Tech Team: In the Trenches
Table of Contents
Are you connected?
If you look around the workplace, classrooms, coffee shops – literally any place where people spend a significant amount of time, you’ll find laptops, PDAs, and other wireless gadgets. We’ve become so dependent on our wireless devices that if we lose our connection, our world is turned upside down! Troubleshooting wireless networks is a common topic our techs assist members with. It’s important to understand how your wireless network functions at home or at the office, so you can recognize problems right away and know what actions to take to resolve them. How do wireless networks work?
First, you should understand briefly how wireless networks work. Wireless networks use radio waves to transmit data from one computer to another. However, in order to receive these radio waves in a language computers can understand, they need to convert the data using binary code. Binary code is a series of ones and zeros that create sounds only computers can hear. Most sources compare this to Morse code, because the ones and zeros create long and short beeps, which computers turn into "bits."
You may remember seeing images similar to binary code on the computer screens in the movie "The Matrix." Of course, binary code won’t give you superpowers or transport you to alternative worlds, but it does translate data into radio waves, which is pretty impressive in itself! These radio waves travel at a very high frequency of 2.4 GHz (2.4 billion cycles per second). It’s only because radio waves and frequencies can transmit data so quickly that we are able to use wireless technology with such ease.
Signs of wireless network problemsThere are many signs that can tell you your wireless network is in trouble. Whether it’s down completely or is just not performing as well as it should, here are a few signs you should look for. # 1 – Your connection keeps dropping or is very slow
Make sure the router and cable modem are plugged in properly. While this may sound like a silly fix, you’d be surprised at how many times a problem can be resolved simply by ensuring your wires are properly plugged in. You should also make sure that all the lights on the router are on. Every router is a little different, but they should have multiple lights that show your connection to the network, as well as the Internet. Another common problem results from the placement of your router and wireless network adapter. Your wireless network adapter can be a PCI card or USB plug that’s inserted into your laptop or computer. A good rule of thumb is to keep your router, network adapter, and computer fairly close to each other. If you could visualize lines connecting each of these devices together, you’d notice that if the line has to travel through a wall, your connection will be weaker than if it could connect to all three devices in the same room. Don’t be deceived – it is not necessary to have all three devices in the same room in order for your connection to work. But just remember the more distance and obstacles you put between your devices, the weaker your wireless signal and speed will be. Notice in the image below, how the placement of your devices can affect your connection.
If your signal is always low, most likely you are experiencing some interference. Interference happens when there are too many radio waves using the same frequency, making it difficult for your computer to communicate with your router and network adapter. Using other wireless devices such as cordless phones, remote controls, or wireless mice in your home or office can cause interference. The easiest way to remove interference is to avoid using devices that use a 2.4 GHz frequency. Since this is the standard frequency that wireless networks use, you should limit the use of this frequency with other devices as much as possible. Try purchasing devices that use 5.8 GHz or 900 MHz frequencies. In fact, most new wireless devices that are put on the market don’t even use 2.4 GHz anymore to avoid this problem. If you’re unable to use a different frequency, try changing the wireless channel. Just like radios use different stations, wireless routers can also broadcast over various channels. In the United States and Canada, we use channels 1, 6, and 11. So if you experience interference on one channel, try one of the alternatives. Sometimes another channel will be clearer and can instantly improve your signal strength. Other actions you can take to improve your wireless network
Now that you understand how wireless networks function, and what danger signs to look for, let’s talk about some more advanced options to maintain a high-performance wireless network. # 1 – Stay proactive
"A good defense is the best offense." Just like you would with any other applications on your computer, make sure that you are completing updates for your wireless hardware (i.e., router, network adapter, and PC and laptops). All manufacturers put out regular updates to their software and hardware that can be downloaded to improve performance and known issues. At the very least, you should be checking for updates once a year either on the vendor’s website or on Microsoft’s website, where you can find the latest Service Packs, driver updates, and more. # 2 – Upgrade to 802.11g
The most common type of wireless network is 802.11b, which uses the 2.4 GHz frequency. Because of this, they’ve developed another version – 802.11g. If you’re serious about getting the best performance out of your wireless network, then you should definitely consider upgrading your current devices or investing in new 802.11g equipment. If you’re still not convinced, here are a couple of other reasons you should upgrade to 802.11g:
- Because 802.11g is about five times faster than 802.11b
- 802.11g is backward-compatible, which means you can still use it with any 802.11b equipment
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