Wireless Network Optimization

By Calvin Croucher

This is a story that may sound familiar to some of you and your own home wireless network.

Recently, I was contacted by a homeowner who expressed concern that his wireless network wasn’t working correctly. He said, “My internet seems to cut on and off”. The homeowner scheduled an assessment. I asked, “What speed are you paying for?” He answered, “150Mbps”. First, I rebooted the modem-router, aka the Gateway. Then, I checked that the router's firmware version was current. Next, I measured the speed in megabits/second and signal quality in milliseconds by connecting directly to one of the available Ethernet ports. Results were well above the subscribed service level. Now here is where things got interesting. I measured the wireless bandwidth and signal strength at key locations throughout the house. The speed test results were “very disappointing”. None of the measurements were within ¼ of the rated speed! That means for a service that might be costing $90/month the homeowner was only receiving service that should have cost him $25/month!

So now what? Well, since the router was over 5 years old and runs on wireless N technology the recommendation was clear. Time to upgrade. But to what? There are generally two options. A Gateway, which is a device that contains a modem and a router or a modem along with a multi-node WiFi-6 mesh network. Generally, the cost is very similar so the clear choice, especially for multiple floor living, is to implement a mesh network. A Mesh network provides whole house coverage and can be expanded to three or more nodes as needed. Most mesh networks operate with wireless, beamforming, blended 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz technology. They are good for Gigabit speeds between nodes that can support more than 100 networked devices. An added bonus is that each mesh node generally comes with 2-3 Ethernet ports so TVs and computers can be hard wired to receive very stable signals.

So, after registering a new cable modem with the ISP, providing them with the make, model, serial number and MAC address and configuring a 3-node mesh network strategically placed in the customers house, how do things look? As Captain Kirk likes to say, “Warp Speed Scotty!” All points throughout the house now receive speeds well in excess of 100Mbps. Mission accomplished. No more buffering, no more dropouts.

If you have questions or would like to see if your home network is performing at its best contact me for help.

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