What is the biggest consideration you would make before choosing an internet service provider today? ‘Fast internet speed’ will be a hands-down answer carrying the same weight in its meaning for workspaces and households.

Your internet speed determines not only how fast you perform tasks online but how many of those tasks your network can handle simultaneously.

Below is an ultimate guide to understanding why WiFi speed matters, how to conduct WiFi speed tests online, the best ways to increase WiFi speed, how to set up WiFi for the office, and more.

Business Benefits of Having Fast Internet

At work, there are at least two (2) devices on an employee’s workstation likely to stay connected to the office internet connection. Which are these devices? The answer to this can be given without having second thoughts – a laptop and a smartphone.

These devices directly affect employees’ productivity levels in different ways. Reviewing emails, accessing files quickly through cloud services, using customer relationship management software, working from remote locations, and using printers are just some items on an employee’s checklist that require access to high-speed internet connections.

Not to forget using advanced video conferencing systems to conduct meetings with an international client base or virtual colleagues. With high-speed WiFi, employees can rely on these sessions to have a constant and clear transmission, thus, not compromising business operations.

In the following few sections, we will walk you through some hacks for how to increase WiFi speed. Whether you are an employer or an employee, these hacks will help you stay connected to strong networks, sky-rocket your productivity levels, and get a fantastic browsing experience.

Those who are currently working from home don’t yet turn away from reading this article further. We have some hacks that will work for you too!

How Much Bandwidth Do You Need?

Your internet speed needs depend on your usage. It is crucial to consider that these are the speeds required for each device connected to the network. If you have multiple devices connected to the network at a time, you will definitely need a faster plan.

Taking Your WiFi Speedtest – First Step Towards Boosting Your WiFi Speed

Slow internet problems can be due to DNS settings issues, wrong placement of the WiFi router, incorrect selection of WiFi channel, or some security reasons.

But before we go on to explaining in detail the different software tweaks, hardware tricks, and security fixes to boost your WiFi speed, it’s essential to take a step back and lay our groundwork.

The first step that we will take here is to do the WiFi speed test and ping test. Choosing the world’s best WiFi speed checker – Speedtest by Selectra will be your safest bet. In a matter of seconds, you will have your network’s download and upload speeds (in Mbps) and Ping Latency (in milliseconds) popping up on the screen.

Top Ways to Improve WiFi Speed at Work

Moving on, there are many tweaks that you can make to optimize WiFi speed in your office. There isn’t a single way to beat a slow WiFi connection.

A mix and match of software tweaks (like updating your browser, closing background activities, and freeing up unnecessarily used spaces), hardware tricks (like changing WiFi router placement, using repeaters, and cooling down hardware), and security fixes (like scanning and removing malware, and protecting router from hacking attacks) will bring out best results in increasing your WiFi speed.

Best Software Tweaks that facilitate in increasing WiFi speed

1. Ensure that your Browser and Operating System (OS) are updated

   We often receive comments from our readers asking, “My internet speed is so slow, what to do?”, “Why is my internet slow in Windows/ on Mac?”

   An old and outdated browser/OS can hinder your WiFi speed, making you stick in the middle of web browsing, uploading and downloading files, and more.

   To avoid falling into this pitfall, make sure that your browser and the OS are up to date. You can visit the below links to download the latest versions of your browser:

   • The latest version of Mozilla Firefox here.
   • The latest version of Google Chrome here.
   • The latest version of Safari here.
   • The latest version of Internet Explorer here.
   • The latest version of Edge Chromium here.’

     On the other hand, to update your OS, we advise you to find the suitable update settings on your device and move to the latest version of the OS.

2. Kill the unnecessary background activities

   Background activities are the number one perpetrator that slows down your WiFi speed. To ensure a better internet speed, users need to kill those unnecessary background activities on their devices.

   Windows users can check the background activities by pressing CTR+Shift+ESC, whereas macOS users can search for “Activity Monitor” in Spotlight search.

   At times, these background activities involve important system updates. It might be possible that users are experiencing a temporary slow internet speed. Don’t worry. Soon as the update completes the internet speed will be back to normal.

   Turning off the system update is not recommended.

3. Tweak your Browser for faster internet surfing

   You can enhance their internet surfing experience by performing some tweaks in your browsers. For example, regularly clear your cache and other junk as sometimes they could be the primary cause of slowing down your browsing speed. Also, go ahead and delete the browser extensions that you don’t use regularly.

Best Hardware Tricks to boost your WiFi speed

1. Find the best position to place the WiFi router

   Your WiFi router’s position can play a crucial role in boosting your internet speed. Place your router at a central location and some elevation and keep them away from the microwave ovens. Now direct your antenna upwards to get better horizontal reach and sideways to get better vertical reach.

2. Strengthen your signals by using Repeaters

   Suppose you are using a WiFi router in a massive office space, and your router isn’t powerful enough. You may have a slow browsing experience because of it. We recommended you use a repeater for extending the WiFi network.

   You can either use an old router and use it as a repeater or use a new repeater for bridging the existing router.

   The existing newer technology is mesh networking, where multiple small mesh routers are positioned in different office areas. This helps provide fast internet to employees and enables them to carry on activities from any office corner.

3. Wired connections are better than wireless ones

   This hack is a big one – ‘Use Ethernet over WiFi if possible!’ Although WiFi is more convenient than wired connections, the latter is faster, more secure, has lower latency, and no wireless interference problems.

   Choosing the type of connection in the office space is a business decision. We have already told you about the speed test and the ping test at the article’s starting. Conduct these tests and decide what kind of connection would be suitable for your company.

Best Security Fixes for improved WiFi speed

1. Scan and remove malware and adware

   Different surveys and reports reveal that malware and adware risks are on the rise. To deal with these cyber risks, users are advised to invest in effective antivirus products and regularly scan their computers for malware, virus, adware, ransomware, and other cyber viruses.

   Make sure that, along with your OS, your antivirus solution is up-to-date and offers the best protection.

2. Protect your router from hacking attacks

   Past researches have revealed that WiFi routers are vulnerable to cyberattacks. The purpose of hacking into your WiFi can range between stealing sensitive information and using your WiFi bandwidth for the internet.

   If left undetected, these cyberattacks can harm users considerably. So, it is advisable to check for your router’s vulnerability and take the necessary precautions.

3. Set up Network Security

   As the medical industry widely propagates, ‘Prevention is better than cure,’ this is 100% valid for your WiF router’s safety as well. Setting up network security can be a great way to avoid unwanted intrusions. Make sure that your network devices like routers and switches are password protected and properly configured.

How to Manage Speed in Different Office Devices?

Enterprise WiFi networks often pose challenges. Accommodating hundreds and thousands of users — each with multiple devices — is far different from running a personal network at home.

Suppose your employees regularly complain about slow WiFi and weak network performance, causing inefficiencies in their work. In that case, it’s high time to consider office WiFi solutions.

A network assessment is a foremost step in overcoming slow WiFi and other problems caused by network devices.

• Identify the sources of interference,
• Locate areas of dense users,
• Detect high-bandwidth applications,
• And lastly, discover where low-powered devices are in use