Today without a doubt, wireless connections are the ones used by most devices. The only serious competitor it has is the Ethernet network cable, with which it is easier to reach the full potential of our Internet connection. However, it has an important drawback, and that is that it ties us to being in one place. On the other hand, we generally seek that our Wi-Fi networks have the greatest coverage within our home or workplace. However, as we will see below, on some occasions we may be interested in doing it the other way around. In this article we will see if we can reduce my Wi-Fi signal, how we could do it and if it is really worth doing.
We will see that reducing the range of our Wi-Fi is possible. The first thing we are going to do is see what advantages it would bring us to reduce my Wi-Fi signal. Then we will establish various ways in which we could achieve our goal. Finally, we will determine to what extent this task is worth doing.
What can lowering my Wi-Fi signal do for me?
At first we would all think that it is a meaningless option. Who would want to reduce the range of their Wi-Fi network? Honestly, very few people may have asked this question. However, if we approach the issue in terms of security, things change .
If we think about it carefully, the coverage of our Wi-Fi network generally exceeds the limits of our home. For example, if we take our mobile and go to Settings , Wi-Fi we will see many mobile networks with good signals that we could connect to.
This means that to the 3 or 4 closest Wi-Fi networks that appear in this list, we could connect at a good speed. If we speak in terms of security, the greater the coverage of our Wi-Fi network, in more places a cybercriminal could be placed to try to access it. For that reason, it may make sense to lower my Wi-Fi signal. You may be interested in preventing them from entering your Wi-Fi through insecure WiFi repeaters.
How to reduce Wi-Fi coverage
If I want to reduce the signal of my Wi-Fi I have to look mainly at the router. One of the options that we could look at is if within its configuration it has an option that allows us to do so. To do this, in a command prompt window we execute the ipconfig command and note the default gateway. Then we write it in the browser, we put our username and password, and we go to the Wi-Fi section of the router.
In some routers, in this case of MitraStar this option called Transmit Power and by default we will see that it is selected at 100%.
The process would consist of gradually reducing that percentage and checking that it does not negatively affect our Wi-Fi. An important point is that this solution is not implemented by all manufacturers.
Another option that we could look at is disabling the 2.4 GHz band, which is the one that provides the longest range and has a lower speed. The downside is that there may be some device, especially old or home automation, that only works with that band. We would go on to work only with the 5 GHz band, which is the fastest but supports distance worse. Related to this we have why the 5 GHz Wi-Fi network does not appear in Windows.
It could also lower my Wi-Fi signal if the router has external antennas. Depending on whether we place them horizontally or vertically, the signal will be distributed in one way or another. Finally, the place where we place the router could also serve but could negatively affect. For example, putting it in a closet or drawer but it can be negative because it gets hotter.
If we have a WiFi Mesh network and we have the different nodes connected by cable, it is possible that we are interested in reducing the power of certain nodes so that there is no interference, or at least, to reduce them to the minimum possible, and have the best user experience. Professional access points also have the possibility of reducing the WiFi transmission power, in order not to interfere too much with other WiFi access points that we have installed in the same controller, therefore, reducing the transmission power is not for nothing strange.
So is it worth lowering my Wi-Fi signal?
In general terms, the answer would be no, unless the router has that option and in rare cases. As a general rule we should opt for other strategies that keep our Wi-Fi network secure instead of trying to lower my Wi-Fi signal. In that sense, we should choose to have a router and other network equipment from renowned manufacturers. Also, they should be running the latest firmware and not using outdated equipment. Lastly, we should have a strong Wi-Fi key.
If we have a WiFi Mesh system interconnected via cable, you may be interested in reducing the signal from the nodes so that they do not interfere too much with each other, we must remember that we have few channels available in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, so this possibility is very interesting if we have more than two nodes in our home, with the aim of affecting the rest of the Mesh network as little as possible. The vast majority of manufacturers of home routers have the possibility of reducing the power of the WiFi, although by default we always have it configured at 100% to provide the maximum coverage and speed possible.
