Speaking of wifi, I wrote this for our school and neighborhood lists. I'd like to hear what y'all think of it. I tried to keep it very general so moderately tech savvy people can apply it to their own circumstances. Any suggestions or corrections would be welcome!

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We all want good wifi these days. Here are some very general thoughts that might help if your Zoom glitches (or if your kids and your neighbor's kids are streaming on two or three devices at the same time like mine).

Wifi runs on two frequencies, 2.4 GHz (channels 1-11) and 5 GHz (channels 36 and above – not to be confused with 5G cellular). Wifi on 5 GHz plays nicely with others. Any traffic - and especially any streaming video or zoom - you can move to the 5 GHz range helps overall performance. A 5 GHz signal fades fairly quickly, though, to the point that it often won't send a usable signal from one end of a home to the other. On the other hand, 2.4 GHz signals push much farther through walls and furniture than 5 GHz - which is useful - but 2.4 GHz also pushes into neighbors' homes, competing for very limited 2.4 GHz bandwidth.

Due to spec limits, 2.4 GHz should be using channels 1, 6, or 11 only. Don't "channel bond" (where it shows "1+5" or some such) in this range for theoretical extra speed; it's not effective when other wifi routers or access points are nearby. (For convenience, I'll refer to routers and access points as just "APs".) Double check your wifi settings to be sure any 2.4 GHz self-selected channels are just 1,6, or 11 and not bonded. 5 GHz has many more channels, and channel bonding is fine and gives a nice speed boost. The closer together the homes (especially townhouse communities and condos/apartments), the more important for everyone to keep 2.4 GHz to just 1, 6, and 11, and to use 5 GHz whenever you can.

If your 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz wifi signals have the same network name/SSID (the current default from Verizon, not sure about Comcast), the computer/device that can use either range will choose the frequency on its own. You can change settings in your AP to give the 5 GHz range a separate name, so you can choose which frequency to use depending on your particular circumstances. Some computers can be set to prefer 5 GHz over 2.4 GHz, an option usually buried away in the network adapter’s advanced settings.

Within your home, you can do a few things to improve performance. Run network cable wherever practical - those things that stay put such as desktops, printers, TVs (and their video streaming devices), and your APs themselves. Some APs have directional antennas, with a stronger signal going in a particular direction or plane. Wifi operates line-of-sight, and everything the signal passes through lessens it - some things more than others. Position APs accounting for the antenna and the existing building - walls, appliances, furniture, mirrors, chimneys, etc. Place APs high in a room when you can. Similarly, if you sit between your device and the AP, you will reduce the signal getting to your device. Finally, adding another AP or using a mesh system almost always helps your coverage, but also crowds the airwaves. Each home has different needs and solutions.

Ideally, wifi is set up in a way that meets our own needs and doesn't make things worse for our neighbors. A nice, free tool to see what channel you’re using as well as all the wifi signals near you, including channels and their utilization, is inSSIDer for Windows. There's also a Mac version in beta that I haven’t tried.