What is WLAN and what to do if it is not working? We advise you on how to fix network problems at home

Home ›What is WLAN and What To Do If It Is Not Working? We advise you how to fix network problems at home 04/28/2015 10:56 Image source: © chip.pl

You have an internet connection, a wireless router, and several Wi-Fi-enabled devices - this is the WLAN, or local wireless network. What to do when it stops working properly?

What is WLAN?

A WLAN is a wireless network that connects two or more computers on a local area network (LAN). Most often, WLAN is used in homes, schools or offices, when computers are connected in a network in a small area. Most of the WLAM networks are known under the Wi-Fi brand.

WLAN problems

Extremely slow data download, lack of connection in some places in the house despite the apparent proximity of a Wi-Fi router or access point, inability to connect to the network by some devices. There are many problems in the home WLAN, which are caused not only by the wrong configuration of individual devices, but also by incorrect router settings.

Paradoxically, the actual blocking of access to the network by the operator, e.g. as a result of a failure or other reasons beyond the user's control, is relatively rare nowadays. In most cases, you will deal with wireless connectivity problems yourself, and they are in no way related to the infrastructure of the operator providing the Internet connection.

For example, a problem with the proper functioning of a home Wi-Fi network may be due to a misconfiguration of the wireless router or incorrect network adapter drivers on the computer. It can also be caused by a freezing of the router or access point. Due to the fact that nowadays practically all wireless devices offer a readable configuration interface available via any web browser, you do not need to have many years of experience of a network administrator to deal with an embarrassing situation.

Begin with the diagnosis

1. Check connectivity on the computer

It may happen that the wireless adapter has been accidentally turned off, for example as a result of pressing the Wi-Fi switch by mistake, often found in many laptops. Launch the Windows Control Panel, go to the "Network and Internet" category, then select "Network and Sharing Center" and on the left side of the window, in the task list, click "Change network adapter settings". Now find the "Wireless Network" (or "Wireless Network Connection") icon and make sure that there is no "Disabled" entry next to it. If so, right-click the icon and select the "Enable" command in the context menu. If there is no wireless connection icon in the window, and your computer is using a USB Wi-Fi interface, make sure the USB Wi-Fi adapter has not popped out of the slot.

2. Check the Wi-Fi connectivity of the router

If the computer is fine and the wireless card is working and the network is not available, you need to check the router. Most devices are equipped with light signals (e.g. LEDs) to judge whether the router's Wi-Fi or WLAN interface is active. Sometimes enabling or disabling wireless communication is possible using the button on the router's housing. In any case, you can check the router's status by connecting to it with a network cable and then calling its configuration interface via a web browser.

3. Testing the connection

If there are still connection problems, it is a good idea to test the stability of the connection to the router. Run the Windows Command Prompt (use the [Win] + [R] keyboard shortcut, then type "cmd" in the window that appears and press [Enter]). Enter the command "ipconfig". After starting it, find the line beginning with the words "Default gateway" and remember the IP address displayed in this line (eg 192.168.0.1). This is the router's IP address. Enter the next command: "ping –t 192.168.0.1" (of course, enter the IP address that is appropriate for your router). The computer will start sending test network packets to the router - if the connection is successful you will see the message "Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes = 32 ...". If nothing else is displayed, stop the ping command by pressing [Ctrl] + [C] and go to step 5.

4. Identification of the problem

The response time in the case of a wireless local connection should not exceed a few milliseconds. If the ping test returns 20 ms or more, the problem is with the optimization of the connection (go to step 6.), if the message "Request timed out" is displayed, then there is no Wi-Fi network. The message "The target host is unreachable" means that the Wi-Fi network is working but the connection cannot be established.

5. Appropriate location of the equipment

Long ping response times and a very weak wireless signal strength indicator mean that while the wireless connection is working, the signal is too weak to transmit data efficiently. It is worth changing the position of the antennas in the router, moving the computer or - if you are using the Wi-Fi to USB interface on a desktop computer - use a USB extension cable and place a USB Wi-Fi dongle in a place where the reception of Wi-Fi radio waves will be better. While moving, you can have the ping utility running all the time and see if the relocation is good for your connection. It happens that moving a few centimeters significantly improves the quality of the connection.

6. Optimizing performance

Use the InSSIDer Office program. The tool will display detailed information about all wireless networks in the area and will allow you to detect whether the poor quality of the connection to the home Wi-Fi network is not, for example, the result of interference caused by other networks. InSSIDer for each network will display not only the signal strength, but also the channel on which the network operates (Channel column). If you observe multiple networks using the same channel as yours, you've just discovered the most likely source of the problem. Use the router's web-based configuration panel to change the channel to another (select 1, 5, 9 or 13, unless it is crowded, of course).

7. Increasing the pace

If, thanks to the InSSIDer program, you have checked that the "ether" in your area is extremely crowded (no more than one or two other Wi-Fi networks with a very weak signal), you may be tempted to increase the efficiency of your own Wi-Fi network through the so-called broadening the bandwidth of the radio channel. The relevant option should be available in the Wi-Fi configuration settings of the router's web interface.

8. Investment in equipment

When diagnostics and software optimization measures fail, additional devices may be required to increase the efficiency of a Wi-Fi network. For example, it is worth replacing part of the Wi-Fi network with PLC adapters (network via electrical sockets) or buying a device called a Wi-Fi repeater. It is a Wi-Fi repeater, significantly increasing the range and performance of wireless home wireless LAN. If your router only supports the old 802.11g standard (or the older 802.11b standard), you will experience a significant improvement in quality when you purchase an 802.11ac / n router.

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Slow connection - what to do?

1. Measurement of the link speed

If the connection between the computer and the router works fine, check your internet speed. Start by connecting your computer to the router directly with a LAN cable. Start the web browser on the computer, visit www.speedtest.net/pl/ and click the "Start test" button in the browser window. After several seconds, the measurement results will be displayed, including the server response time (ping), data download speed and the speed of data sending to the network. The parameters obtained should correspond approximately to the parameters of the purchased internet connection.

2. Service availability measurement

If the link speed measurement gives results close to the expected link parameters, but you observe a significant decrease in performance when using certain online services, it is possible that the problem is with the web server or intermediary points. To check it, use the tools available from the Command Prompt. Enter the command »tracert [target domain name]«, eg »tracert tech.wp.pl« (repeat this test for different domains and servers). The output is a list describing the route of the packets sent from the computer to a destination on the network specified by the parameter of the "tracert" command. If the delay at each "stop" does not exceed several milliseconds, the connection is very good, but a delay of more than 100 ms may indicate a problem with a given network node.

3. Reboot the modem and router

If the connection speed, despite repeated diagnostics, significantly differs from the purchased parameters, then unfortunately we do not have much room for maneuver. In the case of DSL or LTE technology, you can try to restart the connection - use the router's configuration panel to disconnect the DSL / LTE modem and then reconnect. If this solution does not help, then before contacting the service provider's technical support, it is worth performing a complete restart of the router, disconnecting it from the power supply for at least 10 seconds.

The best WLAN software

Ekahau Heatmapper

An excellent program for analyzing the strength of a wireless network signal. It's best to install it on a laptop with a Wi-Fi card. The user's task is to walk around the rooms with an active Heatmapper. A single session may not last longer than 15 minutes, but it is enough to thoroughly check the apartment in which the WLAN is to operate.

Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector

The application will help you solve various problems with Wi-Fi networks. It is able to monitor the parameters of all Wi-Fi networks within the range of the wireless interface, enables the detection of "malicious" access points in the vicinity, and provides functions of detailed measurement of wireless network performance.

Angry IP Scanner

Network scanning tool (not only Wi-Fi). It allows you to scan any pool of addresses including IP ports. In addition, the program can extract from the read data such information as the names of individual computers and devices available in the network. Its functionality can be extended using Java applets.

Wireshark

The world's most popular network protocol analyzer. It enables the interception of any network packet passing through the computer's network interface. The application allows an experienced user to carefully monitor any network traffic initiated by any program or service.

WiFi Analyzer (Android)

WiFi Analyzer will provide owners of Android smartphones and tablets with a complete set of information on signal strength, range, channels, interference and coverage of all wireless networks in the area. With such a tool, it is easy to keep track of the impact of relocating your home network router on improving WLAN performance.

Insider Office

A powerful diagnostic tool for wireless networks. The application provides detailed data on individual devices, displays which radio channels are used by active Wi-Fi devices, and suggests how to improve the wireless network for optimal performance.

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