Why is the WiFi reception not as good as it should be?

Why is the WiFi reception not as good as it should be?

If you are unhappy with the performance of the WiFi ensure you are using Selfnet WiFi (Name of the WiFi is “Selfnet”). If you are running your own WiFi check the tips below.

We do hear the feedback about slow network speeds quite often - in particular for devices relying on WiFi. Here we would like to elaborate on why this is the case and - more importantly - what you can do to change that. We do our best to save the tech talk. If you like to just see solutions - read on. If the text gets too technical just stop reading and reach out to us (e-mail / chat / office hours in a Corona-free time) and we will be more than happy to explain. Practical solutions - if you are just interested in these - are marked in bold in this article..

Wait, Selfnet runs the network and that’s what sucks. What’s my part here? To get this out the door as early as possible: At least half of your experience in the WiFi is something you can (and should?) influence.

Our network is somewhat different to WiFi at home

First of all we need to distinguish one very important part: There is WiFi run by Selfnet in some dormitories and there are thousands of other WiFis. Click here to check if your dormitory is equipped with WiFi operated by Selfnet. That WiFi is simply called “Selfnet”. And then there is WiFi run by many of our members. That’s what we call “user WiFi” and it is almost as diverse as our members are. We will try to help with both kinds of WiFi here.

In both cases one more thing should be understood: A student dormitory is what is sometimes called a “densely populated environment”. From technical point of view that means we have a lot of WiFi devices per square meter in the dormitories. (and out-side of them connecting through windows, and on the roof and even in parking lots…) Just to give you an idea: Most of the students have more than 5 device simultaneously connected to WiFi. And in the same way as you treat your room mates with respect and consider “live and let live” the motto of a reasonable human interaction, so do your devices. It seems that quite a few students forget how many WiFi devices they actually use. There is the obvious laptop, smartphone, iPad and the occasional watch being connected. But what about your Alexa, your smart home speaker, your TV, your game console(s), your smart light bulb, … yes these are all there. Most of them all the time.

And yes, they do interfere with one another. Why? Because they do share time on the WiFi network. - That is called air-time. Very much in the same way as in good old public radio broadcasts, two speakers cannot talk at the same time and be understood. They do speak alternating. One after the other. And that is what your devices do. And even worse they cannot talk and listen at the same time. However unlike most humans, many of your devices still talk without any active connection / conversation. They check for updates and new messages, they report statistics, ensure the correct time is displayed and just make sure every other device knows they are still there in order to still receive messages. That brings me to the first piece of advice: When you are not at home consider switching of some of your devices. Effect: Medium, plus you are being nice to your room mates.

Yes, you likely do not need to do this at your parents house. And that is nice. Please keep in mind that in the student dormitories lots of these devices are used in a smaller, denser, environment. Just consider how many devices you are using and how many device your room mates are using. Does that sum up to 30? 40? 42? Whatever the count might be - it is very likely higher than at your home.

On different frequencies - Or why you should avoid 2.4GHz

As mentioned above, there are 2.4GHz WiFis and 5.0GHz WiFis. And the later ones are the ones to use. On a 2.4GHz WiFi the maximum number for WiFis in parallel without causing effects - or interference - for the other WiFis is 3. Now a quick look at the number of WiFis you can see at the moment will very likely show more than 3. Interference does not mean that you cannot connect. It means you need to share with even more parties “be even nicer / more polite to other devices”. Imagine the difference between having one sibling and seven siblings. To make things worse 2.4GHz is a very popular frequency. You have already counted the number of devices using WiFi for you and your room mates. Now add those with Bluetooth. Why? Because it is relying the same frequency and Bluetooth usually has priority over WiFi. And while you’re at it - please add microwaves, smart home devices (yes, all of them) and remote door openers and all other kinds of remote controls. Yes, these devices are all on 2.4GHz. Why? - Because device manufacturers can use this frequency free of charge. (Ok, for the microwave oven that’s a lie - here you cannot use a different frequency) Use 5.0GHz WiFi wherever you can. See below an how to do it. Effect: Highest

If you care use 5.0GHz WiFi that provides you with at least 9 different networks free of interference. There can be more as we can adjust the “channel size”. Knowing if your device actually is connected to a 5.0 GHz network is not as simple. Yes, there are standards for this, but we spare you with that. For most up-to-date operating systems it is relatively save to assume that they will prefer 5.0GHz WiFi if available. One exception to that rule: iPhones and iPads. However, several devices cannot use 5.0 GHz WiFi. And here are some popular ones that cannot do it: iPhones generation 4 and older, several amazon echo devices (yes, the 2020 entry model still cannot do it; however all of the fireTV devices can do it), older Google / Nest speaker and streaming sticks, many smartphones released prior to 2019, almost all smart home devices, including the Sonos smart speakers and streaming speakers. Do not run your own WiFi if there is Selfnet WiFi in your dormitory. Effect: High

If you are operating your own WiFi router or access point

We are sorry but for several reasons there is no Selfnet WiFi in every building. And for those of you in buildings with Selfnet WiFi who still run their own WiFi: Just don’t. (unless you absolutely have to). However if you are forced to operate your own WiFi here are some tips on what to do:

1. Switch off 2.4GHz WiFi Even if you are not using it, it still does consume air-time.
2. If you have to run a 2.4GHz WiFi because one of your devices does not support 5.0GHz: Just change it to the one standard that you do need. We see a lot of older WiFi standards around the dormitories. If you have a WiFi router that is running WiFi for 20 year-old devices, you probably do not need it. However it is usually active by default. The problem is that these older - and slower standards - waste even more air-time. Reason for this is, that your WiFi router / access point sends out little messages saying “here I am connect if you dare” and these are sent with the slowest standard it is configured to support. Look for a supported WiFi Standard (802.11) of N or even better AC (please avoid using b/g/n or g/n - remember, configurations which list several letters will use the slowest one to say “here am I”)
3. Nice persons don’t scream - please reduce the signal strength Yes, this is totally counter-intuitive, because what you want is a strong WiFi connection. You should do it anyway. Having your WiFi signal on full power all the time is the equivalent of having a screaming conversation across the dormitory while all widows and doors are open and everyone in the dormitory is at home. You can have your conversation if you are the only one doing it, but imagine everyone doing it.
4. If you are using 2.4GHz WiFi: For god’s sake stop using channel 1 There are 12 channels available for 2.4GHz WiFi in Germany. Most - especially cheaper - WiFi routers / access points are by default configured to use WiFi on channel 1. Many people do not bother to change that. All your messages do queue up at channel 1 now (remember one is talking at a time and that is not a one per WiFi but one per frequency)… We aren’t all trying to use the same door of the train why trying this for WiFi? Use “automatic” or channels 5 or 9. Note: Some routers provide channels 13 and 14. However these are legally not available for public use in Germany.

One last point with regards to the signal strength: Your smartphone or laptop show you some bars to indicate the reception quality of the WiFi. That indicates your device has a good at reception. It does not tell you anything about sending / transmitting rates. Especially for our WiFi access points we can tell you that the antennas are really, really good. That ensures that you receive the WiFi. However the antennas - especially in smartphones and tablets - are way smaller than in the access points. As a comparison imagine you are having a conversation and the other person is using a megaphone. You can hear the other person from far away. But even if you are screaming you might not be loud enough for the other person to understand what you’re saying. Same here. Therefore: If signal is just at 30 - 50% reception strength: Change the location. Sometimes 30cm make a huge difference in reception. Effect: Medium

One last piece of advice: Cables are a blessing

Use a cable for stationary devices Effect: Very high Sure, you do not want to use a cable to connect your smartphone but what about your game console? Or your smart speaker, or your Laptop while you are sitting at your desk? Connecting with a network cable (given the cable is not broken) provides up to 1GBit/s. That is more than most WiFi can do. Even if when there is just one device connected.

We do hope this helps a bit to get a better connection to the WiFi network. In case you have questions on how to do one or the other thing mentioned here - please reach out via e-mail / chat or visit us during the office hours once Corona-restrictions are lifted.

Cheers, Your Selfnet-Team

And for those interested here are some very useful details:

1. List of WiFi-Standards for 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz
2. Which 2.4GHz Channels do not overlap or interfere
3. Example signal strength in an apartment - see how small changes in location make a huge difference

For our network to run smoothly there are a lot of different things to do: management of the equipment (including buying new stuff and getting service), taking care of servers for the network or additional services, debugging problems like this or connecting new dormitories to our network.

If you want to volunteer, it doesn’t matter if you are a pro or a starter: Selfnet offers the opportunity to learn everything required. If you are interested in technical stuff, programming, public relations, project management or anything else: We would be glad to welcome you in our team! Just visit our support hours (once the office hours are re-opened).

The Selfnet-Team