There's a couple of things here that are good advice. The rest is either "buy better internet" or is just silly. Positioning your router, and changing the channel could be the two biggest ones you...
There's a couple of things here that are good advice. The rest is either "buy better internet" or is just silly. Positioning your router, and changing the channel could be the two biggest ones you can do without paying any money. Make sure your router is either in a central area if you move around a lot, or near wherever you work the most if you have a dedicated office space. Check the channel usage using a program like InSSIDer on windows, LinSSID on linux, or Wifi Analyzer on Android. If there's a lot of other hotspots on the same channel as your router, try another.
For a speed test, I really don't recommend installing an app you're only going to use once. That's stupid, and a great way to bloat up your phone with adware. The speedtest.net website works fine on mobile so long as you choose "Request desktop site". Fast.com works fine as well from a browser.
Their advice under "Check your network" is kinda ridiculous.
Sometimes (and for no reason), devices will glom onto, say, your ISP’s lower-speed wireless hotspot rather than your home’s high-speed network.
That makes absolutely no sense. Wireless devices don't spontaneously crack passwords of hotspots and decide to connect to them for no reason. That's absurd. You must have connected to it intentionally at one point, and the device has connected to it over your preferred one because it has a stronger signal. If your ISP-provided router has wifi built in, yet you're using your own wifi router, that's a bad setup. Ask your ISP how you can disable their built-in wifi and turn their modem/wifi router combo into a dumb modem. With my ISP this is called "Bridged mode". If you don't do this, you're adding latency to every single connection you make, and are polluting your own radio spectrum. You're probably also causing a dual-NAT situation which could cause problems with VOIP programs.
You'd think after that PC build video fiasco The Verge would hire actual technically competent people to at the very least quickly fact-check their articles before publication, but no.
I think they're referring to things like ISP hotspots similar to AT&T HotSpots which are meant to provide wifi in public areas and can sometimes be detected in apartment units. I see them a lot at...
That makes absolutely no sense. Wireless devices don't spontaneously crack passwords of hotspots and decide to connect to them for no reason. That's absurd. You must have connected to it intentionally at one point, and the device has connected to it over your preferred one because it has a stronger signal. If your ISP-provided router has wifi built in, yet you're using your own wifi router, that's a bad setup.
I think they're referring to things like ISP hotspots similar to AT&T HotSpots which are meant to provide wifi in public areas and can sometimes be detected in apartment units. I see them a lot at airports and at malls, and they can be useful when travelling somewhere without phone service.
I think they mean your ISP's public hotspot, which you may well have set up on your devices to use when you're away from home, because you probably get free access with your plan. It's quite...
I think they mean your ISP's public hotspot, which you may well have set up on your devices to use when you're away from home, because you probably get free access with your plan. It's quite possible to hop over onto that without noticing, especially if you're in a spot that doesn't get good signal from your router.
I think you misunderstand what they're saying... If you're using your ISPs router, a lot of times they will have a separate network that's for the ISPs other customers. That way when a Comcast...
That makes absolutely no sense. Wireless devices don't spontaneously crack passwords of hotspots and decide to connect to them for no reason.
I think you misunderstand what they're saying...
If you're using your ISPs router, a lot of times they will have a separate network that's for the ISPs other customers. That way when a Comcast customer is out and about, they can jump on any Comcast controlled router and use the internet. Here's their page on it.
And people also have unprotected wifi networks, which any device can hop on.
There's a couple of things here that are good advice. The rest is either "buy better internet" or is just silly. Positioning your router, and changing the channel could be the two biggest ones you can do without paying any money. Make sure your router is either in a central area if you move around a lot, or near wherever you work the most if you have a dedicated office space. Check the channel usage using a program like InSSIDer on windows, LinSSID on linux, or Wifi Analyzer on Android. If there's a lot of other hotspots on the same channel as your router, try another.
For a speed test, I really don't recommend installing an app you're only going to use once. That's stupid, and a great way to bloat up your phone with adware. The speedtest.net website works fine on mobile so long as you choose "Request desktop site". Fast.com works fine as well from a browser.
Their advice under "Check your network" is kinda ridiculous.
That makes absolutely no sense. Wireless devices don't spontaneously crack passwords of hotspots and decide to connect to them for no reason. That's absurd. You must have connected to it intentionally at one point, and the device has connected to it over your preferred one because it has a stronger signal. If your ISP-provided router has wifi built in, yet you're using your own wifi router, that's a bad setup. Ask your ISP how you can disable their built-in wifi and turn their modem/wifi router combo into a dumb modem. With my ISP this is called "Bridged mode". If you don't do this, you're adding latency to every single connection you make, and are polluting your own radio spectrum. You're probably also causing a dual-NAT situation which could cause problems with VOIP programs.
You'd think after that PC build video fiasco The Verge would hire actual technically competent people to at the very least quickly fact-check their articles before publication, but no.
I think they're referring to things like ISP hotspots similar to AT&T HotSpots which are meant to provide wifi in public areas and can sometimes be detected in apartment units. I see them a lot at airports and at malls, and they can be useful when travelling somewhere without phone service.
I think they mean your ISP's public hotspot, which you may well have set up on your devices to use when you're away from home, because you probably get free access with your plan. It's quite possible to hop over onto that without noticing, especially if you're in a spot that doesn't get good signal from your router.
I think you misunderstand what they're saying...
If you're using your ISPs router, a lot of times they will have a separate network that's for the ISPs other customers. That way when a Comcast customer is out and about, they can jump on any Comcast controlled router and use the internet. Here's their page on it.
And people also have unprotected wifi networks, which any device can hop on.
On macOS, simply option-click on the wifi icon in the menubar and it will give you a bunch of this info.