How To Boost Your Wi-Fi Signal

Today, almost all your devices rely on Wi-Fi, and a strong connection is vital. If your wireless network isn’t performing to your expectations, there are a few ways you can improve the signal before ordering a new modem or router.

Here are a few tips to help boost your signal and get a faster wireless connection.

Placement

PlacementThe placement of your router is crucial! The more walls or floors the signal travels through, the weaker the signal will be. You’ll want to avoid placing your modem close to metal objects and appliances that emit electromagnetic waves, such as microwaves. If you’re looking for the fastest and most reliable signal, elevate your router, place it towards the centre of the house, not too close to walls or appliances.

Switch Channels

Wireless routers can operate on several different channels. Like lanes on a highway, there are multiple Wi-Fi channels on which a router can broadcast. Other people in your apartment building, neighbourhood, etc., might be using the same channel as you. The more people on a channel, the more interference there will be. The solution is simple: switch the channel your router is on.

Devices Connected

Connected DevicesStreaming videos, playing games, and browsing online at the same time can take up a lot of bandwidth! This can affect your internet speed and Wi-Fi connection. If you have multiple devices connected over Wi-Fi, it might interfere with your connection. Consider connecting devices such as gaming systems, smart TVs or streaming devices with an ethernet cable.  If you have lots of guests, try creating a separate guest network for them.

Switch to 5GHz

Wi-Fi networks use radio signals in either the 2.4GHz or 5GHz frequency bands. The 5GHz wireless frequency provides faster rates over a shorter distance. 2.4GHz on the other hand, is capable of broadcasting over longer distances. If your device is far away from your modem, it may be better to use the 2.4Ghz frequency. If your modem or router supports it, and your device is nearby the modem or router, consider switching to 5GHz to take advantage of those faster speeds.

Wi-Fi Extender

Routers usually have a certain distance that they will send a signal to reliably. The farther away you are from the router, the weaker and slower the signal will be. To help improve the distance your Wi-Fi reaches, you can purchase a wireless booster or extender. These devices will pick up your existing router and re-broadcast it.

If you are willing to spend a little more, you can also invest in a mesh network. A mesh network is a network of interlocking routers called points, or nodes. These points work with one another to supply internet coverage over a broad area. A mesh network router will usually provide superior coverage and signal strength. To learn more about mesh networks, watch the video below.

Reboot

“If it doesn’t work, try switching it on and off.” This applies to Wi-Fi routers as well. Simply reboot your router to improve Wi-Fi speeds. A reboot will reconfigure the router allowing it to update.

At Worldline, we offer a Wi-Fi modem with a built-in router. Lagging Wi-Fi signals are frustrating, but these signal boosting tips can help alleviate some of those frustrations, giving you the best possible Wi-Fi signal. Visit our website to learn more about our High-Speed Internet options.

What does the Worldline “Wall garden” mean to you?

The answer? Nothing… if you are like 99.9999% of our Worldline Internet customers that is. But on very rare occasions, there are a select few who get the dreaded “wall garden.” So – what is it exactly?

It’s this:

Wallgarden

The Wall garden is what appears on our customers browsers when they are so severely past due on their account, we’re about to cancel their service.

Worldline, as the best priced ISP in Canada, depend on our customers keeping up with their payments to ensure that we can keep our prices as low as possible. We run a lean ship and that’s what allows us to charge so little for our data and voice services and the last thing we want to do is to hire a team of collection people to spend all day on the phone trying to get in touch with folks who are way behind on their payments. 

Instead, for those who are overly maturing their bills, we reach out to them via e-mail. The first one is a friendly reminder that goes out at 11 days past their payment due. If we receive no payment, they get another message 36 days past due. Then on the day 43, we give our customers a notice of suspension. They have two days to pay us or… it’s wall garden time – our measure of last resort.

We hate to do it, but on supremely rare occasions, it’s the only way to let our customers know that they are in serious trouble of losing their service.

Wall gardens have become a more prevalent tool with ISP’s these days. One of the big three (who shall remain nameless – but their name does start win an “R”) use them to let their customers know they’ve exceeded their data caps. (We don’t do that of course, because we have no data caps.) They also send them out to customers who are choosing to leave them in a last gasp effort to make them stay by giving them special offers etc. We don’t do that either because, well, it’s kinda creepy really.

For us, it’s a way to inexpensively and automatically remind our customers that their account is in serious jeopardy and they should act as soon as possible, and, it’s working.

We know that sometimes in everyone’s lives, stuff happens that is beyond their control and they fall behind. We understand that. However, we need to ensure and maintain a regular payment schedule for us to continue to be the best deal in telecom in Canada. 

 

A Worldline Customer Case Study: The Teenage Son

Rick Aiton runs a new business in Southern Ontario called Wild Thyme Catering. An award winning chef, Rick has a young family and grew weary of restaurant hours so he started taking his cooking to people directly. As start-ups usually do, things started off slow, but with talent, time and effort Rick has grown it into a success to the point where he’s starting another venture called justsandwiches.

Like every small business guy, Rick is always concerned about overhead costs, insisting on four things: quality, reliability, service and reasonable price.

Downtime costs him, and unexpected added expenses drive him crazy.

That’s where his son Max comes in. Max is basically your regular teenage kid. Immersed in the  Internet, he’s studying IT security at college while still living at home.

Which means Max is downloading.

A lot.

For the past few months, due to his Internet service provider changing its downloading policy Rick was being charged on download overages to the tune of $200/month.

To say the least, Rick was not pleased.

He complained, but his provider refused to do anything about it, so Rick went shopping and found Worldline. Using the Online Service Ability Check, he discovered that his house qualified for Unlimited High Speed Internet DSL 15Mbps, for $39.95/month, which was $20/month less expensive and more importantly for Rick’s sanity, (and Max’s life), there was no data limit cap.

RickAiton

Changing providers to Worldline saved Rick $2544/year, or rather, saved Max that much because Rick’s not stupid.

He was making the kid pay the overages.

This is just another example of a Canadian not taking it anymore. He realized he was being stiffed, and instead of simply taking it, he took action.

Welcome to Worldline Rick. Oh and Max? Regarding your downloading?

Knock yourself out.

Official Press Release: Ultra High Speed 50Mbps DSL Internet

WorldlineLogo.jpg

Worldline Introduces Unlimited Ultra High Speed 50Mbps DSL Internet
Canada’s best deal in data just got better with this ultra high speed – ultra high value offer

CAMBRIDGE, ONTARIO–(03/25/13)- Worldline, one of the country’s leading providers of data and voice services, announced today the availability of Unlimited High Speed DSL 50, with download speeds up to 50Mbps and uploads speeds up to 10 Mbps, all with no download cap, for only $59.95/month.

Doubling their previous highest speed offering, the High Speed DSL 50 allows Worldine customers to fully enjoy the benefits that ultra high speed broadband internet provides, and at the lowest price point in the country.

“We hear from our customers almost daily that they need more and more bandwidth to satisfy their increasing needs. Families are simultaneously connecting to the Internet through their smartphones, tablets and laptops, uploading photos, downloading media files, watching movies and holding video chats,” says John Stix, co-founder and CMO of Worldline. “For this new environment Worldline has committed itself to providing our customers with the best, fastest and most reliable online experience possible, all while charging them less than any of our competitors.”

CTO Francisco Dominguez says, “Fibernetics sees this increased consumer usage only escalating. We’re not afraid of it like other ISPs. In fact we are embracing it. We do this by producing value. Not by increasing cost.”

Available in many major markets in Ontario and Quebec on Monday, March 25th, those interested can check if they qualify by visiting Worldline.ca Service Check.

About Worldline:
Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2013, Worldline provides affordable home phone, unlimited high speed internet and long distance services to hard working Canadians. With over 300,000 subscribers, Worldline is one of the fastest growing telecommunications companies in Canada.  Worldline is wholly owned and operated by Fibernetics Corp, a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC).  Website: worldline.ca Twitter: @worldlinecanada

About Fibernetics:
Headquartered in Cambridge Ontario, Fibernetics is dedicated to changing the way people communicate by offering telco functionality and pricing that Canadians have never seen before. Fibernetics has its own national infrastructure that delivers a full range of voice and data services for residential customers through Worldline and business clients with their Newt PBX and ANA solutions. Website: fibernetics.ca Twitter: @fibernetics

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Media Inquires:
John Stix – CMO
Worldline
519-489-6700
jstix@corp.fibernetics.ca

If we had a slogan, what would it be?

You know those cute little catchphrases that, when you hear them, you instantly associate it with a company or a brand? The motto. The jingle. The mantra.

How many of these ring a bell?

      • I’m lovin’ it.
      • Zoom Zoom
      • Just Do It
      • Eat fresh
      • Because I’m Worth It
      • There is No Substitute
      • You Can Do it. We can help.

McDonalds, Mazda, Nike, Subway, L’Oreal, Porshe and Home Depot are all these huge  international behemoths, and we’re not one of those (yet), but if we’re going to get there one day, one of the first things we need is a guldurned catchphrase!

We’ve been tossing them around for a while now focusing on our “us, not them” sensibility. As in, we’re a small(ish) company that can cater to the needs of our customers on a personal level because to us, they are people, not just some number on a balance sheet somewhere.

Fibernetics Shinny Rink

The Worldline pond. Hockey anyone?

Or we thought we could go with our overarching Canadian-ness, and play that up huge. But, as Canadian as we are, (what other company do you know that has a shinny rink right beside there head office?), so is our competition.

Sure, Rogers may he floating $1-billion bond issues to US investors, or Bell Canada has a substantial U.S. ownership, and we are 100% Canadian owned, but they are still Canadian, at least technically.

No, we have to go with something else; something that says what we do, who we are, and how we’re different.

First off, we’re a phone company and an Internet Service Provider. That said, the future is pointing less and less towards the phone part, and more and more towards the Internet. The future will be all about data, so that has to be central to the messaging.

Then there is the core philosophy of the co-founders of “Positive Disruption”. As we’ve been saying since we started blabbing about ourselves, Canadians are being overcharged for their data, and therefore the company, whenever possible, would price products in such a way as to snap the competition out of their gouging ways – see March Madness for example.

Then there is their focus on the “free”, the business model that got them to where they are now. The idea that, whenever it’s possible, provide our people something in their service that they would pay for elsewhere as a “thank you.” Thanks for sticking with us.

Boiled down, it comes down to this. What makes us different when it comes to providing home phone and data in the residential world is, we don’t charge for long distance on our Digital Home Phone or have a limit on monthly downloads with our High Speed Internet, as in no caps. We don’t force our customers into sticking with us by a gimmicky contract that could end up costing them huge in the end, so no contracts. And finally, we’re deadly serious about becoming a major player in the Canadian marketplace utilizing these core business philosophies and practices. We’re not kidding.

So there is it:

No caps – No contracts – No kidding

That’s Worldline.

Now, all we have to do is get the bosses to agree with it and then we’ve really got something!

If you have any ideas – post them in the comments.