With a movie night planned and popcorn at hand, nothing is more frustrating than a buffering film at the height of its climax.
But this can be fixed with a simple solution, as experts claim many of us have been putting our WiFi routers in the wrong locations.
Placing your router in the kitchen, too low down or in cramped spaces are among the worst things you can do to suppress internet signal, according to Ritter Communications.
Instead, internet experts claim routers need to be positioned in an open area with more space, allowing signal to spread throughout the home more easily.
Ritter Communications said: ‘Windows, closets and cramped quarters can slow it down.
Experts say putting a router in the kitchen or too low down are among the worst places to put it
‘Additionally, building materials such as sheetrock, brick and plywood can impede the progress of your signal, so find a wide open area to place your router.’
The company recommends centralising the router in an area of the house used most and lifting it to at least five to seven feet off the ground.
However, the kitchen was listed as a place to avoid for this, due to appliances like microwaves that have the potential to emit interfering signals.
WiFi routers should also be positioned well away from metal, as Ritter Communications claims it can diminish signal as well.
The company added: ‘Your signal loses strength the further you get from your router, so your router should be placed near the area where you use Wi-Fi the most. For example, if you never work out of the second-floor office in your home, you probably shouldn’t house your router there.
‘Your router emits radio waves that spread out and down from their source. Placing your router a good distance off the ground improves the range of your signal.’
Keeping technology up-to-date and getting ahold of WiFi boosters will also ensure that internet signal is at its optimum.
Ritter Communications suggests putting a password on your WiFi will not only make it more secure but will prevent anyone in the neighbourhood from hopping on the internet, making it slower.
Adding boosters and keeping technology up-to-date will also benefit internet signal at home
It continued: ‘There’s only so much room on your information highway, and just like the interstates we drive on, too much traffic can create congestion.
‘The more devices you have accessing your Wi-Fi at one time, the slower your connection will be.’
One of the more bizarre ways that internet users can improve WiFi signal is using aluminum foil.
Researchers at Dartmouth College, Columbia University and UC Irvine previously developed a technique using just a 3D-printed reflector wrapped in the foil.
They used this to build a ‘virtual wall’ that funnels signal toward areas where it is most needed.
‘Not only do we strengthen wireless signals, we make those same signals more secure,’ Xia Zhou, an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Dartmouth said.
