Office & Home Wi-Fi Killers

You might be surprised what everyday items and situations are bringing your network to a crawl. Here are the top 12 common issues impacting office and home Wi-Fi.

1. Tinted glass. You’d think Wi-Fi signals would sail right through, but they don’t. Tinted glass often has metal additives that can heavily absorb Wi-Fi signals. So if your office is full of wall-to-wall windows or glass conference rooms, it’s going to impact your signal.

2. Mirrors. These are huge Wi-Fi vampires. Mirrors can cut signal strength up to 50 percent because they reflect back the signal. If the bathroom is between the router and your desk, it’s part of the problem.

3. Water. You may love that aquarium in the office, but water is a massive Wi-Fi killer due to its density. It absorbs and traps the signal. If you’ve ever seen your signal drop at the beach or near large bodies of water, that’s why.

4. More devices. Most routers tap out at 10-20 devices. With today’s explosion of tablets, smartphones, laptops and wireless office equipment, bandwidth gets absorbed quickly.

5. Too many separate Wi-Fi networks. It’s not uncommon in some office environments to rig up several different routers running on different channels with different passwords to increase coverage. But Wi-Fi networks in close proximity can interfere with each other. Set your system so each router or access point is on the right channel for limited interference.

6. Poor spacing. It’s important to space equipment to ensure a consistent signal to all work areas. In other words, don’t lock your one router for the whole office in the back cabinet and seat your graphics team near the front, by the glass doors. 

7. File cabinets. Wireless signals degrade going through metal so don’t place your routers or access points in a room filled with file cabinets. It might seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how often it happens.

8. Kitchen appliances. Major appliances eat away at Wi-Fi signal strength. Refrigerators and especially microwaves provide interference, so keep equipment out of the range of the kitchen.

9. People. Really? Absolutely. The human body is 50-65 percent water, and crowds of people at an office party or in a conference room can be a highly effective barrier to Wi-Fi.  The solution is easy…mount your access point in the ceiling to minimize the chance of interference by your co-workers