The good news is: there is no particular device that can destroy your router. Therefore, if you are afraid that looking for Math Homework Help from your smartphone will cause troubles – be at ease.
Nevertheless, a careless attitude toward your home network may cause serious troubles and damage your router. In this article, we will explore the most common causes of troubles with the Internet connection, and how to avoid them.
How Multiple Connections Work
A wifi router creates a wireless connection to the internet for the devices within its reach. A router is a central piece of the home (or office) internet network. Any device with a wifi adapter can connect to a router.
A wifi router can handle connections from a high number of devices. However, the limitation comes from the bandwidth. Bandwidth is the amount of Internet traffic that your router can handle at once. An average home router can deal with 50-100 megabytes per second (Mbps). For example, regular Internet browsing requires 10 Mbps.
However, if too many devices are connected, the wifi router slows down significantly. Each device takes a part of the router’s bandwidth capability and makes its work slower. Besides, if each device does multiple tasks, it also makes the wifi router work harder.
It is easy to check if your router is overloaded. Try to open several tabs in your browser. Repeat this for each device in your home network, one at a time. If you lose connection or download crashes, then your router is overloaded.
Possible Problems
You may do web surfing, streaming and downloading something from one device, watch video on the other, and browse social networks on the third. Too many requests may cause the router’s overheat, which is a real problem.
The router may cause problems with the connection and act erratically. Devices may log off the network and would not be able to connect properly. The general speed of the internet connection would be severely limited.
Finally, there could be general logging problems even with the correct ID and passwords. A router can still manage its tasks, but its performance would be much lower than expected. Therefore, it is better to prevent the overload than to deal with the consequences.
How to Prevent Router Overload?
You need to manage tasks for the router according to its bandwidth capacity. If you are using the Internet connection solely for browsing and media consumption, then a simple reduction of the active tabs may significantly improve the router’s performance.
Your main device may work on several tasks at once. For example, the computer may process streaming or cloud calculations. In this case, you may look for a more powerful router. Increasing bandwidth capacity will ensure stable work for multiple tasks.
A home network with multiple devices may use a secondary router. If you are constantly dealing with multiple or guest devices, then separating them for two different routers may significantly decrease the overload.
Finally, you should remove all the unnecessary devices from your network. There is a possibility that someone else is using your network, which may cause an overload.
To check the presence of odd devices, follow the next steps:
- Learn your router’s IP address. It may come with the manual or be printed on the device.
- Enter the IP address in your browser. The following tab will show you the devices that connect to the network.
- If you notice odd entries, change the password of the network. A new password will turn off all the devices that don’t belong to your network.
Additional Tips
Sometimes, a router may experience troubles that are not related to the overload. Follow the provided tips to optimize the work of your router.
Routers provide wifi in a certain radius. If you place your router in a corner, you give a lot of wifi to the outside world. Try to move your device closer to the center of your apartment.
Check your computer for malware and viruses. The malware can take many forms and does not necessarily directly damage your computer. It may consume additional resources from your network and use it for illegal purposes.
Make sure to run security scans to prevent your network power leakage.
Make sure that your router is ventilated. The device has its optimal working temperature. However, the harder the task, the hotter it becomes. Make sure that the router is not clattered and has access to the ventilation to prevent overheating.
Make sure to check the task manager often. It is a common situation: you close an application on your device, and it keeps running in the background. Check the tab “Network” of your task manager to prevent unintentional overload of your router.
If you see processes that you don’t need at the moment, you may freely stop them.
Sometimes, the problem may not be in the router itself. In that case, you should try to unplug the cable from the router and connect it to different devices. If the internet connection is still troubled, then your router is not an issue.
Finally, you can check the status of your connection via resources like Speedtest. They allow you to measure the speed of the internet connection and the state of your router. If everything works perfectly, the issue is on the ISP’s side.
Final Words
Wifi routers are sturdy devices. They can withstand numerous connections, multiple tasks, and overload for a long period. At the same time, a careless attitude can break them much faster.
A wifi router thrown in a corner and cluttered with junk will surely shorten the lifespan of the device. No device can crash a route. However, spilled water, dust, high and low temperatures, and generally harsh conditions may impact the quality of the Internet connection.
Maintenance of the home network is a personal responsibility. Following the enlisted tips and monitoring the signs of interrupted work will help your router work at its maximum capacity, as long as needed.
