WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:07.759 Last time I came to Natalie's house, I upgraded her computer, her bike, and 00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:13.280 even her piano. You know how I know this is the number one instrument? The piano, 00:00:10.639 --> 00:00:18.080 not the piano. But there was one major issue that was 00:00:15.120 --> 00:00:24.880 left unressed. How did you not spend any of your $5,000 budget upgrading your 00:00:21.520 --> 00:00:27.840 terrible Wi-Fi? 00:00:24.880 --> 00:00:33.440 So bad. It took over an hour just to install a Valerant update on this 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:37.760 computer. And while many of you pointed out that Riot Games launcher can be 00:00:35.440 --> 00:00:42.480 inconsistent at times, that wasn't the problem. As it turns out, there are over 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:46.719 30 different wireless networks here, resulting in a level of Wi-Fi congestion 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:50.239 that puts many apartment buildings to shame. 00:00:48.160 --> 00:00:55.199 And Natalie and Michael only made matters worse when they tried to fix the 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:59.760 problem by upgrading to a mesh Wi-Fi system. In fairness to them though, 00:00:57.039 --> 00:01:05.760 everyone asks Wi-Fi, but no one ever asks how. Thankfully, I have the answer. 00:01:03.199 --> 00:01:10.560 With some help from GLET, who sponsored this video, we're going to migrate 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:15.680 Natalie's access point to the 6 GHz band, which as long as her devices 00:01:12.720 --> 00:01:20.479 support it, which they will, will result in not only better performance, but more 00:01:18.240 --> 00:01:24.640 consistent performance, even if her neighbors are all binging Love is Blind. 00:01:22.960 --> 00:01:28.080 Of course, we don't want to go in blind. So, before we run around making 00:01:26.240 --> 00:01:33.280 improvements, we need to establish a baseline. We're going to run both speed 00:01:30.720 --> 00:01:38.320 tests in several rooms around the house and use this RF Explorer Pro to check 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:42.000 out which channels are least congested in those areas. That could help us if 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:47.280 Natalie has devices that can't move over to Wi-Fi 76 GHz. More on that later. So, 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:49.920 first, where would you say your Wi-Fi connection matters to you most? 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:56.240 >> Near the computer in the family room, near the router, near my computer upstairs, and finally the upstairs TV. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:02:01.600 >> And I assume the toilet, but we can leave that unspoken. Shoot, I said it. I 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:03.840 mean, I mean, I said it. I'll stop. 00:02:01.600 --> 00:02:06.560 >> I'm going to break my monitor. I swerve. >> Now, on the surface, you might look at 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:10.800 some of these results and think, "Hey, buddy, that's not too bad." But the 00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:14.959 intermittent nature of Wi-Fi problems is part of what makes them so hard to 00:02:12.720 --> 00:02:19.280 troubleshoot and solve. And the reason comes down to how Wi-Fi works on the 2.4 00:02:18.640 --> 00:02:24.640 band, for example, >> or you might say, "Howi." 00:02:22.959 --> 00:02:29.360 >> Thank you for interrupting me. Really worth it. On the 2.4 Four band, for 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:32.959 example, there are 14 channels, three of which are non-over overlapping. Let's 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:36.239 imagine those three channels are roads, and the cars that travel on them are the 00:02:34.640 --> 00:02:40.720 packets of Wi-Fi data you want to transmit. No matter how many Wi-Fi 00:02:38.160 --> 00:02:45.920 routers you add, every data packet has to stream over the same shared roads. 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:50.319 So, all it takes is a game download or a couple of Netflix streams on your 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:54.959 neighbors network to dramatically impact your experience. 5 GHz is a lot better. 00:02:53.040 --> 00:02:58.400 It features more lanes and faster transfer capabilities to reduce 00:02:56.319 --> 00:03:02.959 congestion. But once you scale up to dozens of nearby access points, even 00:03:00.720 --> 00:03:07.680 that struggles and complicating the matter, wireless devices are constantly 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:11.120 sending out pings, checking in with one another. Meaning that even if your 00:03:09.200 --> 00:03:16.400 neighbors hate Love is Blind, the mere fact that they own a Wi-Fi router can 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:17.920 lead to an unusable experience for you. 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:22.720 If you want to learn more about this, check out the video where we set up 50 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:27.920 access points in a tiny room and then tried to watch YouTube. It was a mess. 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:32.480 The RF Explorer Pros says that channel 6 is probably the least congested for any 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:36.480 legacy or low-end gear that only supports 2.4 GHz. 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:41.920 >> But the problem is that even that is not a guarantee. Many devices by design will 00:03:39.760 --> 00:03:47.040 actually channel hop around according to their own programmed sometimes moon 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:50.640 logic, often creating an even worse environment than it had to be if 00:03:48.720 --> 00:03:55.200 everyone just picked a freaking lane and stayed in it. So, you might find 00:03:52.720 --> 00:03:58.799 yourself constantly monitoring which channels are the most available. And a 00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:04.319 good way to do this for free is to use an app like Wi-Fi man for Android or 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:08.000 Good Luck on Apple because iOS doesn't give access to the antennas for their 00:04:05.920 --> 00:04:11.439 developers. need. With all of that out of the way, step one is to remove 00:04:09.920 --> 00:04:15.280 anything from Natalie's house that might be broadcasting unnecessary Wi-Fi horse 00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:20.160 plop. >> There should be a new series. We just call ourselves the Wi-Fi mans. We just 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:25.199 bust into people's houses and make their internet better. >> The old Pimp My Wi-Fi series was 00:04:22.960 --> 00:04:28.639 supposed to be a series like that, but after the very first one in Singapore, 00:04:26.960 --> 00:04:32.240 which did really well, we did one for my neighbor and it like bomb, but uh so we 00:04:31.440 --> 00:04:37.280 never did another one. >> All right. Well, >> we bought a pimp outfit and everything 00:04:34.880 --> 00:04:44.960 and I never got to wear it again. >> That's what he says. 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:47.840 >> Disappears behind the car. Sorry. 00:04:44.960 --> 00:04:50.080 >> Got him. I'm I I didn't bring a cutting thing. 00:04:48.880 --> 00:04:56.160 >> Well, as long as it's unplugged. >> I didn't bring a cutting implement with me. I guess it's living there now. 00:04:53.840 --> 00:04:59.639 >> Sorry, boy. Afraid we're going to have to put you down. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:09.600 >> Five of these. It's amazing how much it costs to make your Wi-Fi worse. 00:05:06.960 --> 00:05:13.039 Look, I've made the same mistake myself. I was actually having a lot of 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:18.240 disconnection issues with my EcoB smartarthome thermostats because I 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:23.840 didn't turn off the 2.4 GHz antennas on some of my Wi-Fi access points. Um, I'll 00:05:21.840 --> 00:05:26.400 put this with the rest of the Wait, so are you just like pretending to work 00:05:25.280 --> 00:05:32.320 right now? You don't even have internet. >> I turn I closed my Windows for the editor. With that out of the way, it's 00:05:29.840 --> 00:05:37.199 time to set up the Flint 3 from GLET. This is their first Wi-Fi 7 router. It's 00:05:34.479 --> 00:05:40.560 rated for up to 2,000 ft of coverage, which is perfect for Natalie, and has 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:44.240 all the bells and whistles that you'd expect from a premium router, including 00:05:42.400 --> 00:05:49.680 five 2 and 1/2 gig Ethernet ports, built-in VPN, multan failover, 00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:52.400 pre-installed OpenWRT software, and 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:56.639 support for MLO, which means that if a client device supports it, it can 00:05:54.160 --> 00:06:02.080 connect using multiple bands for better performance and stability. Also, with 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:08.880 MLO, this bad boy can fit so many megabits per second. What the heck? 00:06:05.280 --> 00:06:11.680 There's two here that both go like the 00:06:08.880 --> 00:06:14.720 vertical way. Okay. Well, this is a precarious 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:19.520 situation. >> Yeah, I accidentally turned this off. 00:06:17.840 --> 00:06:22.160 >> Thank you. I was just enabling bridge mode. >> Yeah, I did it by accident. 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:29.120 >> Okay. >> I accidentally hit the switch on the power strip. >> Cool. Also, if Natalie really wants, she 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:32.160 could set up the bark feature and troll Michael by setting up parent controls 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:36.800 and content filtering. If you were to filter something of mine, what would you filter? 00:06:34.080 --> 00:06:39.520 >> Like filter what? Like sites. >> Whatever. Carrie, 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:42.880 >> nothing. Is there something I should note that? >> No. No. You You're good. You're good. Do 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:47.759 do what you're doing. >> I'm I'm just wait I'm just waiting for >> change nothing. Elijah, you're perfect 00:06:45.520 --> 00:06:51.520 as it is. Don't let anyone Don't let all those people tell you otherwise. 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:55.120 >> Wow. >> That and Adgard Home are both included 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:59.759 with no subscription fee. We're going to have this baby linked down below, by the way, if you're interested in picking one 00:06:57.680 --> 00:07:02.639 up. Setup was super simple. First, we had to set up her default ISP router 00:07:01.599 --> 00:07:08.400 into bridge mode. >> Yeah, don't miss that step because it like will not work if you don't do that. 00:07:06.880 --> 00:07:11.440 >> And then once the Flint 3 powered up, I plugged in a computer and a web page 00:07:09.919 --> 00:07:15.199 popped up and walked us through setting up the admin user for the router and 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:18.960 configuring the Wi-Fi. A little trick, by the way, when you're setting up a new 00:07:16.400 --> 00:07:22.800 Wi-Fi network is to use the same SSID name and the same password as your old 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:26.720 one. There's a very good chance that your devices will just connect to the 00:07:24.880 --> 00:07:32.080 new router, no problem. It saves you from needing to run around and reconnect 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:34.960 every smartome device in your house. 00:07:32.080 --> 00:07:38.479 That's a tech tip. I give the tech tips. Sorry, sir. Don't call me sir. 00:07:37.919 --> 00:07:43.360 >> Sorry, sir. >> I'm the one who scripted it this time. The look on his face when I added this 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:49.440 in script. >> Big moment. >> And let's go. 00:07:47.440 --> 00:07:56.319 >> It's definitely a bit better. And the ping is much lower. >> And what's hilarious is the AP was there 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:58.080 before. It was right there. 00:07:56.319 --> 00:08:03.199 Now it's like through the wall and across the house and it's still better. 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:08.000 And we can do even betterer. See, getting rid of the extra devices is just 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:14.319 half the battle. We also want to migrate our current devices to at least 5 GHz or 00:08:11.440 --> 00:08:18.800 ideally 6 GHz, which is the newest piece of spectrum that was opened up for Wi-Fi 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:23.360 and therefore the least congested by your neighbors, at least for now. Man, 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:28.240 this feels old school, right? like adding Wi-Fi to a computer with a PCI 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:31.800 card. What is it? 2005. Oh, yeah. We haven't done a merch integration. 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:38.159 >> You can barely see it. >> Oh, sorry. Sorry. Yeah, there's a 00:08:36.640 --> 00:08:42.640 screwdriver there. I know it's really hard to tell. In all seriousness, even 00:08:40.640 --> 00:08:46.480 if your motherboard has basic onboard Wi-Fi, an add-on card like this can be a 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:50.720 great way to boost your speeds. And you don't have to use a PCIe card. You can 00:08:48.640 --> 00:08:55.760 also use a USB module. It's just that with speeds this high, I would rather 00:08:53.200 --> 00:09:00.000 keep that traffic off of the shared USB bus, which is why I have questions about 00:08:57.920 --> 00:09:03.440 the card we chose. It comes with a little USB header thing. What is it 00:09:02.480 --> 00:09:07.760 using this for? >> I think it's for Bluetooth. Okay. Oh, 00:09:05.680 --> 00:09:11.760 this sucks. I can do it, though. I have the power. Small hands. Power activate. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:15.760 Big moment. Here's your old Wi-Fi antenna. >> What's the big moment? 00:09:14.160 --> 00:09:20.399 >> Well, you're going to connect to the new Wi-Fi and see if it's faster. Damn it. 00:09:19.040 --> 00:09:24.000 I'm assuming it's this one. >> Yep. >> Uh that is >> But you're not getting a B. 00:09:22.880 --> 00:09:26.480 >> Oh, but drivers. >> Hold on. Hold on. >> Wait. 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:31.279 >> Drivers. >> Oh, yeah. No. No. That's still your onboard Wi-Fi with the no antenna on it. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:36.399 Yeah, we need to put in drivers for the new one. Uh oh. Well, I unplugged this 00:09:34.880 --> 00:09:40.560 prematurely. Premature unpluggation. 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:45.200 Oh god. Editor, don't. >> Okay, so yeah, connect to something that 00:09:43.839 --> 00:09:48.800 works. >> I don't know if it works. She already 00:09:46.880 --> 00:09:53.360 had support for 6 GHz. >> Okay, >> so why did we put a PCI card in? 00:09:51.360 --> 00:09:57.920 >> Well, cuz we got her Wi-Fi 7. >> Well, I know, but the 6E supports 6 GHz. 00:09:56.560 --> 00:10:01.920 We could have just put this in Michael's computer. >> We wanted to show the people that this 00:09:59.680 --> 00:10:05.760 is how you can upgrade. >> Sorry, Michael. 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:11.720 Whether her computer needed it or not, it's more about showing that you can do 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:11.720 this. 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:18.240 With the drivers installed, we've disabled the onboard Wi-Fi that made it 00:10:16.560 --> 00:10:24.079 completely unnecessary for us to put a add-in card in. Now is the big moment. 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:28.320 Do you want to go ahead and connect to here? We're going to change all these 00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:32.320 names after. Anyway, God, I forgot. There's so many. Can you scroll? Just 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:35.800 keep scrolling. Just keep scrolling. Freaking ridiculous. 00:10:36.640 --> 00:10:42.320 >> Okay, huge moment. Elijah, did we do a good job? This is where we find out. I 00:10:41.040 --> 00:10:45.440 guess we will. >> Okay, >> cool. Speed test. 00:10:44.079 --> 00:10:50.560 >> Well, no, we should be downloading Valerant. >> Oh, sure. Let's download Valerant. 00:10:48.160 --> 00:10:55.440 >> Also, this is, I assume, better. >> Yes, it's a little bit better. 00:10:52.560 --> 00:10:59.600 >> That is so much. I would have gotten out of here so much faster. You wouldn't 00:10:57.680 --> 00:11:04.160 have been late for softball. This is way better. Now, to be clear, this is not 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:08.720 the maximum speed of Wi-Fi 7 by any stretch of the imagination, but this is 00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:13.200 completely across the house, through multiple walls, through a floor, and now 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:18.000 we are getting a very acceptable experience. There's another key part, 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:20.720 too. So, you can see our pings are a little bit inconsistent right now. 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:25.360 They're going anywhere from 80 milliseconds all the way up to like 160 00:11:22.640 --> 00:11:29.200 milliseconds. Okay? But that's because we have a freaking download going in the 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:33.120 background. If all you were doing was gaming, 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:37.200 look at that consistency. It's not as good as being wired. But 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:42.000 compared to what we had before, this is night and freaking day. So, the speed 00:11:40.160 --> 00:11:46.800 comes from upgrading to a newer generation of Wi-Fi. But that 00:11:43.920 --> 00:11:50.880 consistency in the pings that comes from switching over to 6 GHz. You love to see 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:54.720 it. Now, some of you might have been wondering, Natalie already had full bars 00:11:52.880 --> 00:11:59.120 from the mesh Wi-Fi booster that was in the hallway. Why is two bars better? The 00:11:57.279 --> 00:12:03.839 problem with range extenders is that they're dependent on an already strong 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:07.920 incoming signal. So, if I were to place one of these right next to my router, 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:12.000 it'd have a strong incoming signal, but it also wouldn't do that much. But then, 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:15.920 if I were to put it at the edge of my router's range where the signal is 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:20.480 already weak, well, it doesn't magically heal the network. So, I might think that 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:25.519 my coverage is better because I've got lots and lots of bars on my devices, but 00:12:23.040 --> 00:12:29.360 all I've really done is add more latency thanks to an additional signal hop. Now, 00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:34.079 I can practically hear you screaming into your monitor. Why don't you just 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:38.800 run an Ethernet cable or failing that? What about Ethernet over power line or 00:12:36.079 --> 00:12:43.279 coax? And you know what? You're right. Those are fine options, but depending on 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:46.959 your situation, you might not be able to. And we're here to give tech tips to 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:50.000 all the people. If you want to learn more about Power Line and Mocha, we're 00:12:48.800 --> 00:12:54.320 going to have videos featuring those technologies linked down below. Keeping 00:12:52.160 --> 00:12:58.079 with Wi-Fi, then there is more that we could do to improve Natalie's network. 00:12:56.160 --> 00:13:02.079 For one thing, I could line the walls with some sort of RF blocking material 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:06.560 that would prevent Natalie's neighbors from interfering with her Wi-Fi. See, 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:12.240 there are some devices that simply can't leave the 2.4 or 5 GHz spectrum like 00:13:10.160 --> 00:13:16.240 some smart devices. But that would be crazy. I think this is enough 00:13:14.079 --> 00:13:20.480 improvement for one day. And it should be a really big improvement, especially 00:13:18.560 --> 00:13:24.720 for things like real-time streaming, like video calls, remoting into friends 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:29.360 computers with Parseek for some gaming, or even using something like GLET's new 00:13:26.800 --> 00:13:33.839 Comet Pro. This little guy is their new remote KVM, which Natalie could hook up 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:37.279 to her PC at the office, then use it to remote in to get her work done from 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:41.440 home. No more blaming things on bad internet. Right, Natalie? She's not 00:13:40.079 --> 00:13:45.040 paying attention. The coolest thing about this device is 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:48.560 it allows even BIOS level access to a connected PC in case you need to reboot 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:54.079 and make changes to it. And it operates remotely at up to 4K 30fps. Okay, 30 FPS 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:58.079 isn't enough to do any competitive gaming on it, but for managing a server 00:13:55.920 --> 00:14:01.519 or client devices from afar, this little guy could be a lifesaver. If you're 00:14:00.079 --> 00:14:05.440 interested in checking out either the Flint 3 Wi-Fi router or the KVM, we're 00:14:04.160 --> 00:14:10.480 going to have links to them down in the video description. And if you guys enjoyed this video, then maybe go check 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:14.320 out the time that we painted Elijah's house with RF blocking paint. Yeah, that 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:17.440 thing I said when I was definitely really playing piano. That that was 00:14:15.760 --> 00:14:22.279 true. We did that and it actually worked way better than either one of us thought 00:14:19.040 --> 00:14:22.279 it would.