By Carl Laron on February 8, 2012 in
In case you haven't noticed, it's becoming a connected world, with smartphones, tablets, Blu-ray players, TVs, computers, and more all linking wirelessly to each other and to just about everything else. Electronic House reports on a new survey by NPD In-Stat that reveals that Wi-Fi is "taking over the living room." As we saw at CES, and blogged about here, Wi-Fi also has designs in the kitchen, the laundry room and just about any other room you could think of. If that's not connected enough for your, EE Times reports on new Texas Instruments tech that could make Wi-Fi so cheap for makers that you could see it literally everywhere and in anything, such as in an umbrella that could warn you if rain was expected based on weather updates it receives wirelessly. But as anyone who has wrestled with a home wireless network can attest, all this connectivity can sometimes be easier to dream about than to achieve.
What is Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi is sometimes used generically as a catch phrase for wireless technology, but it is actually a trade name used by the Wi-Fi Alliance and refers specifically to products that conform to an evolving standard known in the industry as IEEE 802.11. Successive generations of Wi-Fi -- 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n -- provide greater range, speed and reliability, and are backward compatible. A new and still faster specification, 802.11ac, was released this past November and may start appearing in products by the end of this year.
... and why doesn't it always work?
There are lots of reasons why Wi-Fi networks are sometimes Wi-Fi "not-works." Different makers have different "interpretations" of the Wi-Fi standard. Products that are Wi-Fi Certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance are supposed to talk to each other without a hitch, and to be backward compatible so that, for example, an 802.11n device and an 802.11b device will play well with each other (albeit only with the capabilities of the lower specification). The fly in the ointment is that not every device that includes Wi-Fi support is Wi-Fi Certified -- and even those that are sometimes don't live up to 100 percent of the Wi-Fi Alliance's ideals. There are lots and lots ... and lots of reports of gear that could not get along with another piece of equipment on the same network, with differences in their maker's "flavor" of Wi-Fi being the cause of that.
Also, never forget that Wi-Fi is a radio technology, subject to the same limitations as any other radio technology. While your Wi-Fi signal has a specified "range," the farther you get from your access point, the lower your signal strength and the lower the signal bandwidth (how much information it can carry). Things like walls and floors between the source and its destination can also cut down a signal's strength, and interference from common sources such as cordless phones and baby monitors (also radio devices) as well as microwave ovens can play havoc with it.
What you can do about it
The good news is there are plenty of things you can do to improve Wi-Fi performance. Regardless of whether or not your gear is Wi-Fi Certified, make sure it is running the latest firmware. Makers often push out patches to fix issues -- including Wi-Fi performance issues -- after a product has gone on sale. Most manufacturer web sites will have support pages for the equipment in question, including the latest firmware version and how it can be downloaded and installed.
As About.com's Bradley Mitchell notes, a lot of issues can be solved by placing your router or access point in the right location. Mitchell adds that devices farther away from the router can have from half to as little as 10 percent of the bandwidth of those close by. If it is impossible to relocate your router, Microsoft recommends widening its range by adding a Wi-Fi repeater or range extender, or replacing your router's antenna with a high-gain one. If interference is a problem, try to avoid using the offending devices while connecting wirelessly, or upgrade to 802.11n technology as the frequencies it uses aren't shared -- as of yet -- with as many devices.
Also, be reasonable in what you expect. We see lots of complaints about poor speeds via Wi-Fi, especially when doing things like streaming video. The simple fact is that Wi-Fi, even in its fastest form, just doesn't have the bandwidth of a wired (Ethernet) connection. Issues like those outlined above -- and other factors like additional users connecting to your Wi-Fi network at the same time -- can result in reduced resolution, frequent buffering (as the data catches up to your place in the show or movie) and dropped connections. That's why many recommend using a wired connection for video streaming if it is an important part of your TV viewing activities.