[18 June 2018] It's probably happened to you many times: one minute
you're enjoying fast WiFi while streaming in the living room, only to
lose your signal the moment you step into your bedroom. Or when you're
video calling seamlessly from your bedroom, but get disconnected the
minute you go inside the bathroom? How about having the urge to Google
something, but for some reason just can’t connect from your dining room?
You’re probably in a WiFi dead zone. As the name implies, it’s that
part of your house where your WiFi connection just doesn’t seem to work.
Don’t worry—it’s not as supernatural as it sounds. In fact, WiFi dead
zones are common, and you can do something about them if you just know
where to look and what to check. If you’re dealing with WiFi dead zones
at home, here are factors that may be affecting how fast you can stream,
surf, or download:
- Distance from the modem. When it comes to your
home WiFi, you always have to consider the distance of your main
internet modem to the gadget you’re using. If you’re in one room
and the modem is in another, the furniture, doors, walls and even
floors can interfere with your connection. A typical 2.4GHz Wi-Fi
router can efficiently cover an indoor space of up to 46 meters,
and when you move further away from the router, the signal gets
weaker. If you live in pretty big house, you’ll definitely need
to expand your router’s signal.
- Signal-blocking devices. Metal objects, such
as furniture, decoration, and household appliances can block signal
from your router. Concrete walls and dividers, microwave ovens,
and LED lights can also cause interference. Even water and moisture—which
can come from unexpected places like plant pots, flower vases, air-conditioners,
or an open bathroom door— can weaken wireless signals.
- Bandwidth hoggers. When you have too many people
connecting to your WiFi, of course, your connection will bog down.
Downloading heavy torrent files, playing online games or video streaming
can use up most of the bandwidth allocation.
So what can you do?
Depending on the service provider and router you have, you can always
go online and look for DIY solutions to determine and remove signal
barriers in your home. You may also contact your broadband provider
for solutions and tips on how to have optimal Wi-Fi performance.
If you are a PLDT Home subscriber, you have the exclusive privilege
of enjoying the Whole Home WiFi service, which uses signal-enhancing
devices that connect the entire home to a strong all-in-one broadband
and smart WiFi network. This simply means that you won’t have to worry
about common WiFi woes because PLDT will customize a tailor-fit a WiFi
solution for your home. This means you can enjoy your Netflix shows
in the bedroom, watch cooking tutorials in your kitchen, and even stream
your favorite songs while in the shower!
If you have a PLDT Home Fibr or DSL Plan 1899 or below, you can simply
upgrade to Plan 3499 to get internet speeds of up to 50 Mbps bundled
with the Whole Home WiFi service. If you have a Fibr Plan 2899 subscription,
you can simply add P600 to your monthly plan to enjoy the service. Meanwhile,
if you are a Fibr Plan 8000 user, all you need to do is extend your
subscription from 24 months to 36 months to automatically get Whole
Home WiFi on top of your internet speeds of up to 1Gbps.