Wifi and tears

So, you basically daily use wifi. BUT… What do you really know about it? what really should you do with it? is 2.4Ghz better than 5Ghz, or other way around? Why it might be slow? Which device should you use? And other questions. Well, I’ll try to answer most of these questions.

So, Wifi is one of the most used technoligies nowadays. Like- basically everybody has used it, but a lot of people just “set it and forget it”. And I really don’t like this attitude about people. You should at least keep some things in mind, like, if you ever will be using it, and if all your devices will be able to connect to it.

So, first thing first- 2.4 Ghz vs 5Ghz.

Lets start with the 2.4 Ghz which has been around for about… 23 years. and, I think you have heard and used most of these standards- 802.11 b/g/n (okay, n standard can also be in 5Ghz, but it mostly was used as 2.4). This means, that most of the old or low power devices will be able to use this wifi. Even if 5Ghz is going mainstream, not all devices still use it (some older phones, older than 2-3 years don’t use them). Also, fun fact- Rpi Zero W 2 doesn’t use 5Ghz, but 2.4Ghz only. The biggest plus about the 2.4Ghz, is that it can “go trough dense materials” better than 5Ghz networks. Basically, if you want to know more about this, read this (it’s a bit more haredr to understand, but basically less hertz, more distance and other way around- more hertz, less distance. That’s a good reason, why 5G (talking about the mobile network) really bad in some houses). Maximum speed for this network is from 150mbps (~18.75 mb/s) for all devices. Aaand the range- about 36m indoors. Fun fact about android- If you got a dualband wifi (basically a device which has 2.4 Ghz and 5Ghz) and you got it named the same way, it will by default connect to the 2.4 Ghz, not the 5Ghz. That’s why it’s recommended to split the 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz seperatly.

aaand 5Ghz. It has basically just same things as 2.4Ghz, but it works in 2 times lower range (~16m for good range), but it has bigger network speeds. (162mb/s max for 802.11 ac and 437 mb/s for the newer 802.11 ax standard.).

Additionally, if you want the wifi to go farther, like I said previously, use 2.4ghz. But still, there comes physics in play- Attenuation. (Attenuation coeficients and so on. for more information,). Basically, we all been there, that you don’t have wifi in one room of the house, because the floor/walls are too thick, or made from some material. Basically it’s that. To be fair, to find accurate information about this is really pain in the ass, but basically, look by the “attenuation wifi” keyword and perhaps you will run into something (like this )

Now… There might be moments when your internet might be slow. So, what could be the reason? Well, like in life, it depends. But, in my mind there are some things what could interfere:

1. Your wifi is located too far and it has a lot of stuff interfeering (like walls. like i said previously- attenuation). Basically, you can fix this by getting another wifi in that room (for example, using powerline extenders (if you don’t care about speed and the room is in the same power phase.), using mesh networking , using stronger antenna, or, use wifi extender .
2. Your wifi might be on a filled channel, where a lot of devices are using the same frequencies. for example, this is a list of 2.4ghz channels

and there might be a problem, that a lot of people will be on 1,6 or 11 channel. Basically, you should then scan your local wifi network, see which channels are taken more, and use the least used one.

3. You might be using a channel, which overlaps with a different channel, somebody is using. for example- you’re using channel 3 (for some unknown reasons), and everybody else is using 1 or 6 channel. Basically, looking at the image i previously added, you can see that channels overlap a lot. this would mean your wifi would be degraded. Fastest way to fix it would be go back in the range which everybody uses and doesn’t overlap.
4. You might be using a wrong “port” or your device doesn’t allow to take in that much of speed. For example, some of the devices have “fast ethernet” port, which basically has 100mbit max speed, instead of Gigabit ethernet, which can do 1000mbits. How can you tell if you’re using the correct port? check the LEDs. This image might give you idea what to look. But mostly, if it’s amber, you’re using the correct port.

5. Well- configuration. You might added a lot of filtering stuff on it and that’s one of the reasons why it’s slow.

There are many more reeasons, but these are one of the main things what comes in my mind when your wifi is slow.

Also, remember that 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz wifis work in different ranges, so, basically- they won’t interfere each other.

So… We just talked about the physical things about the Wifis, now lets get more technical. Lets talk about configuring them.

How to configure your wifi router to make it more secure.

First off- FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, CHANGE YOUR DEFAULT ADMIN PASSWORD AUTOMATICALLY WHEN YOU GET THE DEVICE. No, really- i need to cap it and bold it, because even if you think that you’re not an interesting person and nobody will hack you… Then remember- people like me exist, who will do that for shit and giggles. and remember, that this exists. also, there are materials on the internet, to understand which IP is used for these devices.

Second, change your SSID for the device. Why? Basically, it reduces the risk that the hackers might find what kind of device you’re using. Currently, i have seen a lot of people that aren’t tech savy, that put the wifi name as default ones. Or even worse, put their flat/location number, name/surname as the SSID. it’s even worse to do that, because you can easly identify who uses this network. It would be better to use a wifi name that.

Third, check if you have enabled 2.4ghz and 5ghz, and it’s named differently, if you want to use both of them.

Fourth- check, if you got only WPA2, and remove that you can use. If your router doesn’t allow that, then, at least use WPA. and if doesn’t have that too- change your device because it’s not safe anymore. fun fact- Any device manufactured after 2006 with a “Wi-Fi” logo must support WPA2 encryption. Also, use WPA2-PSK(AES), because it’s safer than TKIP. Also, use a password generator instead of some random password, which could be in rockyou word list.

Fifth- disable Wi-fi protected setup (WPS). Its so insecure, that you can hack this in mere minutes (look up pixie dust attack).

Sixt- if you really are a beginner- turn of remote control. You rarely gonna use that and it makes it safer that noone outside your wifi will be able to connect to your wifi device. Anyway, even if you’re an advanced user, you will rarely use it. Like, really rarely. I have never connected to my device remotly in last 10 years.

Seventh- if you can, create a virtual access point (AP). It’s because you wouldn’t want to give your private network access to some random people, who just come to your house once. If he got your password to your network, well… He will always have an access to your network.

Eight- well, this is more like an advice, but- when you’re out of house, turn off your wifi. Because everything is connected to the internet at your home, and, well, would suck if somebody would have access to everything, while you’re gone. Just food for thought.

Nine- just remembered. Change your IP range (i mean, 192.168.0.0/24 to something else, like 192.168.69.0/24) from default range, so that it would be hard to guess what your device is.

Ten- check your firmware version. if it’s possible, update it. There might be some security patches, that could make your device safer. Just in case, check it once a month.

Eleven- optional. If you can, add MAC filtering. This means you got a whitelist (basically a list which can use your network), and nobody else can connect to it. This is really when you want to make your network secure. Still- some dedicated hackers can spoof your device addresses, but still- it will be harder to do that, if you got a whitelist.

Recommendations when buying a wifi

Sooo… yeah. that’s the basics what i would love people to do, if they want to make their networks secure. My advice, when buying a wifi-

1. get a wifi, that supports 2.4 Ghz and 5Ghz
2. Search a wifi that isn’t frequently talked about its security flaws (Watching at you d-link/tp-link)
3. It allows to add virtual AP.
4. They got more than 1 anthenna on it (okay, this is more what i would love)
5. If you got IoT (Internet of things, like smart kettles, anything else what isn’t a phone or pc), it would be great that you would be able to create and manage virtual LANS (VLANs) it’s not a requirement, but would be a nice to have.

There are a lot of other things to talk about, but this post already is getting too long. So, for starters lets stay here.