How to setup and configure Wi-Fi for home

To get the best performance out of a standalone Wi-Fi router, consider its location. You want it out in open space and close to the spot where you'll be using it most frequently to get the best signal strength. If you place your router at the opposite side of your home, you may experience connectivity issues. Get it off the floor and away from the walls, because physical obstructions in homes reduce the range of a Wi-Fi network. Higher locations are better as there are fewer obstructions for the Wi-Fi signal to travel through. Big metal objects and tinted windows will affect your signal as will appliances in the kitchen like microwaves or cordless phones. Similarly, hiding your router behind or under the TV, or in a closed bookcase, or closet, will weaken the signal. Now that you have chosen a good spot for your Wi-Fi router, make sure you're using the correct frequency band for your needs. There are two types of bands: 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. The frequency themselves have pros and cons.

While 5Ghz is typically faster which is what you want for streaming devices, 2.4Ghz is better at going through walls. Most routers support both frequencies so you can use both for different devices and purposes. These two frequency bands consist of multiple channels. Most routers set the Wi-Fi channel automatically, and most of the time this works fine. The router may not always pick the best channel for you to use. You can check this by using a free app from the Microsoft Store. Open the Microsoft Store from the Start menu and search for Wi-Fi to find a wireless signal analyzing app. [MUSIC]. >> It will show you the other access points that are visible from your location and the channel they are on. If the channel your access point is on, has a lot of other access points, you may benefit from moving yours to a different channel to avoid congestion. For the 2.4Ghz band, it's recommended to use channels 1, 6, or 11. If you do change the channel on your Wi-Fi router, don't worry, your devices will auto switch to the new channel. In addition to having a strong signal, you want your home Wi-Fi to be secure. Here are a few things to think about to improve your Wi-Fi security. You may have to check your router manufacturers website on how to access the following settings.

In your router settings, check if your firewall, sometimes called NAT filtering, is enabled. You can find the firewall settings on your router's homepage. If you don't see them there, try looking in the advanced settings. Is your firmware up-to-date? Updates improve connectivity, reliability, and security of your network. If your router supports auto update, make sure that it's enabled. If not, you may have to update it manually. Go back to Advanced settings or go to a manufacturer's website to download the update. To secure your network, choose the strongest security type your router offers, which is typically WPA2-AES, as Open, WEP, and hidden networks aren't secure. Also, change the default Wi-Fi network password that comes with the router. For WPA2-AES, this can be between 8-63 characters. If your router has a guest network option, use it. It lets your guests use your Internet connection without giving access to your home network. This way, you don't have to give out your Wi-Fi password. I would still secure the guest network, but make the password simple. If you haven't changed the default settings of your router, it's possible someone else may be accessing your home network. These are called rouge connections, and you can detect them using your router settings. Look for a setting called Attached devices, Connected devices, or Clients. That's basically a list of all the devices currently connected to your router.

The router will try to identify the device by its name or manufacturer and connectivity type, wired or wireless, which will make it easier for you to identify. If you don't recognize one of the devices in the list, you may want to block it for safety reasons. On some routers, you can block wirelessly connected devices directly from this list. If you do block an unknown device, simply check to make sure that all devices in your home still have connectivity. If all do, then you can leave it blocked. If you find one that doesn't have connectivity, it's probably the one you just blocked. Unblock that device and take a note for the next time. If your router doesn't have this option, you can shut down all of your wireless devices and check the list to see what is still showing as connected.

If there are still devices wirelessly connected at this point, you may want to change your Wi-Fi password as it might be compromised. The downside of this method is that you will need to enter the new Wi-Fi password on any device you want to connect to your network. We hope you found this video helpful. If you have any feedback or suggestions regarding connecting to your Wi-Fi network, please share with us via the feedback hub by pressing the Windows key plus F, and select the "Connecting to a Wi-Fi network" category.