You’ve seen those commercials on TV where everyone in the family wants to use the Internet signal at the same time?

Dad is finishing up some office work, mom is checking her emails, their daughter is texting her boyfriend, and their son is playing video games. Or, more likely, everyone is trying to use the internet at the same time, with mixed results. This is often the issue for businesses as well, especially those in office complexes. Their lease may provide WiFi service, however at peak usage periods, with every business in the building accessing the internet at the same time, how effective can it be? Can a wireless router be overloaded?

The two major components of any wireless system are its router and modem. These work together to disperse the network’s internet signal to every user. If more users than the system can accommodate attempt to access it at the same time, the wireless and wired network routers can become overloaded. Here are some simple tests that may be performed to determine if a slow internet is a single event or a sign that it is time to upgrade to a router that can handle increased bandwidth. Enlist your staffers for a quick test. Turn on every device that uses the internet at the same time, and check load times for an internet search. This will help determine the router’s overall capacity. A slow and sluggish load time response most likely indicates router overload.

If your router passes the ‘everybody into the boat’ test for a general search, try live streaming next. If you encounter choppy images and long buffering times, you guessed it, your wireless router is overloaded. Just in case both of these tests proved inconclusive, the issue could be caused at a different time of day.

Try keeping a log of internet outages, slow load times, and chopping streaming experiences for a week or two. You may begin to notice a pattern in your router’s signal, that it is weaker at certain times of the day, for example. Most often these tests and outage logs indicate the need for an upgraded wireless router. To ensure that your business does not encounter these difficulties for the foreseeable future, speak to our knowledgeable staff at GNS Wireless.

We’re here to assist you to purchase just the right equipment for your business. Give us a call today at (877) 209-5152.