I grew up in the age of dial-up internet, where I had to ask mum if I could “tie up” the phone line so I could use the internet. For those too young to remember, dial-up used land-line phone connections (over copper) and it blocked the use of the phone because it literally dialled out to your Internet Service Provider. And there was no such thing as wireless – I had to roll out a 15-metre cable from my bedroom to the phone jack-point in the kitchen!
I am thankful that we moved on to ADSL, VSDL and now fibre optic connections to connect our homes and businesses to the internet. Alongside that, we also now have wireless connectivity. Most of the businesses I work with still use cabled connections, but some small businesses have switched over completely to wireless connectivity.
The advantages of wireless are obvious – you no longer need to get cabling installed, and you no longer need to purchase network switches.
However, there are some drawbacks to going completely wireless and one of the common questions I get asked is “Why is my internet connection so slow?” To answer that, I need to delve into how wireless connections work.
Wireless connections use a radio frequency to transfer data and typically this operates in either the 2.4GHz or 5GHz frequency ranges. In simple terms, the higher the frequency, the faster the transfer rate, but the lower the usable range (distance between the computer/phone/tablet and the modem or router).
Within each of these frequency ranges are multiple channels (small portions of the frequency range) that wireless routers can communicate on. For the 2.4GHz range, there are 13 (or sometimes 11) selectable channels, and all these channels overlap with each other. For the 5GHz range, there are 17 channels and these only overlap in some special circumstances. Are you with me so far? Good.
Problems arise when you have more than one wireless network on the same channel. Let’s say for example that both you and the business next door are using the 2.4GHz range and are both set to use channel 1. These wireless networks will ‘interfere’ with each other and may cause the other to slow down. To give you an idea, imagine having two people in a small room who are both talking at the same time. You might pick up some words during the pauses, but you’ll likely miss most of the conversations. Switching your wireless onto a different channel is like taking one of those people to another room. You might still be able to hear the first person through the wall, but you’re more likely to understand the conversation in the room you’re in.
Most modern modems/routers can automatically set the channel they use, and automatically change it if something else starts using the same channel. However, there can be a small ‘outage’ while the router reconfigures this and lets all the connected devices know. Even then, there sometimes there are just too many networks in the area for any channel to be free.
How much interference can there be you ask? This image was recorded today, 8th February 2023, from a carpark in the Upper Hutt CBD. The software I use shows all the networks that my laptop can detect, what channel they are on, and the strength of the signal.
Channel selection is across bottom, signal strength going up (higher meaning stronger signal).
You can see the sheer number of overlapping networks that could be interfering with each other. This wasn’t even on the main road, but down one of the side roads in the CBD. Below is the 5GHz band, recorded at the same time.
The 5GHz band is less used but you can still see many overlapping channels, while there are several channels that are completely unused. You may also note that the signal strength on the 5GHz networks is much lower. This is because 5GHz networks do not reach as far and cannot penetrate solid objects like walls as easily as 2.4GHz.
So, channel choice is the first issue. The second is very similar but seldom addressed. Many older wireless standards only allow one device to talk at a time. Yes, ONE device at a time. If for example you have a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a phone, a tablet, a wireless printer, and an EFTPOS machine all connected to the same wireless network, this could result in slow connections if they are trying to communicate at the same time. Within a small business, you shouldn’t have too many devices all talking at once. However, if you use cloud-based services or streaming services, that chance increases. For each additional wireless device that is added to the network, that chance increases. If you operate a home-based business you might be surprised at just how many devices are connected to your wireless network. Smart TV’s, games consoles or handhelds, heatpumps and now sometimes heaters or lights can all be connected to the same wireless network. If you have other people at home during the day, there’s a good chance that they’ll be using the wireless at the same time you are trying to run your business. One friend of mine has 32 devices connected in a 4-person household! Can you imagine 32 people in a single room all trying to talk at once? It would be chaos. (I’m working to help him get this sorted).
How do we overcome this issue? One option is to switch back to cabled networks. Computers that are connected via ethernet cable to a network switch are all able to communicate simultaneously. Unfortunately, this sometimes isn’t realistic – especially if your modem is at the other end of the house or office from where your computer is. Moving the modem and computer closer together will help, but this could also be impractical. Changing to a different wireless channel may help, but it depends on how many other wireless networks are in your area. Another possibility is to setup multiple wireless networks on different channels and split devices across them. But this can also be impractical as it can require the use of multiple modems, a more complicated network setup, and remembering which devices is supposed to be connected to which network.
Upgrading your hardware can be another option. The latest wireless standards include a technology called MU-MIMO. It allows more than one device to communicate at the same time by using multiple aerials transmitting on slightly different frequencies. Each device connects to a different aerial, so the more aerials on the router, the less likely that a connection will get interference. A four aerial router could be as little as $130 incl GST (RRP, requires fibre internet connection). This does depend on the capability of your computer, phone or tablet. But if it was purchased within the last four years it is very likely to support these wireless standards.
Which of these options best suits your situation? That’s where Raspberry IT can help. We can assess your current setup and recommend the appropriate options to optimize your wireless connections. Would you like to know more about making your wireless connection faster? Contact us today!
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