’s easier to hear them, or you’d maybe even consider leaving the pub. With wifi you don’t have this option… but you can do some things to fix the problem.

This post was inspired by a short conversation I had yesterday, starting with this exchange:

@GizziErskine:  I hate the Internet in my house. I hate it I hate it I hate it. #hate (Link)

@jontheniceguy: @GizziErskine what’s wrong with the internet access in your house? Slow, unreliable or randomly rubbish? Happy to try to troubleshoot! (Link)

@GizziErskine: @jontheniceguy only works one side of my very tiny flat but does work the other side when it fancies it. (Link)

The solution? Well, first thing is first, you need to work out what exactly you’re fixing. You can install a WiFi analyser (this handy free android app is what I use at home) to see whether you’re getting a signal from your access point (sometimes it’s part of the router or modem you got from your ISP) at the place where you’re having issues.

A quick win might just be to move the router around a bit until you get a stronger signal, and it’s usually best to put the antennas on your access point (if you have them) to about a 45 degree angle to the floor, and as high up as possible. You might want to review this article for some pro tips on where to put it!

Aside from that, your next best bet is to get a wifi extender installed into your house. There are a few different models from a wide variety of vendors, but this one seems like the easiest I’ve found.

Essentially, with this produce, there are two boxes, one that you plug a network cable into your router and into the wall, and the other you plug somewhere in the area where you’ve got little or no coverage. The network signals travel over your mains cabling, which you’ve got strung around your house anyway, and so can give you more coverage. Of course, it’s still a signal being broadcast (albeit just down a wire), so in a large block of flats you might get some interference from other devices on the same bit of wire, and some older models (with no encryption) reported that people a couple of doors away from where they were got to see some of that traffic, if they were looking… so turn on encryption!

I think I’ve covered everything here, but if you’ve got any questions, feel free to ask in the comments below, or send me an e-mail to jon@sprig.gs and I’ll see what I can do to help!