Resolving issues with your business Wi-Fi

The router transmits a signal, like a radio wave, that can be picked up by your mobile devices. Several factors can make the signal weaker:

Main causes of degradation

1. Distance: the signal gets weaker the further away you are from the gateway.
2. The age and quality of the devices connected to the network.
3. The location of the router.

Main causes of interference

1. Physical obstacles, such as walls or certain objects.
2. Shared antenna time, meaning the number of devices connected to the network at any given time.
3. Other nearby Wi-Fi networks.
4. Devices that also use a 2.4-GHz or 5-GHz frequency band.

During installation, the technician will take into account your reality to determine the best location for the router. If your environment has changed since the initial installation, you may need to rethink its location.

The thickness and position of the walls, and the number of objects in the network’s trajectory, can limit signal reception. Steel and concrete are some of the materials with the highest potential for interference.

Given the performance factors and sources of interference, the best place to put the router is:

• In an open area.
• In a central position.
• Off the floor, about a metre from the ground.
• Away from any solid surfaces (e.g., concrete walls, furniture, metal surfaces).
• Away from large sources of water (e.g., aquarium, water heater).
• Away from devices that cause interference (e.g., baby monitors, wireless phones, microwave ovens, refrigerators, and Bluetooth devices).

Any device that emits a signal in the same frequency range as the Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz) may be a source of interference.

Water and microwave ovens are the most likely to cause interferences. Avoid placing such objects in your router’s trajectory.

The following devices can also cause interference, especially if they are wireless.

• Wireless keyboard and mouse
• Wireless phone
• Wireless camera
• Wireless home automation devices
• Wireless earphones
• Devices connected via Bluetooth
• TV or monitor
• Christmas stream lights

To avoid interferences, use wired devices.

To reduce interferences, prioritize the use of the 5 GHz frequency. This frequency—the highest one—offers greater bandwidth, which allows the transmission of greater data throughput. However, the 5 GHz frequency coverage is not as broad.

The lower 2.4 GHz frequency can go through the materials better. It therefore offers greater coverage.

Our equipment generally offers the possibility to configure access to 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies, and can therefore be adapted to any situation.

To choose your frequency, follow these steps:

1. Connect your device to your router.
2. Go to Wireless Settings and select the Manual Setup option for your Internet connection.
3. Uncheck the box marked Activate Automatic Channel Scan and select the wireless channel you want.

If your Wi-Fi network's performance is slower or poorer than usual, fix the problem by checking the factors that may be affecting your devices’ connectivity.

Restart your devices regularly

Restart your gateway or router frequently to extend its lifespan and improve the quality of your Wi-Fi. Restarting the device allows it to update its software, which improves connectivity and makes the service faster.

Check the other factors that may be slowing down the connection

Here are other things to check when your network speed isn't up to par:

• Older devices or obsolete operating systems may not have the appropriate capacities for the connection.
• Your devices may be too far from your Helix Fi gateway or router.
• Some of the programs on your devices may be using a large amount of bandwidth and slowing down your network (e.g., P2P software such as µTorrent).
• Your Internet plan may not meet your usage needs, causing congestion and slowing down the network.
• Using a virtual private network (VPN) feature like Apple’s iCloud Private Relay means that your Internet requests no longer go through a network route optimized to display information as quickly as possible, which can cause your connection to slow down.