How to check your WiFi coverage
Wireless networks like WiFi have become an essential part of our lives. Whether we are working from home, helping our kids with their homework, or streaming our favorite shows on Netflix, we cannot imagine our everyday life without an internet connection.
There are times, however, when we experience unexpected WiFi network outages that can disrupt our routine tasks. A number of factors can affect your WiFi connection, including slow internet speed, congestion, no connection, or weak signals in some parts of your home or office space.
In this article, we will take a look at some of the most common WiFi issues that you encounter, and also provide tips on how to check your WiFi coverage.
Most common WiFi issues
When you experience WiFi connection issues, make sure to check your WiFi router first to single out the root cause. In most cases, unplugging your router and plugging it back in after five seconds can do the trick. Here are some of the common WiFi issues that you can commonly come across:
No WiFi Connection
Occasionally your internet connection can die on you. A dropped WiFi connection will indicate no signals on your WiFi indicator. This means that your device is connected to your local network but not to the internet. Run your network troubleshooter to fix the problem. If it doesn’t work, then open Network and Internet settings on your PC or Mac and check if your IP address is valid. Another reason your WiFi connection died could be due to a service outage that’s affecting your area. Call your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to see if your area is affected.
Slow or Weak Connection
Your WiFi signal’s strength can tremendously affect your browsing activity. A slow or weak WiFi connection indicates a problem with your internet connection. If you see less than two bars on your WiFi icon, it means your connection is weak. Try resetting your router by pressing the reset button down for 30 seconds and then setting up your router properly. Also, make sure nothing is blocking your router. An obstacle around your modem/router can also cause weak WiFi signals.
Slow or No Internet Coverage in Some Parts of The House
A WiFi network uses radio signals to transmit data from your device to a wireless router which receives the signal and decodes it. These radio waves transmit at frequencies of 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz. Your WiFi connection might have a great speed. However, if it is not set up in the right place in your house, you can experience connection issues. Enhance your coverage and address connectivity issues by considering a wifi booster or an extender for an optimized setup.
A Wi-Fi heatmap maps wireless signal’s coverage and strength and shows it in a real map of your house. You can then find the dead zones and make necessary adjustments. Free Wi-fi heatmap softwares like NetSpot, can help you understand the radio frequency behavior of your connection.
How to Create a WiFi Coverage Map
To check your WiFi coverage, you need to analyze the strong and weak points of your network connection. A WiFi analyzer will help you create your WiFi coverage map. A WiFi heatmap will find you a better coverage so you don’t have to guesstimate the range of your Wifi signals. Perhaps you do not have this equipment or are not tech-savvy. You could ask your service provider when they do WiFi installation services at your place and check the spots where your connection is weak or strong for your future reference.
WiFi Heatmaps and Visualizations
A Wi-Fi heat map uses a color-coding theme to visually represent your wireless signal’s strength and coverage. Red color represents strength and blue represents weakness. When you use the heat map, these colors will pop up in the area of examination.
A good wireless network mapper will allow you to visualize your WiFi coverage, your signal strength, noise and interference across your entire network area. One of the best heatmappers that you can invest in is the NetSport WiFi heatmap software. NetSport is for both Windows and Mac and it allows you to visualize your WiFi coverage in heat waves so you can easily locate the dead zones that need improvement. Through NetSpot survey, you can upload a map of your network area, and carry your laptop to various spots and take data samples at each spot. You will then be able to see visualizations of your signal coverage which you can use to make necessary adjustments to your network map.
How to Create a WiFi Heatmap
The heatmapper doesn’t require any additional hardware. NetSpot uses advanced visualization of data, and provides users with a comprehensive and complete WiFi site survey solution. Creating a wireless network map with NetSpot is a simple process and involves only a few steps.
Download and launch app. Once you are all set, you can start a new survey, and load or create a map of your space. You can then start the heat mapping process, and wait for the results, analyze your results and save your heat map for future reference.
In this day and age of the internet, you cannot afford to be cut off from your connection to the digital world. While everyone desires a strong, stable and working WiFi connection, not many think about an equally important component in establishing a successful WiFi connection–a heatmapper. A good heatmapper like NetSpot will significantly improve your internet coverage in all parts of your house or an office area. Avoid buying multiple routers when you can solve your connection issues using a simple heatmapper.
