The Best Way to Set Up High-Speed Internet in Your Smart Home

Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash

High-speed internet is a necessity for many homes today, but the actual speeds throughout the house can leave a lot to be desired. When someone is in need of higher speeds or more bandwidth, it is important for them to know what they can do that will make a difference in their home. Some of the methods that can be used to set up high-speed internet throughout the home include the following. 

Run Speed Tests

The first step should be to run speed tests in the home, using wired and wireless connections throughout the house, to see what the speeds are and how they vary. This gives homeowners a better idea of where the internet is slower or there isn’t a good connection and lets them see if they are getting the speeds expected through their plan. If the speeds aren’t high enough, even when directly connected to the modem or router, it may be time to find a new residential internet provider that offers a plan with higher speeds. 

Upgrade the Modem or Router

Once higher speeds are coming to the house, if the speeds throughout the house aren’t higher, it’s time to look at the hardware. If the modem or router is rented through the provider, it may be changed out once the homeowner chooses a new provider. If the homeowner owns their modem or router, though, they may want to look at upgrading to a newer version. Older ones may not be able to keep up with high speeds as well. Take the time to shop for a new modem or router carefully, as homeowners will want to make sure that not only will it work now, but that it will keep working far into the future. 

Move the Router or Add an Extender

Depending on where the router is within the home, it may not be able to reach everywhere. Moving it to a more central location may mean it’s able to work better, which will allow the homeowner to get faster speeds throughout the home. If this doesn’t work or it still doesn’t reach everywhere in the home, there are still options to consider, like getting a wi-fi range extender. Today, wi-fi range extenders or a mesh router can help to extend the internet throughout the house, removing dead zones. 

Split the Frequency Bands

Internet comes in on two frequency bands, 2.4GHz and 5GHz. Both will work for many devices and often both are combined so that devices can switch between them to take advantage of higher bandwidth on one frequency if the other is low. While this can work well, if there are many devices connected to the internet, it may be a good idea to split the frequency bands and put some devices on one and others on the other one. This can help to prioritize certain devices to ensure they have the bandwidth they need to take advantage of the higher speeds. 

If you’re ready to upgrade your internet experience, now’s the time to try out some of the things on this list. If the internet speeds coming into the home aren’t adequate, it may be time to look into switching providers or plans. From there, steps can be taken to make sure the internet works everywhere in the house and that high speeds are always available.