Whether it is for a company, a house, a restaurant, or any kind of establishment, wireless internet is becoming a must-have. As people need to stay connected on all their devices, the internet has become a ubiquitous tool for everyone. There is, however, a lot of concerns about setting up properly a wireless internet network, especially regarding performance, but also security and accessibility. In this article, we will go through the numerous aspects to consider when setting up a WiFi network.
The first step towards wireless internet is, of course, an internet connection. For that, you need to get in touch with an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Once you have your subscription and everything set up on the ISP side, you can start working on your actual network. Depending on your region and the way the connection is set up, you might need a modem-router or just a router. After configuring your router and entering the credentials provided by your ISP, you will finally be able to access the internet through your WiFi network.
As part of the configuration process, it is important to implement a few security measures to protect the data shared on your network but also benefit from the data speed you paid for: you don’t want a neighbor or anyone passing by to connect to your WiFi and slow down your internet. Many approaches can be used, and the simplest one is to set up a password that each user will need to enter in order to access it. There are also more advanced features like setting up a MAC address filter that would only allow a list of devices to connect, based on their network card’s identification number. Depending on your router model, there might even be some more advanced features allowing you to prevent the users from accessing certain websites or disable the internet at certain times of the day, or even connect to a VPN to encrypt all your internet traffic!
While this first part can be tricky, it actually doesn’t guarantee you the best performance. Depending on various factors such as the size of the area to cover, the amount of other devices susceptible to interfere or the number of devices connected to the network, some aspects of the set up should be adjusted. Indeed, for a large area to cover, the router must be positioned wisely. For instance, you might want to place it in the center of the room rather than in a corner. But this positioning will also allow you to avoid covering the external environment and therefore reduce the probability of having your network accessible to potential hackers.
But router positioning is only one aspect. If there are other WiFi networks around – if you live in a building, for example – they might interfere with one another. An approach to address this issue consists in using another frequency range. But while switching to the 5GHz channel could address the issue, the downside is that it can drastically reduce the surface covered as higher frequencies have more difficulties to pass through concrete walls and obstacles in general. Other home appliances such as microwave ovens can cause disturbances, as well as Bluetooth devices, medical equipment, wireless cameras, wireless phones, etc. The positioning of these devices should be thought of too.
Since the WiFi optimization aspect should be taken seriously, it is usually very helpful to run a WiFi site survey. These surveys include a lot of procedures to optimize performance, and there are useful tools for that. You will, therefore, be able to scan the area looking for potential interferences and to spot weak spots ranging from large obstacles to lack of proximity. Performing a WiFi site survey beforehand can, therefore, help you pick the right equipment for your network requirements.
While wireless internet is almost a must-have today, it still isn’t as fast, reliable, and stable as wired internet. There has been a lot of improvement over the past few years as routers are getting more and more powerful and new WiFi norms are released regularly. However, it is important to know how to set up your WiFi properly to take advantage of these speeds. For this, there are various aspects to consider and doing a prior study before purchasing your internet equipment can not only help you save time and money but also make you enjoy faster internet speeds and increased security.
