BENCHMARK YOUR NETWORK
There are several tools and techniques you can employ to benchmark your network performance and range. Find out how fast your internet connection is compared to what your internet provider claims by visiting www.lifewire.com/ benchmark-2626177.
If you’re benchmarking with a view to streaming video, consider 5Mbps a reasonable requirement for a single HD stream from the likes of Netflix. The demands scale up for 4K Ultra HD — 25Mbps — but for most people, you don’t need a superfast connection for one or two streams. One figure worth noting is the upload speed — this is always much lower than the download speed, but could be critical if you plan to stream video over the internet from your home network.
How can you test the strength of your Wi-Fi signal in different parts of your home? Install the free WiFi Analyzer app from the Windows Store ( bit.ly/2tnNIZ4) on your tablet or laptop, then move around your home and record the signal strength (in dBm) and equivalent speed (Mbps). See how far the range goes before it disappears, and try to test both the 5GHz channel as well as the 2.4GHz channel. If you would like to test your network’s file transfer capabilities, download and run LAN Speed Test Lite from www.totusoft.com/
lanspeed1 on your main PC, and use it to connect to a shared folder on another device on your network. Test different file sizes (say from 2MB up to 2GB), and perform at least three tests with each, before recording the average score.
Compare the results of all your tests against the type of connection you’re transferring files over — 1,000Mbps for Gigabit Ethernet, 300Mbps-plus for wireless. These are theoretical maximums — don’t worry if you’re getting half these figures, but pay attention to specific results, where it seems one device or connection is struggling in comparison to other locations on your network.