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GET BETTER Wi-Fi AT H O M E
12
Choose the right
Wi-Fi network
Even the most basic of modern routers
is capable of hosting two networks
simultaneously. One usually runs at
2.4GHz, while the other runs at 5GHz,
with the former being slower but
spreading further, and the latter
providing better performance, but
degrading more quickly as it passes
through walls and floors. Often, choosing
between them depends on where you’re
going to use the connection, more than it
does on the specs of the router itself.
When faced with the task of choosing
the best network, you might immediately
go for the fastest option, but that’s not
always the right choice. A network’s
stated speed will be a measure of the
maximum rate supported by the router,
and you’ll only ever see that kind of
performance if the signal reaches your PC
under optimal conditions. It will rarely
do that (see page 25 to learn why).
Acrylic Wi-Fi (www.snipca.com/42064- click ‘Download for Windows’ in the
‘Free download’ box to the left) helps you
choose the best network to use in any
location. It does this by visualising not
only its speed, but also the quality of the
signal at that location in your home.
When you’ve installed it, click Acrylic
Wi-Fi Home from the list of options on
the program’s home page.
Click the Max Speed column header (^1
in our screenshot below) twice to order
the networks with the fastest at the top.
If it’s one of your own, click it, and check
the status bars and graph below to see
how strong the signal is at your current
location. Although we own both the
Brecqhou-5G2^2 and Ovingo^3 networks
(and most of the others), we prefer not to
use Brecqhou-5G2, despite it supporting
a higher maximum speed, because the
graph suggests average performance, while
Signal Quality, in the status bars, is almost
exactly half way between best and worst.
Ovingo, however, while supporting a
lower maximum speed, has full bars for
both Signal Quality and Transmission
Speed^4 , and a line that consistently
cuts a higher path on the graph - see the
green line^5. The higher signal quality
suggests that we’ll get a more reliable
connection even though the theoretical
maximum speed supported by that
network is lower.13
Check if someone is
stealing your Wi-Fi
If your Wi-Fi starts feeling sluggish, or
you’re on a capped broadband contract
and frequently approaching or exceeding
your bandwidth limit, an unauthorised
device might have piggybacked on to
your network.
The simplest solution to this problem is
to change your network password, via the
router’s configuration pages, but doing so
disconnects all the devices you’ve
authorised yourself – not just computers
and tablets but also any ‘smart’ devices
you have around the home. Reconnecting
them can be a time-consuming business
that you want to avoid if you can.
NirSoft’s Wireless Network Watcher
(www.snipca.com/42076) lists all the
devices connected to your
router, so you can check them
and – if you recognise them all- avoid the hassle of changing
your password. As well as
device names, and details of
who made the network adapter
in each one, it shows their IP
addresses, which sometimes
link through to a configuration
of information screen if typed
into a browser. Thus, where
our network is hosting an
unnamed device at 10.0.0.17
(see screenshot above), for
example, typing that into a
browser leads us to the login
screen for a wireless network
booster that we know is ours.
It’s therefore not a threat and
we know we can ignore it.
8 – 21 June 2022 • Issue 633We’ve chosen the Ovingo network because while the speed is lower, it’s more reliableWe checked the unnamed device at 10.0.0.17 and discovered it was one of our Wi-Fi boosters1
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