Signal interference can shorten your WiFi range, cause slow performance and other WiFi problems. The first step is to measure the level of noise on that channel. Slow WiFi and other problems may be eliminated by changing the channel of the broadcast. Doing so may increase your WiFi range, improve connectivity, and load web pages more quickly.

Your WiFi range depends heavily on the type of antenna you are using. Omnidirectional antennas radiate a full 360 degree radius. Directional antennas radiate that same amount of energy into a more focused direction. With two directional WiFi antennas (and a straight line-of-sight between them) your outdoor WiFi range can span several km/miles.

WiFi range can be affected by a number of things. WiFi frequency, channel width, signal noise and interference all play an important role. Thankfully, Tomato firmware makes it easy to measure the signal noise of your WiFi channel. In many cases, that’s all you need to do. In other cases, you may need to use WiFi software to uncover the culprit.