by David B Hitchcock

Created on: November 11, 2008   Last Updated: March 30, 2011

Tips for a better wireless Internet connection

These days almost everyone is connecting to the Internet with wireless technology of some kind cell phones, laptops, and video game consoles to name a few. But how many people know how to improve their wireless connection when they have problems? Here are some tips for improving your wireless Internet connection.

Most wireless connections use the 2.4 Gigahertz (GHz) spectrum. If you don't know what this is, don't worry. All you need to know is that wireless cellphone headsets, wireless mouses and keyboards, wireless networking, 2.4 GHz cordless telephones, and microwave ovens all operate at 2.4 GHz. Do you see the problem? With all those things using the same bandwidth, they get confused and one thing, especially microwaves, will blot out another. To avoid this problem, try to follow these six suggestions.

Don't use wireless technologies any where near the microwave oven. A microwave oven, especially older ones with bad shielding, will send out interference in all directions. It is easy to test this if you have a wireless mouse or keyboard, and want to make some microwave popcorn.

Buy cordless telephones that don't use 2.4 GHz. There are other frequencies for cordless phones out there out there older phones use 900 MHz, and newer phones use 5.8 GHz for example. You can also improve things by getting phones that use Digital Spread Spectrum (DSS) technology. This feature improves the communication between the cordless phone and the base by using different frequencies to avoid interference. This means if your phone does interfere with your wireless Internet connection, it will so brief you likely won't notice it.

Whenever possible, use a wired mouse and keyboard. Its nice to go cordless and not get wrapped up in your keyboard and mouse cords. However, since they share the same bandwidth as your wireless Internet connection, not only can they interfere with it, but everything can stop working if there is major interference such as a microwave oven. Also you won't have to worry about replacing batteries.

Only use one wireless method to connect to the Internet at a time, such as your computer or your cell phone but not both at once. This seems straight forward since nobody can really use the two devices at the same time, but you'd be surprised how many people are waiting for something to download on their computer and start using their cell phone to surf the Internet. That's fine, but if you experience a problem, turn one of them off because it might be the problem.

When you try to connect to a wireless network, there are too many networks in the area. This is hard to get around if you don't control the networks. A wireless computer network uses one of a few different channels to communicate. If other networks are using the same channel, the signals can interfere with each other. If this is the case, try to change your wireless network to a different, and less used, channel.

If you are still experiencing problems, check with people in the next office or house to see if they are interfering with your wireless connection. Many offices and even houses or apartments are so close together that any of the sources of interference I've listed here could be coming from outside your home or office. Once you have eliminated all your likely sources of interference, if you are still having problems check with your neighbours you might end up fixing their problems as well as your own!

These tips won't solve all your wireless connection problems, but they will make your wireless life a lot easier.

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