WiFi is an amazing technology at home to surf on the Internet, watch a movie and to work remotely. However, it can be pretty annoying when the signal is weak. Depending on the walls and windows around you, the coverage might be totally different from one room to another one.
Have you ever experienced some troubles getting a reliable, stable WiFi signal in some parts of your home? If you constantly have to be as close as possible to your Internet box to pick up WiFi, a WiFi repeater could be the solution for you.
What is it?
A WiFi repeater is a device which looks like a small box. The principle of a WiFi repeater is quite simple: it literally repeats WiFi signal around it. A WiFi repeater is used to extend the coverage area of your WiFi network. In other words, it amplifies, boosts the existing signal it is receiving. In this way, you would be able to get WiFi in any rooms of your house.
One thing quite significant when it comes to optimizing the coverage is its position in your home. It should be placed neither too close nor too far from your Internet box. A piece of advice: try to install it in different places to optimize the network coverage.
How to know when I need it? How to make sure it is working?
Before buying a WiFi repeater, you should first run a nPerf Speed Test just next your Internet box, then in the rooms you have barely a connection. Conducting a nPerf speed test is a free, quick, easy way to check your Internet service provider’s performance. A speed test measures your current connection’s maximum speed – how fast your device can upload and download information – by accessing nearby servers. Connect your phone to your WiFi and perform a test on the nPerf app: it measures the download and upload speeds, the latency and the Internet quality-of-experience (browsing and streaming test).
If both speed test results are highly unlike, you should try to install a WiFi repeater. Once done, do not forget to run another speed test on the nPerf App to check how better the coverage in your home is.
To sum up, the first step in determining whether you need a Wi-Fi repeater is to run speed tests in your home. If needed, do not hesitate to seek advice from experts to help choose the proper WiFi repeater.
