The Sundarban
Revealed Jan 25, 2026, 6:00 PM EST
Yadullah Abidi is a Computer Science graduate from the College of Delhi and holds a postgraduate stage in Journalism from the Asian Faculty of Journalism, Chennai. With over a decade of trip in Dwelling windows and Linux systems, programming, PC hardware, cybersecurity, malware analysis, and gaming, he combines deep technical information with famous editorial instincts.
Yadullah at the moment writes for MakeUseOf as a Staff Author, masking cybersecurity, gaming, and user tech. He formerly worked as Associate Editor at Candid.Technology and as News Editor at The Mac Observer, where he reported on the full lot from raging cyberattacks to the latest in Apple tech.
In addition to his journalism work, Yadullah is a elephantine-stack developer with trip in JavaScript/TypeScript, Subsequent.js, the MERN stack, Python, C/C++, and AI/ML. Whether or not he’s analyzing malware, reviewing hardware, or building tools on GitHub, he brings a hands-on, developer’s standpoint to tech journalism.
You already know that frustrating moment while you slay up video calling out of your bed room, and all of the sudden the picture freezes, or when your smart home machine retains disconnecting? Welcome to Wi-Fi dead zones.
Thankfully, you do not want a new router or repeater setup to repair them. I’ve aged Wi-Fi analyzers to raise my Wi-Fi connection earlier than, and fixing awful Wi-Fi is a easy matter of mapping Wi-Fi dead zones and fixing them accordingly.
Wi-Fi dead zones aren’t random; they’re predictable
Walls, furniture, and physics are usually to blame
Credit: Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOf
Wi-Fi dead zones aren’t some mysterious curse; they’re physics. Radio signals weaken as they travel, bag absorbed by walls and furniture, jump around, and interfere with diversified signals. The frustrating part? You probably can’t observe any of it happening.
Start by downloading a Wi-Fi analysis app to your phone. I employ Wi-Fi Analyzer for Android, nonetheless any app that can indicate your Wi-Fi community’s signal strength will suffice. These apps can enable you to watch your signal strength in real time as you walk around, which is functional for understanding which parts of your condominium have the weakest signals.
I stopped up creating a rough ground plan of my apartment, walking around systematically, and letting the app place out where my signal was famous versus weak. This takes barely Quarter-hour of your time nonetheless offers you a stunning factual understanding of Wi-Fi signals around your condominium.
Credit: Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOf
What this heatmap revealed was predictable nonetheless invaluable. My router was near the entrance door, which meant the additional corners of my condominium got almost no signals. The kitchen, with all its metal appliances and cabinets, was practically a signal graveyard. These zones weren’t necessarily unreachable. They have been suitable unoptimized.
Router placement matters more than router specs
One bad corner can sabotage your entire community
Credit: Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOf
Essentially the most attention-grabbing way of fixing Wi-Fi dead zones on your condominium is to discover the optimal router location on your private home. Essentially the most attention-grabbing status for a Wi-Fi router is always in the heart of the area you want it to quilt. Wi-Fi signals travel equally in all directions out of your router’s antennae, meaning while you place the router in the heart of your condominium, it is best to peaceful bag probably the most attention-grabbing coverage that you can imagine in all places.
In reality, walls, electrical appliances, furniture, and diversified obstacles will cease Wi-Fi signals from traveling equally in each direction. Regardless, starting in the heart allows you to work your way around a central space on your condominium to make certain you location your router in a place with the least disturbance and probably the most attention-grabbing signal strength in all four corners of your condominium.
Your router’s antenna area also matters. I have two external antennas on my router. The standard advice is to area them perpendicular to each diversified—one vertical, one horizontal. This creates balanced coverage across an entire ground.
On the opposite hand, because you already have a heatmap of your Wi-Fi dead zones, experiment with router placement and antenna positions to ascertain out the optimal router area to your apartment. Appropriate make certain you avoid router placement myths that enact more harm than factual.
Your Wi-Fi channel will be battling your neighbors
Congestion is real, and auto-pick usually gets it detestable
Credit: Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOf
This may sound technical, nonetheless it absolutely is actually reasonably easy: Wi-Fi channels. Mediate of channels appreciate radio frequencies—if all individuals on your apartment building is the employ of the same channel, all individuals’s signal gets weak. On the 2.4 GHz band, there are most attention-grabbing three in reality non-overlapping channels: 1, 6, and 11. Most routers default to channel 6, which means interference in densely populated areas.
I aged the same Wi-Fi analyzer app to examine which channels have been least crowded in my building. Depending to your situation, employ the least congested channel in command to recuperate speeds and signal stability. The exact settings it be important to change will vary based to your router’s articulate make or model, nonetheless a hastily contemplate at the manual must peaceful clear up any doubts.
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Network Congestion Is Slowing Down Your Wi-Fi, nonetheless There Are 2 Easy Fixes
These two small changes can make a stunning amount of distinction to your Wi-Fi speeds.
In case your router has 5 GHz capability, and in 2026 it really must peaceful, you are already a lot . There are dozens of non-overlapping channels, so interference is less of an challenge. That said, 5 GHz signals don’t travel as far, so you are going to have to be nearer to the router.
Channel width also plays a role. I employ 20 MHz for 2.4 GHz, as narrower channels lead to less interference, and 40 MHz for 5 GHz, as wider channels allow for faster speeds if congestion allows.
Generally you suitable need a dinky backup
