Wifi signal strength/speed question

[migrant]

On the heels of Buksidas post I am wondering.

We are currently using our neighbors wifi connection (with his permission). Often the signal is shown as good, or excellent, , but the pages are very slow. Does the slowness have to do with something else?

Curious!!

[expat71NL]

Could be your distance from his router, the number and type of walls between you and the router, the quality of the router, the speed of his broadband, the sites you are trying to access or a combination of all these.

[J.J.B.]

And, of course, whether your neighbour is usng the connection (wifi or broadband) at the same time.

[migrant]

Distance wise we are fairly close so maybe a matter of how many users.

I guess when I think (silly of me) that it says a good, or excellent, connection, I should be quick.

Thanks!

[Pleng]

When you see signal strength it is only an indication of how strong the connection between your computer and the router. If the internet connection itself is bad, or (as other people here have said) there are many people trying to share the same bandwidth, you will still suffer poor performance, regardless of the wifi signal quality

[hhinner]

Also, although the signal strength may be excellent the quality may be not so good. There maybe noise or interference from other sources. Other WiFi networks using the same channel is a possibility. This is probably the first thing to check. You can find several WiFi analyzer apps for android and apple devices, as well as for Windows. Windows apps may help probe deeper (some provide noise levels), but the android/iOS apps are easier to understand for a beginner.

You would need to check both in your own location and at the router location for such channel contention. If necessary it is fairly simple to change the router's choice of channel. The analyzer app will show which channels are unused in your neighbourhood so you can avoid those already used by others.

There may be other factors, e.g. electric motors between you and the router could be a source of interference.

[migrant]

Thanks again! Interesting!!

[Bluesky]

Also, although the signal strength may be excellent the quality may be not so good. There maybe noise or interference from other sources. Other WiFi networks using the same channel is a possibility. This is probably the first thing to check. You can find several WiFi analyzer apps for android and apple devices, as well as for Windows. Windows apps may help probe deeper (some provide noise levels), but the android/iOS apps are easier to understand for a beginner.

You would need to check both in your own location and at the router location for such channel contention. If necessary it is fairly simple to change the router's choice of channel. The analyzer app will show which channels are unused in your neighbourhood so you can avoid those already used by others.

There may be other factors, e.g. electric motors between you and the router could be a source of interference.

Good points as mentioned above, would also consider microwave ovens, cordless phones and security devices and cameras that utilize WAN wifi links. (Our neighbor has a multiple camera security system
which means a huge reduction in speed when using our WAN network vs speed available via CAT cable.)

[wpcoe]

Even Christmas lights can affect WiFi signals.

[hhfarang]

"How to speed up your home Wi-Fi by optimizing your router"

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/s/speed-home ... 52840.html

[Pleng]

Interestingly, for an article titled "How to speed up your home Wi-Fi by optimizing your router", there's not a single router optimisation tip in the content!

[hhfarang]

Interestingly, for an article titled "How to speed up your home Wi-Fi by optimizing your router", there's not a single router optimisation tip in the content!

Sorry

I was just going through my daily news feeds and saw that title and remembered just reading a thread on the subject here. The title made it sound helpful so I posted the link but didn't read it as my current signal strength/speed is the best I've ever had.