Does distance from the router really affect the speed of the Internet?

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This is a common question about home internet networks. We're always happy to know if there is, in fact, any relationship between distance from a router and our internet speeds. Sometimes the Wi-Fi speed becomes so slow that uploads are nowhere near as fast as promised in your subscription package. And as soon as you move from your bedroom to the living room, where the router is placed, in the hope of improving your download speed, you will notice an increase in download speed as soon as you enter the room where the router is located... Which naturally makes you wonder how distance from the router affects your internet speed!

 

Does distance from the router really affect the speed of the Internet

In fact, yes, the distance between the router and receiver can affect your internet speed. Download speeds depend on the strength of the received signal, which decreases as an inverse square of the distance in free space. On the other hand, a general rule of thumb is that if you double the distance between the router and the client (or receiver), the throughput drops by a third of its original strength. Things like metal or water also act as a signal block. So, to get a strong signal, remove any objects that might block the radio waves. But to be more precise in answering this question, it is important to understand how Wi-Fi works, and the real factors that affect the quality of the received signal.

 

Basics of Wi-Fi Signals

 

Wi-Fi networks are a set of wireless networking protocols (a set of rules that enable electronic devices to communicate with each other wirelessly without wired media) that connect devices in a local area via radio waves to the Internet. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves that lie in the frequency range from 3 kHz to 300 GHz. In contrast, Wi-Fi only uses the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.

 

This means that Wi-Fi radio waves oscillate (change the direction of polarization) 2.4 x 109 - 5 x 109 times per second while traveling at the speed of light, which is 3 x 106 km/s. In fact, there are many equations that will link the distance and the speed of the Internet, but we will not go into its complexities and we will lead you to the real reason behind your poor download the further you are from the router in your home.

 

Thus, radio waves, like all electromagnetic waves, experience a loss in signal strength with the distance traveled. This is called attenuation, the loss of signal strength. It is the most important factor in determining the range of a Wi-Fi router. Both indoor and outdoor environments cause signal attenuation due to a combination of factors such as scattering, reflection, interference, and path loss.

 

1- Dispersion of signals

 

The wavelength of 2.4 GHz is 12.5 cm, while the wavelength of 5 GHz is 6 cm. Thus, similar-sized objects with irregular surfaces, such as doors, cabinets, walls, etc., will scatter Wi-Fi signals, resulting in a weaker signal reaching the receiver. It also results in a wave energy drop, whereby some of the energy is lost to the obstructed particles during the collision, then converted into heat and eventually dissipated.

 

2- Reflection of signals

 

Reflection of radio waves by metallic surfaces causes a change in the direction of propagation, as well as a phase shift ("phase" roughly describes the time it takes for a wave to travel one wavelength). When two waves of different phases overlap, a redistribution of energy occurs, such that there are regions of very low energy density and regions of very high energy density. This is called interference; Which changes the original signal, which means the receiving antenna can't pick it up. This is another reason that explains the weakness of the Internet that we notice!

 

3- Loss of track for the signal

 

Path loss refers to the attenuation of a radio signal due to the distance between the source and receiver. There are many path loss models that simulate the general environment of Wi-Fi operation. The simplest model is one in which there is one transmitter and one receiver spaced apart in free space (generally air). There are no physical obstructions causing any reflection or scattering.

 

Depending on some factor, the power at the receiver decreases as an inverse square of the distance, i.e. doubling the distance times the power loss four times. Can you imagine! This goes to show that being away from a Wi-Fi router is not very conducive to downloading files, as the signal strength (measured in power) drops a lot. But if we are in an ideal environment free of physical obstacles, what if we return to reality and study the environment of our homes? We will notice that there are two types of path loss,they:


First, the internal path loss of the signal: the indoor model simulates environments such as a bedroom, where the path loss depends only on the distance between the source and the receiver, and general obstructions such as doors, corners, windows, etc.

Second, signal path loss: wave path loss in outdoor environments is approximated by the same formula as used in indoor environments by including the attenuation due to walls. This simulates environments such as public Wi-Fi sites in parks, plazas, etc.

 

Thus, it is evident that the Wi-Fi signal strength decreases exponentially compared to the distance traveled. Where distance affects download speeds and upload speeds to a degree that we could not imagine before! So get really close to your router, if you can't stand any Internet lag! In fact, WiFi networks can defy the laws of physics themselves, so be prepared for any slowdowns in your network.

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