With the recent broadband speed increases to our Hardy OneNet packages, some households might experience a change in wireless Internet coverage (wifi). In general, the faster the speed, the less distance a wireless signal will reach. A wireless router set-up that previously covered your entire house – even the far back corners of distant rooms – at one speed might not cover that same house as effectively with a much faster speed. A wired connection to a device usually delivers a more stable Internet experience, but we understand that’s not always possible, and wifi offers more freedom of movement when utilizing your broadband connection.
We realize that many homes these days have numerous devices that connect wirelessly to our broadband, so it’s helpful to understand how bandwidth and wifi coverage work. Many factors affect wifi speed on various devices.
Bandwidth is the amount of information that your Internet connection can handle at any given time. When you connect to the Internet with multiple devices – be it to browse the internet, stream movies or shows, or play games – each device takes up some of your Internet connection, leaving less bandwidth for other devices. If you connect too many devices without sufficient bandwidth, your Internet speed will appear slower, resulting in a poor user experience. It’s similar to the water pressure in your home. As you turn on more showers and faucets, the water pressure in your home gets lower and lower. As you add more devices to your Internet connection, your overall bandwidth can be quickly consumed.
Other factors also come into play: The location of the wireless router and the signal strength to your devices, the capacity of the devices themselves, and how much bandwidth is required for applications. Many older devices aren’t equipped to handle Internet speeds above a certain limit. Also, as mentioned earlier, the faster the speed, the less distance a wireless signal will reach.
Your Internet experience also depends on the network capacity of the sites you visit. As HardyNet and other Internet providers offer faster and faster speeds, Internet sites themselves have to take into account how much traffic they can handle at one time. This is why you hear of some sites crashing when they experience an unusual amount of traffic at one time.
We’re also seeing more and more devices connected in households as residents buy more smart-capable devices like Smart TVs – these days everything from refrigerators to light bulbs can access the Internet. All these things affect wifi performance. We suggest using a wired connection when doing an Internet speed test. If you are using a wireless connection, please keep these coverage factors in mind, especially if your wifi coverage seems different after a speed increase.