WiFi Tips

2025-02-07

WiFi coverage

WiFi signals can maintain good speed and coverage through 2-3 regular residential walls/floors. For example, a router placed on the main floor, can go through the floor + go through 1-2 walls before speed and reliability decrease below an acceptable level. Signal will not propagate as far through lathe and plaster, insulated walls, exterior walls, and metal siding. Try to keep the router within 2 walls of the most used area, or consider hard wiring high performance devices like desktop computers, or gaming consoles with an ethernet cable.

WiFi coverage can be improved by purchasing an additional WiFi node, and then wiring the node into the main WiFi router with an ethernet cable. The additional node will broadcast the same WiFi name, and devices like phones and tablets will automatically connect to the node with the strongest signal.

WiFi frequencies

WiFi operates over three frequencies:

  • 2.4 GHz - longest range, but slower. Most common for IoT (internet-of-things) devices, printers, older devices, or other low bandwidth devices
  • 5 GHz - shorter range, faster and more consistent (up to 4x available speed compared to 2.4GHz)
  • 6 GHz - shortest range, fastest speeds. Recently added to WiFi spec, only available with WiFi 6E, or WiFi 7 (up to 2x available speed compared to 5GHz)

WiFi networks can broadcast on a single frequency or multiple frequencies and let client devices like phones decide which frequency will offer the best performance. For example, an iPhone may connect to the WiFi network over 5GHz when inside, and then switch to the longer range 2.4GHz when outside in the yard.

In some cases, it may take a while for devices to switch back to the 5GHz network when back in range, and instead stay on the 2.4GHz frequency. This can lead to lower performance, so there is sometimes a dedicated 5GHz network to ensure devices are always on the shorter range, more consistent frequency. A lower signal 5GHz often outperforms a high signal 2.4GHz connection! We recommend connecting phones, gaming devices, and other high performance devices to the 5GHz network to ensure optimal performance. If there is not enough range on the 5GHz signal, consider purchasing an additional WiFi node to expand coverage, or hard wire the device for the best performance.

WiFi 7 routers and WiFi 7 devices can utilize Multi Link Operation (MLO) to connect and use multiple frequencies at once, further increasing speeds.

WiFi node placement

  • Place WiFi nodes near the middle of the intended coverage area, try to avoid placing against outside walls, or in corners
  • Keep WiFi nodes at least 1m away from microwave ovens
  • Avoid placing metal objects beside or around the node including fridges, freezers, safes, etc
  • Do not block the vents of the nodes
  • Keep the nodes upright to allow hot air to convect out of the vents

What is a good speed over WiFi?

WiFi speeds will decrease with a lower WiFi signal, and will be slower at further distances. A speed of 100 Mbps over WiFi is considered good, and is enough to stream shows in 4K resolution, and download online games. To increase speeds and coverage, additional WiFi nodes can be purchased and wired in to the main router.

Testing WiFi speed

Apps

  • Speedtest.net app
  • WiFiMan app
    • On Android, WiFiMan also contains a signal meter. We recommend having a 5GHz signal of -72dBm or stronger
    • -40dBm to -60dBm excellent signal
    • -60dBm to -72dBm good signal
    • -72dBm to -75dBm low signal
    • -75dBm to -80dBm signal too low

Websites