Why Wi-Fi sucks, and how to deal with it
Whether you're sitting comfortably on your couch at home, or less comfortably on the couch at a green mermaid themed cafe, you're probably connected to the internet using Wi-Fi. It's an extremely important technology that ushered in a connectivity revolution for mobile devices and has become ubiquitous in homes and businesses around the world in the past quarter century.
But as time has gone on, we've all noticed something about the wireless networks: they all kind of suck, don't they?
It's always important to have reliable network access, but it's especially important when leveraging media collaboration software like SyncDNA. To have good results with real-time review and remote recording, it's important to have a rock solid network connection. We can do a lot to compensate for subpar latency and jitter, but we can only do so much.
In fact, the best solution is often to just use an Ethernet cable and avoid using wireless entirely.
To understand why wireless networking can be so difficult to deal with, it all starts with the radio spectrum.
Why water makes your internet slow
Many decades ago when the radio spectrum was being divided up and assigned for various uses, some frequency bands were more valuable than others.
The most useful frequency bands were snatched up by institutions or allocated for commercial telecommunications purposes. For several decades these have powered AM and FM radio, satellite TV, mobile phones, weather radar, and more. But unlike these regulated bands, the less valuable ISM bands are available for use without any license or regulatory approval.
One of the least valuable was 2.4 GHz, the band that Wi-Fi uses. Because the Gigahertz frequency range has very high absorption by water, it was found to be extremely useful for microwave ovens which leverage this property to quickly and efficiently heat up food. However, this property also made it less useful for transmitting data over long distances like with other frequencies. So, the 2.4 GHz band was unlicensed, and allowed for any other use provided it did not exceed the more general regulations on radio transmission.
And precisely because of this exception in licensing, this band has become rather busy with general-purpose devices.
We're all yelling over each other
The frequencies that Wi-Fi operate in have gotten extremely congested over time. For the same reason that home routers can be made without special regulatory permission, so can many other devices that conflict with its functionality. Bluetooth devices, baby monitors, drones, cordless phones, garage door openers, and many other electronics are all using this same slice of the radio spectrum.
What this really means is that all these signals are competing with each other to be heard over the noise. It's a vicious cycle, each device has to shout louder and louder with higher transmit power to be heard over the abundant interference.
In practice, this causes unpredictable delays when there are multiple devices on the same radio channel, and it gets worse with more devices and traffic contention. In a congested environment such as an apartment building, office building, or dense urban environment with several dozen networks and lots of other sources of interference, things can be extremely inconsistent and unreliable. It isn't uncommon to see upwards of 200 different networks all fighting for space on the same 11 radio channels.
Just plug in
There are plenty of ways to optimize a wireless network, but the best solution is often to not use wireless at all.
A $10 Ethernet cable will outperform almost every wireless network, and a $20 adapter will make almost any laptop or tablet capable of hard-wiring in. This is by far the best solution for unreliable networks, but because that requires physical proximity to a network router or switch it's often not possible.
For homeowners and those that work from home, it's often worthwhile to hire an electrician or network installer to run some wires within the building. Depending on the age and layout of the building, it may be a fairly straightforward job, sometimes DIY'able for even those without experience.
Another option may be to use powerline adapters to send data over the electrical wiring within the building. This doesn't always work well depending on the age of the wiring, but in most cases it's a step up from a poor quality wireless connection.
Get cosy
Another great option is to simply move the device and the wireless router closer together. Most cable or fibre connections enter buildings in the basement, but that's not an ideal location for the router. Not only does relocating the device reduce the required transmit power, it can also reduce the interference on the connection.
A repeater or mesh network can also help, but can also cause even more issues with interference if there are already too many devices nearby.
Get into the weeds
If a wired connection isn't possible, there are some configurations that can help remedy the situation, depending on the device's capabilities:
- Eliminate sources of interference
- Reduce the transmit power of other devices that use the 2.4 GHz band
- Turn off devices such as wireless baby monitors when not in use
- Enable newer protocols such as 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6), 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) if supported
- Use the 5 GHz and 6 GHz band on the router, and disable 2.4 GHz if no devices require it
- Change channel width - narrower channels reduce interference, but wider channels improve throughput
- Configure the router to use a different channel - Though this can have mixed results
A cheap Ethernet cable beats an expensive router
When using real-time software like SyncDNA, it's extremely important to have a reliable and consistent network connection so that your whole team can do their best work. Poor connection quality can not only delay packet delivery, but also break immersion and harm productivity. A good connection can be a force multiplier to enable the best performances possible.
Between household appliances, mobile devices, and all the other sources of interference on the 2.4 GHz band, there's no shortage of problems. There are plenty of ways to optimize an un-cooperative Wi-Fi network, but there's only so much that can be done. The most effective network solution is often shockingly simple, in this case it's a good old CAT-6 cable.
To get the most out of your team's creativity and talent, it's worth investing the time in properly setting up the network connections for not only the producer, but also all guests and artists involved.
Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CSIRO_ScienceImage_3757_Radio_Telescopes_at_Narrabri.jpg (Stewart Duff, CSIRO)
