WEBVTT

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Wi-Fi is supposed to be easy. Punch in a password, hit connect, and boom, you're online.

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But there are many ways in which Wi-Fi can give you problems,

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so we're gonna be running you through some common Wi-Fi traps and how to avoid them.

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Let's start out with something basic. Where to place your router?

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Wi-Fi signals tend to emanate out from the antennas

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in a big donut shape, with the signal being a little bit better below them

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than above them. So you'll often see wireless access points

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mounted on ceilings in business settings. Of course, this might not be an option for you at your home,

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but it is good practice for you to try to get your router as high off the ground as possible

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in a central area that is relatively close to your gadgets

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while still being away from obstructions. Sticking your router in one corner of your house

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behind a bunch of desk clutter might be stealthy,

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but it's generally a bad idea unless you're in a small apartment

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where, frankly, it might not matter anyway. Once you've put your router in the center of your home,

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are you still having issues with range? Well, you might be able to fix these

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by simply connecting devices that are farther away to the 2.4 gigahertz band.

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You see most wireless routers these days create two networks,

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one at a frequency of 2.4 gigahertz and the other at a frequency of five gigahertz.

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The five gigahertz band will typically get you better speeds

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so it can be better for things like streaming online video,

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but it has shorter range and less ability to penetrate through walls

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or other obstacles. And even though 2.4 doesn't have the same kind of top speed,

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you probably don't need that extra speed if you're connecting something like a surveillance camera,

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a smart home bridge, or a Wi-Fi connected toaster.

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These kinds of devices simply don't need that much bandwidth.

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So try putting all of them on the 2.4 gigahertz network

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so they'll have a strong connection. So one possible reason for slow speeds is congestion

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caused by many other networks using the same channel as your own network.

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You see, you can adjust your Wi-Fi frequency by choosing which channel to place it on

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in your router settings. Now, typically routers will do this for you automatically,

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but they don't always do a good job. The good news is it's super easy to download an app

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to see if a channel is particularly clogged up with lots of other nearby networks,

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then just manually move your network over to a less crowded one.

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Another possible reason is that your router and your gadgets

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might not support the same version of Wi-Fi.

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The newest version that's widely available to consumers is Wi-Fi 6, which promises higher speeds

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and many other benefits. But tons of client devices still for sale today

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only support Wi-Fi 5. So if you need to go out and buy a new router,

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keep this in mind to avoid being disappointed if your phones, PCs, and consoles

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don't actually get any faster. Next, let's talk about Wi-Fi Protected Setup or WPS.

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You know those little buttons that you see on some routers that offer push to connect functionality

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without needing to punch in a password? That's WPS, and while it may seem convenient,

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it's actually incredibly unsecure.

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In addition to the push button method, the WPS standard also makes using a pin mandatory

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as an alternative method, and an attacker can figure out that pin

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through a brute force attack in a matter of hours.

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Even worse, this attack vector can allow someone to easily figure out your main Wi-Fi password.

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The small amount of convenience here just isn't worth it,

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so make sure to disable WPS in your router settings if you haven't already.

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What are some of your favorite tricks to improve your Wi-Fi network? Let us know in the comments,

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and you might see your advice on the next episode of avoiding common Wi-Fi traps.

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Thanks for watching. Like or dislike, depending on how you felt about the video.

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Check out our other videos. Leave a comment with a suggestion for a future video.

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