Your home WiFi network will be connected to a whole host of in-home tech. From your TV to your smartwatch, home hub and even your fridge – there’s no end to connected devices these days.
If you’re unsure what’s connected to your router to see if what’s eating up the signal, it’s easy to check via your router’s settings. To do so, type your router’s IP address into your browser’s address field and press Enter, as you would for a normal URL.
Note: IP addresses are expressed as a set of four numbers — an example address might be 192. 158. 1. 38. Each number in the set can range from 0 to 255.
How do I find my router’s IP address in Windows?
- Right-click the Windows icon > select Command Prompt
- Once you’re in the Command Prompt window, type in “IPCONFIG”, then press Enter
- Navigate to the Default Gateway section. You’ll see a number, this is your router’s IP address
How do I find my router’s IP address for Mac?
- Navigate to the Apple icon and go to System Preferences
- Click Network
- Go to Advanced (at the bottom right of the window)
- Click TCP/IP – you’ll see your router’s IP address (next to Router)
Once you’ve got a handle on what’s connected, it’s easy to disconnect devices that you don’t use. Knowledge is power, and the more you know about your in-home connectivity, the more capable you’ll be of improving it. Experiment with disconnecting different devices when they’re out of use. Or, you might wish to add another router to your network.
One step further would involve having a 5Ghz WiFi network and 2.4Ghz connection – confusing tech heavy terminology? This basically refers to the two different “bands” that your WiFi can use for its signal.
The main difference between a 5Ghz WiFi network and 2.4Ghz connection is that 2.4 GHz WiFi will support up to 450 Mbps or 600 Mbps, whilst 5 GHz WiFi will support up to 1300 Mbps. So, if you have routers that support both, you should see some significant improvements to your in-home connectivity capacity.
It’s worthy to note that, aside from connected devices, some electrical devices can actually interfere with your router. The top household devices likely to cause a problem are:
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- TVs/monitors
- Halogen lamps
- Dimmer switches
- Speakers
- Fairy lights
- AC power cords
Tip: Try to keep your router off the floor and away from other electrical devices (especially those that emit wireless signals, like baby monitors or cordless phones).