QUICK Tips

When summer has finally arrived and it feels like a hundred degrees outside, there is no better way to escape from the scorching sun of April than staying at home playing the internet or watching movies on streaming platforms. As one of the leading internet providers in Thailand, TrueOnline strives to deliver a great online experience, so that you can be insulated from the summer heat under the roof of your home sweet home.
 

In our last month’s article, we provide tips on how to get a stronger WiFi signal. But what if you encounter a low WiFi coverage which is an entirely different story, what should you do then? In this article, we will discuss how to expand the low signal with some help from our friend called a WiFi repeater.

What is a WiFi repeater?

Before we go any further, let’s talk about what a repeater really is first. A Wifi repeater is a rescuer when your WiFi signal is weak in some spots of your home. It expands the wireless signal to areas where the signal is dead or low. The magic behind this tool is that it pulls the existing wireless signal from your router, amplifies it, and then re-broadcasts it to create a stronger connection with your wireless gadgets.

Perfect place to locate a WiFi repeater
 

Like routers, choosing the right location to place the WiFi repeater is important. Ideally, to maximize the coverage of WiFi signal, you must place the WiFi repeater halfway between the router and where the wireless coverage starts to drop. Yet you have to make sure that it is still within the range of router.

Of course, this leads us to another question: how can we determine where the blind spot is? One of the methods to know where the signal gets weak is to use free software called inSSIDer. This software shows the signal strength of the router, measured in dBm. All you need to do is install the software on your computer and let it do all the work. The signal is strong if the computer is close to the router.  When the computer is moved away from the router, the signal strength will drop. When you see the signal starts to drop significantly, that is the spot where you should place the repeater.

However, if you don’t want to install the software on your device, we have a simpler method for you to determine where the signal drops: FaceTime. Set up a FaceTime chat between two people on two separate devices on home network and connect the devices wirelessly to the router.  The first person stays next to the router while the other moves farther from the router. When the chat drops as the second person moves away, that is the area we are looking for. Just place your wireless repeater there and say goodbye to weak WiFi signal.

DIY WiFi repeater? A piece of cake!

Maybe you don’t want to pay for the WiFi repeater at all. And that’s fine because you can actually make it yourself.  You can find plenty of videos and articles on the internet about making DIY WiFi repeaters.  One of the popular methods in many countries is making the repeater from a can. Although academics have claimed that this kind of DIY repeater could not really strengthen the signal, it doesn’t hurt to try something new.

If you have home internet, you definitely want to use it from every corner of your place, right? And you can do just that with the help from a WiFi repeater because it can help expand the signal coverage. No longer will you be frustrated with weak internet signal. And finally, at long last, you can enjoy the smooth internet at home.