Lots of things can cause poor connectivity in dorms, including the age and shape of the building, thickness of the walls, and the distance from Wi-Fi access points or hotspots.
If your laptop or tablet can’t locate the network or the signal is really weak, you can learn how to improve connectivity in your dorm room using some simple strategies.
It’s Time to Go Wired
The simplest way to fix a lousy Wi-Fi connection is to go wired. Look around the room and find the ethernet jack. Many colleges will have installed them, possibly where old landline phone jacks used to be.
So, order yourself some ethernet cables and plug in. Ordinarily, regular unshielded cables, which are less expensive, should be fine.
But you might want to consider shielded cable if others in the dorm are using microwaves or other appliances, or if the dorm is near power lines, next to the physical plant or other buildings that house a lot of large machinery.
These machines and the networks that monitor them can create electromagnetic interference (EMI).
Measure how much cable you’ll need to get the cable across the length of or width of your room to your desk or bunk—buy several feet extra in case you decide to move stuff around.
Consider a Network Switch
You can get a network switch if you need more Ethernet ports in the dorm room. The switch turns one port into many by plugging into the ethernet port in the wall and sending the signal to several ports on the back of the switch.
Although Ethernet cables actually deliver signals faster than Wi-Fi, you can’t do anything about how much bandwidth your school supplies. Your connection may still run slowly depending on how many other people are gaming or streaming when they’re supposed to be studying. But you can decide to do just one thing at a time to reduce your own usage and possibly improve your speed.
Steer Clear of a Phone Hotspot
Think twice about setting your phone up as a wireless hotspot to try to improve connectivity in your dorm room. A phone hotspot uses data from your plan to provide internet connections to devices that select the network on the hotspot.
other valuable tips:
If your phone plan doesn’t include unlimited data, you’ll soon be getting a call from your parents about the astronomical bill you generated accompanied with questions about how you plan to get a job to pay for it. If you pay for your own plan, the pain is even more direct.
If you still have trouble with connectivity and speed, connect with campus leaders to work with your school’s IT team on ways to get better Wi-Fi in the dorms and around campus. If it’s truly a largescale problem, others will be happy to help out and vouch for your cause.
Image Credit: by Pixabay
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