Has your desk become a buzzing hive of wireless dongles, devices and accessories? If you're experiencing poor Wi-Fi, before you file yet another support ticket with your broadband provider, consider this: your peripherals might be to blame. Most wireless devices use the 2.4GHz frequency, a free for all radio space designated in the mid-80's which microwave ovens also use. Because it's cheaper and easier for manufacturers to build devices that use this frequency, it has become a crowded house.
Another dimension to wireless contention is USB 3.0. High-speed data on USB 3.0 creates electromagnetic radiation spanning 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz, which also interferes with wireless networks in those bands. One solution can be to use USB Extension Cables to move USB dongles further from ports, which can reduce overall noise. That, along with bad router placement and overlapping Wi-Fi channels, makes for a poor network experience.
What can you do about it? You have to prioritize. Which of those connected dongles and devices can you live without most of the time? Can any of your basic peripherals connect using USB 2.0? Is it possible to move any of them further apart from one another? Should you really have your cordless phone and microwave oven placed right beside your router? (The answer to that is no, by the way).
One more task before diving into router settings is to reboot your router. This clears its cache, forcing it to choose the least noisy channel to use, giving your network breathing room in a hopefully less overpopulated space.
Source: Engadget · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing