TECH TIPS
The 5 Worst Home Networking Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Steps That will Ensure a Properly Designed and Installed Home Network Behaves According to Plan
Photo: iStockphoto.com/fatido
By Nathan Holmes We’ve all encountered some hiccups, glitches, and aggravation while downloading files, streaming video, and conducting a videoconference. What’s causing the issue? Is it the ISP service? Is there a line down in the neighborhood? Maybe your computer needs a tune-up? Most likely, these Wi-Fi woes stem from the way a home network was designed and installed. Maybe the techs from an ISP put in the equipment or perhaps the router came from an online outfit. That’s mistake #1. It takes a much higher grade of equipment installed by a knowledgeable professional to have a home network that’s fast, reliable, consistent, and maintains peace within a household where everyone can work, study, and play online at the same time. Mediocre equipment installed poorly is only the tip of the aliment iceberg. Here are five other home networking snafus and how to avoid them.
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Residential Tech Today | Aug-Oct 2020
Mistake #1: Improper Planning (or No Plan at All) You wouldn’t dream of renovating a kitchen without first making sure there is enough room for the new appliances. The same goes for a home network. You need to make sure the home environment is accommodating, and if not, fix it or work around it.
No home or networking environment is perfect, so don’t be alarmed by the findings. A properly designed network comprised of carefully selected, correctly installed products can mitigate problems. But be aware: It will likely take more than one attempt to get the network right.
The construction, layout, and furnishings of a home can reduce signal strength and range; certain electronic devices can generate RF interference, and neighboring networks can steal bandwidth. These roadblocks are invisible to the naked eye, so it’s imperative that proper testing and planning take place before the installation of the equipment commences.
The composition of a home, as well as the Wi-Fi conditions, can change drastically as it’s being built, as furnishing are added, and as the family moves in. Consequently, a professional Wi-Fi design will include three phases – a predictive design prior to construction, site survey testing during construction, and validation testing after everything is installed in the home.
Conduct a “site survey” to analyze the current Wi-Fi conditions of a home environment. Using a variety of testing equipment and software, you can identify weak spots, measure data throughput, and identify sources of interference.
Mistake #2: Incomplete Lifestyle Audit Only when you know exactly which devices in a home will be connected to the internet, how they will be used, how often they will be used, and who will be using them can a home
