3 Signs You Might Need a Home Network Upgrade

And Why You Should Consider a Professional Network Installation

Home networking is practically a utility as necessary as running water and electricity. A connection to the internet is required for many daily activities. Whether you’re checking your work email, scrolling through your Facebook feed, watching a show on Netflix, or the kids are doing their school homework, all those things require reliable connectivity to work. What happens when you can't access the internet? Everyone gets quickly frustrated.

Sometimes it’s not difficult to fix a problem. Restarting an app, reloading a web page, or the occasional rebooting of your router and modem can fix the random network glitch. But sometimes these problems are less random and happen more consistently. When they do, it may be a sign that your home network is the problem.

Let’s explore three signs that indicate that your network is not measuring up to the task, and how a professional home network installation might be the answer for your Highland Park, IL home.

SEE ALSO: How Networking Is the Backbone of Your Control4 System

1. Weak Wireless Signals

Are there absent networking spots in your house? Your device might connect, but as you move around, does the signal drop or disappear altogether? Often the problem is that the router is located in a suboptimal location for wireless performance because of where the central wiring connections live. Many homes built in the past 15 years are prewired for networking, and having wired network connections in various rooms is a good thing. Sometimes the central wiring location may be at a lower level or in the master closet on one end of the house, and a lone router doing all the wireless work may not be enough. If you don’t want to rewire the network and change the router location, you may need strategically located wireless access points to expand the wireless signal range, or a mesh network system that daisy-chains wireless access across your property.

2. Random Slow Connections

Slow internet connections tend to manifest themselves in ways that make it difficult to know what's going on. Maybe it's a video that is buffering slowly, yet your phone is working normally. Perhaps it's the photos that refuse to download completely. Is it the application, the device, or the network? Does the tried-and-true method of powering down the problematic device and restarting it solve the slow connection? It might, but that may mask a problem with the network itself related to its capacity or performance when it’s heavily taxed.  

3. 4K Streams That Look Like Standard Definition

In the past year, you upgraded all your old TVs to smart new 4K models to take advantage of the latest streaming content from services like Netflix and Amazon Video. Unfortunately, when two or three members of the family decide to watch that fantastic new content in its best quality, what is supposed to be high-resolution resembles more like standard definition TV from the '90s. And when you do get it looking right, your show often pauses to buffer the next few minutes. 4K video requires 3-4 times the bandwidth of regular high-definition (1080P) content, and some of the new audio formats are also more data-dense as well. 4K video streaming can strain your network more than ever before. The solution for keeping your family happy? Higher performance routers, wired connections, the right wireless access points, and more can all play a role.

If you want to spend less time debugging your network and more time enjoying your connected life, give Avidia a call. We will assess your home network’s performance, discover the trouble spots, and professionally install the networking solution your property needs. Reach out at (847) 868-9200 or contact us online; we’re eager to help.