

Ask HN: How to speed up wifi? - jyu

I live in an apartment complex, and have FIOS. I get great speed when wired, but it's like 20% lan speed when using wifi. I'm assuming the literally 50+ wifi signals have something to do with it. Would getting a new router and switching the spectrum do the trick? Any suggestions?
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Millennium
A new router might help, but it might not. It's tough to know exactly what's
going on in your complex without being able to get more data on what the local
RF environment is like. Something must be interfering with your network, but
that could be other wireless networks, or cordless landline phones, or
microwave ovens, or the walls, or any number of other things.

In terms of general tips, Jeremy1026's is good. Find the least-used channel in
your area and switch to it. If you can find a block of three consecutive low-
traffic channels, that's even better: pick the one in the middle. Again going
back to Jeremy1026, 4 is often a good choice in the US, and you can also try 8
or 9 if 4 doesn't work out. But if you've got a lot of savvy people in your
area looking for a good channel, you may need to look deeper.

Many routers can perform something they usually call a "Wireless Site Survey"
to help you find a relatively unused channel. At least in Linux, you can also
use the iw family of commands, though there's a lot of output to sift through.
I don't know what's out there for Windows in this regard, but there's got to
be something.

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Jeremy1026
Try to find an open (or less used) channel. If you need to stay on 2.4ghz mode
I like to use Channel 4, since most (US based) routers default to 1, 6, or 11.
If you can use 5ghz mode you will have even less noise on your signal which
will further increase speed.

