No one budgets for poor Wi-Fi, but maybe they should.
Every time you or an an employee waits for a website to load, stares at a frozen online meeting screen, complains about slow file downloads, or walks closer to the router to get a better wireless signal, your business is wasting time and money.
If you are in the tourist or hospitality industry, having poor internet is even worse than no internet as it directly affects your customers who may never return.
Most people chalk it up to tech being tech, ie mildly annoying, and not worth complaining about and / or fixing.
That is a mistake.
Bad Wi-Fi might not show up on a balance sheet, but it does affect your bottom line.
One person losing 30 minutes a day doesn’t sound like much, but multiply it by your whole team and you will find dozens of hours going nowhere.
Hours that YOU are paying for, week after week and month after month.
Ways to Fix Your Poor WiFi
1) Check your router’s location.
If it is on the floor, behind a cabinet, or buried in a server closet, move it.
Wi-Fi needs open space. Ideally, raise it up and place it somewhere central.
Think ceiling or shelf height. The fewer walls between your people and the signal, the better.
2) Check how old your router is.
If it was installed before 2020, it is probably underpowered for todays equipment.
Look underneath it, or on its back, and you should see a sticker with the model number, Google that to find out the year of release or manufacture.
If it doesn’t support Wi-Fi 6, it’s time to upgrade.
You don’t need to break the bank, but you also don’t want the $60 router used by middle-school kids to do their homework.
3) Check how many devices are connected.
Remember, to count all your devices (printers, phones, tablets, smart watches, tv’s and phones) and not just you and your staff’s laptops and computers.
Every one of these eats bandwidth ?
If you are not sure what is what, unplug the non-essentials and see if things improve.
If you want to go further, split your network into two frequency bands.
Many routers let you run a 2.4GHz and 5GHz band at the same time. Use the 5GHz band for laptops, phones, and video calls. Use 2.4GHz for anything else.
This reduces interference and gives modern devices a clearer frequency.
4) Fit For Purpose
Running a single wireless access point for a large office space with many users is a recipe for disaster, just like using hardware designed for home use. You need to use equipment designed for your specific environment.
5) Run a speed test.
But do it from the farthest corner of the office.
If your download speeds drop by more than 50% compared to a test near the router, your coverage is uneven.
This doesn’t mean you need more speed from your internet provider.
You just need better signal inside your space, which can be easily achieved with a Wi-Fi extender or multiple Access Points.
You don’t have to do it all today, but if you’ve had Wi-Fi problems before… please don’t ignore it.
There’s no point in your team being stuck with slow internet, when there could be an easy fix.
Our team of wireless experts have installed and fixed many wireless networks across Australia. If you would like one of our engineers to come and do a complimentary Wi-Fi audit of your location, contact us now.