10 ways to fix your office WiFi

If your team relies on the internet to get things done – who are we kidding? Of course it does.
So let’s start this again.
A solid internet connection is the lifeblood of your business. It’s the difference between making and losing sales, it’s the way you win, communicate with and retain customers.
Recent research shows that small and medium-sized businesses experience WiFi issues an average of 13 times a month, losing around 11 hours of productivity every single week.
The financial impact of that is very real. Nearly two in five (39%) business decision-makers admit they’re losing revenue because of poor WiFi, while 22% say it directly leads to lost sales or missed opportunities.
Fortunately, you don’t always need an IT degree to sort it out. Here are 10 practical ways to improve your office WiFi and get those lost hours back.

1. Give it some breathing room

Your router needs space to work properly. It wants to be seen! So don’t hide it in a cupboard, under a desk, or behind a stack of boxes. WiFi signals tend to spread out and down, so it’s important to keep your router central and raised up on a shelf or desk. Obviously, that’s usually easier said than done, but it’s worth trying your best to get as close that central location as you can.

2. Clear the ‘invisible’ obstacles

Thick brick walls obviously block WiFi, but standard office fittings can be just as bad. Metal filing cabinets and large mirrors reflect the signal. And even those sleek glass partitions can cause problems. Many modern offices use energy-efficient glass with a metallic coating that bounces WiFi signals around the room instead of letting them pass through.
You can’t just change what your office is made of, but you can use this knowledge to help you move furniture and position your router more strategically.

3. Mind the tech clutter

Electronic noise can easily disrupt your connection. If your router is sitting right next to a server rack, a mass of tangled power cables, or a pile of other heavy-duty electronics, the signal will struggle. Try to keep it a few feet away from other equipment to give your wireless signal the isolation it loves.

4. Prioritise power users

If you have a designer moving massive files or a desktop PC constantly running backups, consider whether you can plug these devices directly into the router with an Ethernet cable. Hardwiring your data-heavy devices gives them a faster, more reliable connection and frees up the airwaves for the laptops and phones that need to be mobile.

5. Pull up the drawbridge

An open or poorly secured network isn’t just a massive security risk; it can also seriously impact performance. If your password is weak, the business next door might just be enjoying some free lunchtime entertainment on you. Make sure you’re using a strong, unique password to keep the interlopers away and reserve your precious bandwidth for your team.

6. Set up a V.I.P lounge (guest WiFi)

Almost half (49%) of business decision-makers agree their business would benefit from a separate guest network. Setting up a dedicated connection for visitors is a smart move, and something you can do on most modern routers. It’ll help you with point 5 too, keeping your internal business data secure and stopping a visitor’s automatic phone updates from slowing down your card machine or main office connection (just allocate a max amount of bandwidth to the guest network to ensure that the lion’s share is retained for your people).

7. Keep it fresh

Router manufacturers regularly release software updates to improve performance and patch security flaws. While these are typically downloaded and installed automatically, it’s always worth checking your router’s companion app (or web interface) occasionally to make sure you’re running the latest firmware.

8. Clear the cobwebs

You shouldn’t need to do this every day, but if your connection’s starting to feel sluggish or a certain device is refusing to connect, the classic “turn it off and on again” is still solid advice. Powering the router down for 30 seconds clears its internal memory and often helps solve these random glitches.

9. Build a mesh for bigger or more complex spaces

It’s a remarkably common problem. In fact, 45% of businesses say their broadband connection is fast, but their day-to-day WiFi isn’t reliable. Another 49% feel poor internal coverage limits the value they get from their broadband connection.
If your office has a complex layout, thick walls, or multiple floors, a single router might not be able to reach everywhere. This is where a mesh network helps. Mesh systems use multiple small devices placed around your office to blanket the whole space with one seamless network.
If you have full fibre broadband, you can add eero for Business to your package for a powerful, easy-to-manage mesh experience. If you’re still waiting for full fibre to arrive in your area, you can still enjoy mesh WiFi from Zen with EveryRoom.

10. Know when you've outgrown your line

Sometimes the WiFi is working perfectly, but you’ve maxed out your internet connection. As your team grows and you use more cloud applications, you might simply need more capacity.
If your broadband is struggling to keep up, use our postcode checker to see if you can upgrade to Business Full Fibre (or get a speed boost if you’re already on full fibre). Or, if you need guaranteed speeds that’ll never slow down at peak times, it might be time to look at a dedicated leased line.