YOU don’t have to put up with a rickety Wi-Fi connection just because you live in an old property.
Rest assured, your home isn’t haunted – but the fact that your broadband runs slower than in your neighbours newer build is no coincidence.
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“Even if you’re lucky enough to live in one of the rural areas that’s already been connected with full-fibre, ultrafast internet, your Wi-Fi can still let you down,” Wi-Fi expert Mélanie Gajic writes in Your Home Style magazine.
“The quirky layout and thick stone walls of old country homes mean traditional Wi-Fi, which is essentially radio signal, will either bounce back or get absorbed.”
It means customers in the countryside or hauled up in old properties might not be getting the broadband speeds they pay for.
And for those who aren’t lucky enough to have access to full-fibre internet – getting onto Google or even streaming shows on Netflix can be a buffering nightmare.
“Whether your house has walls as thick as an underground bunker or is so deep in the English countryside that your nearest neighbour is a 40km away, you shouldn’t have to choose between where you want to live and workable Wi-Fi,” says Gajic, head of network at Connect Fibre.
Thankfully, there are options beyond packing up and moving somewhere else.
It’s important to think about where exactly your Wi-Fi router is placed – and what might lie behind those walls.
“Don’t stuff it down between the Chesterfield and the Cotswold stone,” explains Gajic.
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“Put it somewhere central and as open as possible.”
It’s also wise to think about all the floors in your home, she continues.
“If your router is on the ground floor and you want to browse the web upstairs, put it on a bookshelf or somewhere higher up. Don’t leave it on the floor!”
You may also want to consider upgrading your Wi-Fi hub to a so-called ‘mesh’ router, which is built to eliminate dead zones with the help of plug-in pods.
This is the “simplest” option to tackle weak Wi-Fi in an old property, according to Gajic.
“Mesh Wi-Fi works by extending the signal, like a bubble, over your entire property so that the connection is equally strong in every room of the house,” she says.
These pods ping the signals from the main router to the parts of the house where they are plugged in.
Most broadband providers offer some from of Wi-Fi extender, including Virgin Mediaand BT.
Each provider will have a different deal.
But earlier this year, Virgin began offering customers with selected packages a free Wi-Fi booster, with the promise of top broadband speeds or a £100 in bill credit.
So in some cases, depending on your package, the solution is completely free.
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