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My friend found me a few days after he moved into his new house. Said the new home broadband and router just installed, but encountered an embarrassing problem:
The new router works well, but there are still some dead ends. It is too late to change the network deployment now, and it is also a waste to change the router you just bought. Is it possible to slightly improve the WiFi coverage without changing the equipment?
Is this unfortunate? Really can!
You should have heard of this method which is widely circulated on the Internet. At first, I was dubious, and I didn't understand the principles until I got a better understanding of the principles related to routers.
After the router's WiFi chip processes the data, it needs to send and receive the data through FEM (Front End Module). The quality of FEM directly affects the signal quality of the router.
The larger the working bandwidth of FEM, the smaller the corresponding amplification power. For example, the two fems of Skyworks and Qorvo above. Keeping other parameters unchanged, the bandwidth is reduced from 160MHz to 80MHz, and the output power is increased by 2dBm. This is also the basis for narrowing the bandwidth enhancement signal.
How to adjust it specifically? Let's clarify the use of 2.4 GHz and 5GHz bands in the home environment. At present, most mobile phones, tablets, laptops and other devices need high speed, mainly in the 5GHz band.
2.4GHz is mainly used for smart homes, old equipment, or as a signal to fill blind spots. This also determines that the 2.4GHz frequency band does not require high speed, but it should emphasize signal coverage and anti-interference.
So I will directly adjust the bandwidth to the lowest of the 2.4GHz band, which is 20MHz. In addition to enhancing the signal, it can also greatly reduce the interference between 2.4G-WiFi and other devices and optimize the signal quality.
At this time, the 2.4GHz WiFi rate will drop by about 1/2. However, the data volume of smart home products is very small, and 72Mbps is completely enough.
The mobile phone tablet is in a position where the 5GHz signal cannot be covered, supplemented by 2.4GHz, and it is also possible to brush videos and chat on WeChat at this rate.
5GHz is the main frequency band for data transmission, so it is obviously more expensive to replace coverage with rate. But it is not completely impossible.
Popular entry-level AX3000 router. In 160MHz mode, 5G WiFi can reach 2.4Gbps, but at present, the home broadband is mainly within Gigabit, and the corresponding router also lacks a 2.5G network port. No matter how high the wireless rate is, it doesn't mean much.
Reducing the bandwidth to 80MHz can significantly improve the signal and reduce the interference experience. At this time, the rate is still 1.2Gbps, which makes no difference for broadband rates within gigabit.
If we continue to reduce to 40 MHz, the signal can be further enhanced. However, the theoretical rate is only 400~574Mbps, and it is impossible to run more than 300 megabytes of broadband. Unless you have a high demand for signal coverage or don't care much about the network speed, think carefully.
Adjusting the channel to improve the signal is controversial on the Internet. Taking 2.4GHz as an example, one school thinks that using 1, 6, 1 1 channel can reduce interference. However, there are also views that the influence of channels is not great, but related to the environment of use. After reading all kinds of materials, I finally found a more reliable statement:
This suggestion comes from an Intel document entitled "Guide to Configuring Wi-Fi Channels and Channel Width to Improve Network Connection". (Original address)
Considering Intel's deep accumulation in WiFi-related patents, individuals tend to adopt this approach.
Although Intel recommends using the channel 1, 6, 1 1. But according to your network environment, choose the least crowded one.
On the other hand, the transmission capacity of the 5GHz band is not strong, and generally there will be no serious interference problems. Is it useless to tune the channel?
Not really! Although we often say "5GHz" band, this band is composed of three small blocks: 5.2GHz, 5.5GHz (closed in China) and 5.8GHz. ..
According to experience, choosing a two-digit channel (36~64, that is, 5.2GHz) often has better signal coverage than a three-digit channel (149~ 165, 5.8GHz). This may be related to the low frequency of 5.2GHz.
Some tests even show that the signal strength of different routers in different channels is different. For example, the signal of Redmi AC2 100 will be significantly stronger in 44 channels.
Therefore, for the 5GHz band, you can try to manually switch between 36~64 channels to find the most suitable channel for your router.
Although it sounds like a magic wand, the signal strength of the router is actually different in all directions. For example, I often use this XDR30 10, and the front and rear direction signals are much stronger than the left and right.
If the signal is weak in some places at home, you can follow this idea-aim the router with strong signal at the position with poor signal. Play a blinding role.
As for the signal strength of different router signals in all directions, you can refer to the relevant test data of Smart Electronics Laboratory.
Back to the original question-how much has the signal improved after such tossing, and has the problem of signal dead angle been solved?
First measure the 5GHz frequency band, the position is the original signal difference research, 500 MHz telecom fiber.
After setting the bandwidth to 80MHz, locking 36 channels and adjusting the settings, the network speed has increased from less than 20 megabytes to 70 megabytes, an increase of 273%!
Although it is far from full speed, it has not affected the normal use.
As for the 2.4GHz band, I am more concerned about its extreme coverage.
So here's another way to test-after connecting WiFi, Ping the router and going outside. Until Ping is interrupted. Record the distance of going out at this time and roughly estimate the coverage of WiFi.
Results The first disconnection was at 19 meters, and it was 25 meters after adjustment. Increased the coverage of about 6 meters.
Ok, one route covers the whole house. Finally, several operations for optimizing WiFi signals are summarized:
The measurement results of these methods are good. If you are not satisfied with the WiFi signal at home, it is too much trouble to change the router for networking. Give it a try!