Let’s talk about bad Wi-Fi signal.

Have you ever had to hold your smartphone high above your head in order to get a strong Wi-Fi signal, in your own home? Does it take forever to load a webpage on your laptop? Does Netflix freeze on you mid-movie, or appear grainy on your TV?

I hear these complaints, and more, from people all the time. The good news is, it doesn’t have to be that way!

But first – why are so many people having issues with their WiFi?

To get a better understanding of this, we have to think about where WiFi has been heading over the years. Not long ago, the only thing we needed WiFi for was to surf the Internet and send emails, so routers were fairly basic. Now we’re demanding more and more of our Internet service (streaming TV shows, playing high-definition online games, connecting tons of new WiFi-enabled devices all over the house), but many peoples’ home WiFi haven’t been able to keep up.

I strongly believe that any device that can be hardwired to the Internet, should be hardwired, and that Wi-Fi should be left for mobile devices. I also think that we need to change the way we think about Wi-Fi in the home. With so many new Wi-Fi-enabled devices, we are now expecting Wi-Fi service all over the home, rather than just one or two rooms. Plus, with piping inside walls, such as with heat pumps, and other factors, the Wi-Fi signal in most homes is not consistent. Often, a single router can no longer provide enough strength and speed for all the activities we like to use Internet for.

The best way to deal with these problems is with Wireless Access Points (WAP). These devices are hardwired back to your router or Ethernet switch and receive Internet just as strongly as any other hardwired device in your home. You can have them strategically placed in multiple locations in your home, where you tend to require WiFi. This is so that your laptops, smartphones, and other mobile devices only have to reach the nearest WAP to get WiFi, instead of reaching the router all the way in the basement.

• It’s often optimal to have one WAP on each level of the home
• Normally, you would want to install WAPs while your house is being built, but many houses already have telephone outlets that are wired with standard Cat5e cable, which can be used for this purpose
• Your WAPs are encrypted and share the same password, so that it only appears once on your mobile device

A quick note on other solutions – Many people set up “repeaters” throughout their homes to try to tackle the problem of bad WiFi. Compared with Wireless Access Points, they tend to be slower because the repeater has to “repeat” everything, both ways. For example, your laptop sends signals to the repeater, and the repeater repeats that to your router, and back again.

Another solution people choose is to get multiple routers, but this can cause IP address problems if they’re not properly configured. If you’re looking to improve your WiFi experience at home, Wireless Access Points are the way to go.

If you have any questions about WiFi, feel free to send me a message!

So, you’ve heard about TechReady, but what makes a Wilsons Smart Connect TechReady system so amazing? Let me explain!

The Two-Cabinet Design

Regardless of what anyone tells you, here’s a fact: You simply cannot use a single cabinet-designed system and maintain the neatness of the panel. By the time your Internet service provider finishes their part of the installation, the cabinet usually becomes a mess of wires – sometimes to the point where customers cannot get the door back on the cabinet! This is where Wilsons Smart Connect’s two-cabinet design comes in. Splitters and power bars are reserved to the lower cabinet, maintaining the neatness of the upper cabinet, giving the customer a much better user experience.

Hinged Door on the Upper Cabinet

All Wilsons Smart Connect systems have a hinged door on the upper cabinet, making it easier than ever to access your equipment. No more having to remove multiple screws and fumble with a heavy door to get access to your system.

Adaptable Outlets

For a true “plug and play” system, we design all of our outlets to be flexible. Many TechReady installers set up the cabinet in a way that leaves the homeowner without freedom to make changes. A great example is a telephone outlet; you cannot use this outlet for anything other than the phone without calling a technician to make the changes for you. With our flexible outlets, if you want to turn a phone outlet into an Internet outlet, just unplug the outlet from the phone module and plug it into your Internet module, right inside your Smart Connect cabinet (another reason you’ll love the two-cabinet design). It’s that easy!

Colour Coding Wires

It only adds to the confusion of sorting through your home’s wiring when you discover that the same colour wire is used for everything. We help our customers keep it simple by colour-coding the wires we use, so the patch cords in your cabinet match their corresponding Cat5e cable in the wall.

Pre-wiring for a Wireless Access Point

For a superior Wi-Fi experience at home, nothing provides better coverage than Wireless Access Points (WAP). They put the wireless Internet closer to where you use it, as opposed to the signal only coming from the modem. Unlike a Wi-Fi extender or repeater, WAP is actually hardwired to your main Internet connection, in a similar way to how a desktop computer would be. Most TechReady companies don’t offer this as a standard item, but the pre-wiring for one of these units comes with the Wilsons Smart Connect system, so it’s already there if you ever wish to install a WAP.

Dual Data in the Family Room

Not using a Wireless Access Point? Wilsons Smart Connect hasn’t forgotten about you! The optimal location of your Wi-Fi modem is near your Smart Connect cabinet, but we understand that this could very well be under a stairwell or in a utility room, potentially meaning a less-than-stellar Wi-Fi signal. We provide an additional data outlet on the main floor so you can still get all the benefits of your Smart Connect system, while keep your modem in a central location.

You would be hard-pressed to find any other TechReady installing company that looks after you better than Wilsons Smart Connect does!