[MUSIC]
Your home internet connection has come a long way since the days of dial-up, but it still drives you crazy.
One minute, it's blazing fast, and the next minute your Netflix stream looks like an 8-bit video game.
I'm Donald Bell.
In this top five, I'm going to count down the best ways to make your home WiFi faster and more reliable.
Starting off at number five, change your channel.
Most existing routers out there work in that 2.4 Gigahertz band which is crowded by microwaves and baby monitors and your neighbor's routers.
Within the 2.4 Gigahertz band, the least crowded channels are one, six, or eleven.
So, give those a shot and see if things improve.
Better yet, if your router has the Auto mode for channel selection, this will automatically pick the best option for your environment.
Better yet, try number four, use the five gigahertz band.
If your router and your devices support five gigahertz, then ditch the 2.4 gigahertz spectrum altogether.
Any 802.11N or AC router will have this option.
The air is much less crowded here, and includes 23 non-lapping sub-channels.
Most of these routers will also let you broadcast simultaneously in 2.4 Gigahertz if you're feeling stouted.
Coming at at number three, change your placement.
I seen a lot of routers and they either look like a time capsule from 2004 or like a chunk that fell off a spaceship.
Either way, I can understood why you may have hidden yours in the back laundry room.
Unfortunately, its killing your reception.
The ideal spot is the in the center of your home, mounted on your ceiling.
But that's probably a no go for a bunch of reasons.
So as a compromise, just tell me that you'll get your router off the ground, out of the cabinet, and in an open area that's closer to where reception matters.
And number two, buy a new router.
It may sound like a cop out, but a modern router offers a ton of features we just didn't have a few years ago.
From that less crowded 5 GHz band I mentioned at the top.
Most 802.11n or a/c routers also use an antenna technology called beam forming that can detect devices in your home and concentrate the wi-fi signal where you need it most.
And finally at number one, add an access point.
If changing the router doesn't help well hen maybe your home is just too damn bit.
In this case, it's best to invest in an extra access point and put it at the other end of your home.
If possible, connect the existing router and the access point using a network cable or a pair of powerline adapters.
By the way, many routers can be made to work as an access point just by changing a setting.
That old router that you just replaced might come in handy.
So there you go, five ways to speed up the wifi in your home compiled by CNET Senior Editor, and networking guru, **** Ngo.
You can find CNET's current list of the five best wifi routers over at cnet.com/routers.
I'm, Donald, Bell, thanks for watching.
[MUSIC]
