I was happily working on my computer in my home office the other day and suddenly most of the tabs in my browser reported a network error.
Like most home Internet setups, my computer uses a Wi-Fi wireless connection to connect to the router provided by my Internet Service Provider (ISP). The router connects to a modem that sends your request to the ISP network where it gets forwarded on to the Internet.
I went into the Wi-Fi settings on my Windows computer, disconnected the Wi-Fi and then reconnected it. You can find the Wi-Fi settings by using the Search on the Taskbar (magnifying glass icon).
I went back to work and for a time everything was fine. But then I lost the Wi-Fi again. I checked on my mobile phone and it still had a Wi-Fi connection. So there was no problem with the Wi-Fi router, it was strictly a local problem on my computer.
I looked along a line of sight from my computer to the router which was downstairs in the kitchen and tried to think of what might be blocking the signal. Well right front of me I saw that the door to my room was closed. Now I often work with the door closed but this time on a hunch I got up and opened the door. Now after I reset the Wi-Fi it worked for the rest of the day without any further outages.
Why did this happen?
Wi-Fi is a radio signal. As such, it is subject to all kinds of noise disruptions. If you have ever listened to an analog radio, you know that there is often interference and you get crackle and other noises. For a digital signal such as Wi-Fi, the tiniest little noise that you wouldn’t even notice on a radio is enough to signal an error. Internet data is sent in packets typically about 1,500 bytes long. Any error in the packet means that the whole packet is discarded and the sender has to transmit the whole packet again. So a small amount of interference or noise on your Wi-Fi connection can create a lot of retransmissions that result in long delays when you are trying to use the Internet.
A major source of interference in our house is the microwave oven. Microwave uses radio signals that are in the same frequency band as our Wi-Fi, the 2.4 GHz frequency band. Our Internet router is in the kitchen and whenever the microwave is on it effectively knocks out the Internet for everybody.
Cordless phones, baby monitors and garage door openers also use the 2.4 GHz frequency band, so they can also interfere with your Wi-Fi.
Some routers support another Wi-Fi frequency band, at 5 GHz. If your router has this option, you will see another Wi-Fi network name in your device’s WiFi settings. You might want to consider using it instead of 2.4 GHz.
5 GHz is faster and less prone to interference from other devices since fewer devices use this frequency. However 5 GHz may have a smaller coverage area and is less successful at penetrating solid objects.
So computers that aren’t too far from the router should use 5 GHz. But mobile phones which move around and may be farther away from the router should use 2.4 GHz.
