3 hidden router settings you need to change for flawless 4K streaming ‣ Diverse Daily

While some of you reading this may work in IT, I’m betting the majority of you don’t. You may not be familiar with terms like “Band Steering” or DNS protocols, but you don’t have to be. I have a short guide on home networking for regular folks that will walk you through ways to increase the quality of your internet connections, essentially upgrading your WiFi for free.

While it doesn’t matter which router or mesh network you have, I’ll be working from my latest review product: Netgear’s Orbi 770. Again, these tips generally apply to whatever you have in your home, though less expensive routers may not have a feature or two described here. Let’s get into it!

How’s the quality of your service?

Prioritize what matters most

netgear-orbia-770-node-router-beauty-shot

In this context, QoS means “Quality of Service.” I’m not going to get too deep in the weeds with technical terms, but simply put, the QoS feature on any router that has it, allows you to set up what are essentially filters that allow you to prioritize services like video calls on your network over your children’s gaming. QoS also allows you to control how your available internet speed is shared among your devices.

Usually found in an “Advanced Settings” menu, it can be labeled QoS, Traffic Control, or Bandwidth Control. Some routers even have what they call Adaptive QoS, which lets you stack a list of category preferences that prioritize your traffic from the top of the list down to the bottom, as you can see in the Asus router configuration menu above.

If you have a full house and you work from home, or you just want to make sure you never have any lag when streaming movies while your young ones are gaming or FaceTiming friends, enable QoS, then set up the service and device priorities so that they favor the use of the ones who pay the bills in the house. You’re welcome, Mom and Dad!

The greatest band ever to split up!

We’re talking WiFi bands here

Band steering is a router feature that is the bane of my existence. Again, keeping it simple: On a dual-band or tri-band router like the Orbi 770 I just reviewed, when band steering is enabled, your router presents only one WiFi network name, or SSID. The Orbi 770 chooses which band (2.4GHz, 5GHz, or 6GHz) your devices should connect to based on the capabilities of that device, network congestion and other factors.

Now, you might think this speeds up your devices, but it can also cause problems for some. For example, I’ve owned WiFi-enabled printers that I had trouble printing to because my router had determined that the best connection for my laptop was the 5GHz band, and the 2.4GHz band for my printer. Well, when my laptop attempted to connect wirelessly to the printer, it couldn’t and initially I didn’t know why. That’s when I started connecting my networked printers directly to the router via Ethernet. Band steering can also steer a 4K smart TV the wrong way, placing it on the slower band as well. While the feature has improved over the years, I still say it’s best to control your own network and separate your bands.

Remember that Orbi 770 I reviewed? As pricey as it is, it doesn’t let you separate your bands. I use the WiFi network name “iseeyou” as my base, then append the band number to the end, like “iseeyou5G” or “iseeyou2G.” This ensures you know which devices are on which bands, so if issues come up, it’s easier to address them. You can also put that 4k Nvidia Shield TV on your faster 5GHz band for a more bulletproof streaming experience.

Bottom line: if your router or mesh network lets you disable band steering, do it!

If you don’t like it, change the channel

WiFi channels are different than “bands”

The admin panel for the Netgear Orbi 770 mesh network, showing the channel assignment menu

We’ve talked about bands and band steering, but your neighbors can also affect your network speeds and traffic by using the same channel as you. They don’t do this intentionally, though. Most people don’t change the default settings on their routers, and by default your router selects your band’s channels automatically. Your bands, 2.4GHz for example, have channels. Log into your router’s admin settings to see the channels you can choose for each band. Pick a less-used channel, or an empty one, and you’ll see your connection quality improve.

This one’s a bit more complicated, though it’s still pretty simple. On Android or Windows, look for and download a free app called WiFi Analyzer. On Mac, check out the $20 WiFi Explorer: Scanner desktop app. After downloading an app, launch it, see which channels everyone around you is using, then switch your WiFi bands to the uncongested channels of your choosing.

I’m going to give you one last pro tip before we conclude this info session! Restart your darn routers regularly. I’d do so at the beginning of each week if you’re a work-from-home employee or a student. Routers and mesh networks have processors, and like any computer, they need to be restarted from time to time; otherwise, they tend to act up. To avoid your router acting up at the worst time, make a habit of routinely restarting it. Some routers even have a setting to schedule automatic reboots! Just be sure to schedule those when people are least likely to be using the router.