How to increase wireless download speed

From computers and mobile phones to various smart home products and appliances, these WiFi-connected devices consume a substantial amount of bandwidth, and not all internet plans can provide it. You might even be able to save some money since the prices of fast internet plans have gone down substantially since the early days of broadband internet.

Last but not least, consider contacting your internet service provider and asking for help. If the ISP truly cares about their customers, they will help you remotely diagnose your WiFi performance issues or even send over a technician to measure your WiFi signal strength and help you boost wireless signal.

Most WiFi boosters are designed to be plug and play, making it possible for anyone to install them on their own to enjoy a strong and reliable WiFi signal everywhere. When selecting a WiFi booster, make sure you have at least a rough idea of how large is the area that you want to cover. You can use a network analyzer like NetSpot to create a signal heatmap of your space. Then you need to set a budget and evaluate the potential candidates based on their features.

To make the selection process easier for you, we selected the top 5 best WiFi boosters according professional reviews and real users alike. Thanks to the support for the Just keep in mind that this high-end WiFi booster is much larger than most other WiFi boosters on the market.

Its dimensions are much closer to WiFi routers, but its performance more than makes up for the bulky form factor. When you purchase and open the box, you discover two units inside. One of the two units is meant to connect to your WiFi router, while the other unit connects wirelessly to the first one, seamlessly extending your WiFi network to other parts of your home. Together, the two units can cover up to 5, sq. Since the two units broadcast the same WiFi network, you can move with your smartphone or laptop from room to room without ever having to connect to a different WiFi network.

It supports both the 2. Its two integrated high-gain antennas provide surprisingly wide coverage considering their elegant design. The light turns red when you get too far away from your router and blue when the connection is good.

For example, if your WiFi router is on the ground floor and you want to extend your WiFi to the attic, a traditional WiFi booster would most likely struggle. This unique WiFi booster uses your home electrical wiring to extend your home network. You simply plug the receiver unit near your router and connect it using an Ethernet cable. You than plug the transmitter unit in any location in your home that shares the same electrical wiring and enjoy a strong WiFi signal.

The job of a WiFi extender is to extend your WiFi network beyond what your WiFi router is able to cover by grabbing the existing WiFi signal and rebroadcasting it. Because the Nighthawk X6 uses the same WiFi network name SSID as your router, it creates a seamless network, eliminating the need to switch between different networks.

On the back of the Nighthawk X6 are two gigabit Ethernet ports that can provide a stable, wired connection to a desktop computer, smart TV, or any other stationary device that benefits from a rock-solid internet connection. Despite its compact size and affordable price, it can stream simultaneously on 2. Of course, you can always simply unplug it from one outlet and connect it to a different one if you need to change its location. This wall-plug WiFi extender from Netgear surprises with its amazing performance and easy setup.

It can extend 2. Thanks to its support for Smart Roaming, your mobile devices will be able to automatically connect to it as they leave the range of your WiFi router. The Linksys Velop Wi-Fi extender is a compact device that can help you cover your home or any other building with a strong wireless signal. The extender is designed to boost WiFi signal by connecting to your existing Velop system for a seamless connection to all your devices.

Thanks to the Linksys App, controlling the Linksys Velop Wi-Fi extender and other Velop devices is a breeze, and you can, for example, create a separate, password-protected WiFi network or set up parental controls with a few simple clicks. This WiFi range extender from D-Link extends both 2. We like that it can also function as an access point, which may come in handy should your main router ever stop working.

The D-Link DAP has three external antennas that greatly improve its coverage, and it also features a single Ethernet port for wired internet access. To set up this WiFi range extender, you need to plug it into any wall outlet and press the WPS button on your router. If so, it may be the right time to get a new one. Modern routers can broadcast on multiple bands at the same time, and they support features like Multi-user MIMO, which allows them to communicate with multiple devices simultaneously.

The router also has eight gigabit Ethernet ports and two USB 3. Because this Asus router is geared toward gamers, it can super boost WiFi signal strength with its Game Boost technology, which analyzes network traffic and prioritizes gaming packets above everything else. This award-winning WiFi router from D-Link offers combined speeds of up to Mbps, the ability to simultaneously broadcast to multiple devices, and sophisticated yet easy-to-set-up parental controls that can protect the youngest members of your family from inappropriate content.

Created to satisfy the needs of heavy internet users who spend a lot of time streaming 4K content, playing online games, and downloading files from the internet, the Netgear Nighthawk X10 is one of the fastest routers in the world.

This relatively affordable router as far as powerful dual-band routers go is equipped with a 1. The app works on both Android and iOS, and its simple and intuitive user interface lets you quickly and painlessly accomplish all common router management tasks, including installing firmware updates. You can get the Netgear Orbi WiFi 6 System with two or three units included in the box and expand it by purchasing an additional satellite unit in the future.

The only downside is the steep price of the system. WiFi mesh systems are one of the best ways how to improve WiFi signal strength in large buildings. Here are the top 5 best WiFi mesh systems that you can purchase right now.

Even in the most basic configuration, Google Nest Wifi is able to handle up to connected devices and stream multiple 4K videos at a time.

Each Wifi point doubles as a smart speaker powered by Google Assistant, so you gain the ability to play your favorite songs or find answers on the web with natural voice queries. The Netgear Orbi 6 is a high-end mesh WiFi system designed with ultimate performance in mind. Thanks to its support for the latest generation WiFi 6 technology, it offers 4x increased capacity compared with WiFi 5 and the ability to connect as much as devices at the same time.

Included with the Netgear Orbi 6 is an online threat protection solution called NETGEAR Armor, which can protect all connected devices from the latest malware and send instant alerts to your smartphone or computer to keep you informed.

You can conveniently manage your security and WiFi settings using the Orbi app, which is available for Android and iOS devices. The eero is one of the most affordable mesh WiFi systems available. A single unit can provide up to 1, sq.

The Linksys Velop is an entire family of mesh WiFi systems that can seamlessly cover any home with a strong WiFi signal regardless of its shape or size. If you want the strongest WiFi signal you can get, then you should check out the Velop AX, which is ideal for large households looking for the latest WiFi 6 technology. Regardless of which Linksys Velop mesh WiFi system you choose, you can always download the Linksys Mobile app to your smartphone and use it to set up parental controls, create a guest WiFi network, change your password, and more.

With these ten tips, you should have no problem boosting your WiFi network without buying a new router. Make sure to have NetSpot at hand to check whether our tips helped each time you try one. We guarantee that by the time you get to the number ten, your WiFi will feel faster than ever before.

For example, you can use a WiFi signal analyzer to determine a more suitable place for your router, or you can switch to the 5 GHz band for an instant boost in performance, especially if you live in a densely populated urban area. If you want to boost your WiFi without purchasing a new router, you can start by tweaking your settings.

You should also make sure that your router uses the least cluttered channel possible, especially when using only the 2. Use a WiFi analyzer app to determine the best settings. Yes, WiFi extenders really work, but their effectiveness greatly depends on their placement. The most expensive way how to boost your home WiFi is to buy a new router.

Fortunately, there are many far less expensive ways that you should try first, including buying a stronger antenna for your existing router if it has an external one , installing a WiFi repeater, or moving your router to a more suitable location. You can instantly boost your WiFi signal for free by cutting all out WiFi leeches, which are basically unauthorized users of your internet connection.

Your modem translates internet signals between your home network and your internet provider. If your internet is acting up, a power cycle is a good place to start troubleshooting —it may even fix your connection issues.

Next, repeat the process if you have a standalone router. Finally, turn off the Wi-Fi on all your wireless devices. Wait a few seconds and then toggle Wi-Fi back on. Allow these devices to reconnect and see if your connection improves. A power cycle might seem simplistic, but turning your home networking equipment off and on again can really give your network a boost. We recommend rebooting your equipment regularly—at least once every few months.

But keep in mind that doing this will leave you without internet for a few minutes, so plan to restart your equipment at a time when no one needs an internet connection. Wi-Fi can travel only so far, and its signals can get interrupted or blocked by walls, floors, ceilings, furniture, appliances, and basically any large physical object. These signals can also get interrupted by radio waves from other devices, including cordless phones, baby monitors, microwaves, and Bluetooth speakers.

So if you place your router in a corner , you may have issues with Wi-Fi at the other end of your home. The best place for your router is in a central location, near where you use the internet most often. Skip ahead to step nine— extend your network —if your router is already in a great location. But if you do have adjustable antennas on your router, try reconfiguring them.

Router antennas are usually omnidirectional, which means they send out signals in all directions perpendicular to the antenna. For example, a vertical antenna sends out Wi-Fi signals horizontally and vice versa. So if you need to stretch your Wi-Fi signals to multiple floors, adjusting an antenna to sit horizontally to spread Wi-Fi signals up and down could help.

Modern routers work primarily on two radio frequency bands: 2. The band you use for your connections can affect your speeds and the quality of your connections at different distances from your router. The 2. The two frequency bands often appear as two separate Wi-Fi networks. To reorganize your connections, log off from the incorrect band and connect to the correct one on each device.

Everything connected to your network should be essential. The quickest way to disconnect nonessential devices is to change your Wi-Fi passwords and reboot your router. You will then need to log back in to your network with the new password on every device you currently use. This method will purge all unnecessary connections, like the emergency cell phone you keep turned on that still quietly downloads updates.

If you have an app like this, you could easily find errant connections and disconnect them without having to disrupt your whole Wi-Fi network. Most routers automatically choose the best channel for you, but sometimes you need to change them manually.

Frequency channels can get crowded, so if you and all your neighbors use the same channel in the 2. To find the best Wi-Fi channel , you can use the Wireless Diagnostics feature on a Mac computer —just hold down the Option key and click the Wi-Fi icon on the menu bar in the top right corner of your screen.

The Scan window will list the best 2. On Windows, you can use a command in Windows PowerShell to see all the available channels or install an app like NetSpot. Once logged in, look for your Wi-Fi settings. Here, MiniTool introduces 16 effective ways to help people speed up both the upload and the download speeds. Free Download. How to increase internet speed on Windows 10? Please close all the unnecessary tabs that are opening in your browsers. Besides, you should close background apps and the applications that are occupying much of your internet bandwidth.

How to speed up downloads or uploads? Another effective way is to change the bandwidth limit on PC.