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If you live in an apartment, you will notice that your WiFi rarely delivers the theoretical speed your service provider claims. Regardless of how much you complain to your service provider about this, the key to turning your data pipes on full blast is in your hands. Spoiler Alert: Your crappy WiFi is your neighbours’ fault.
In high-density housing, for example, in a city like Mumbai, there are several WiFi routers in a small, densely packed area, all competing to broadcast bandwidth, only to block each other. This is mainly because most routers use the default setup. WiFi has channels and frequencies they operate on, and with the default setup, channels and frequencies often overlap each other. This makes certain channels more crowded than others. Giving you terrible wireless performance. There are other factors as well, but just changing the channel and frequency has a very positive impact on your overall wireless speeds.
WiFi status before using our hack
First Step
The first step is to learn how to connect to your home router. For that, you need the IP address. The default server address is usually 192.168.1.1. So, go to your browser and type the default base IP. It should take you to an admin login screen. If you do not arrive at this screen, go to a computer that is connected to your router. If it’s Windows, then open Command Prompt and type ipconfig. This should show you your IP, which you will take and then paste into your browser, replace the last set of numbers with 1, and enter. For example, if my ipconfig shows my IP address as 192.135.0.123, then my router’s address would most likely be 192.135.0.1. You should arrive at the Admin login. If you know it, enter the login password; if you don’t, contact the person who set up your router. If you had someone else set the router, it is a good practice to change the password to prevent misuse.
Analyse your WIFI
The next step is to analyse the WiFi networks in your area. For this, you will download WiFi Analyser from the Play Store. This program is only available for Android, so you might want to get a friend to help you if you don’t have access to an Android phone. Connect that phone to your WiFi and run the program. Take screenshots of every section of the application. This is important because we are going to simplify the analysis with AI. Paste all of these images into ChatGPT, Claude, or whatever LLM you prefer, and ask it to analyse your WiFi signal and ask how you can improve it. ChatGPT will spout some tips; however, you still need to enter this into your router’s administration page for targeted step-by-step advice.
If you don’t want to use an LLM, just look at the graphs you want your router in a range and channel that is far away from anything else in the area.
WiFi status after using our hack
Making the changes
Each router has a different interface to deal with all the settings. So, you will want to take a screenshot of one important page: the Wireless page. Make sure all sections are visible; if any are hidden, make them visible. In this screen grab, you will again enter your LLM of choice and ask it to help you implement the setting. This will trigger a step-by-step guide to changing the settings in your router’s software.
Confirming the changes
Once you have made the changes and reset your router. Wait for it to reboot, then start up the WiFi Analyser application again. Get all the screenshots and feed them back into the LLM. This will tell you whether you are on the right path or if changes are needed to improve your internet. Repeat till you are satisfied.
Other tips
Before you go full network engineer, here are some simple tips that actually work. Start by moving the router into the open and as central as possible (though this is easier said than done), update the firmware, and give 2.4GHz and 5GHz separate names. Use 5GHz for your laptop/TV/console because it’s faster, and keep 2.4GHz for range and all the “smart” gadgets that barely deserve the title. If your router has QoS, prioritise work calls and gaming over 4K binge sessions.
And use a LAN cable where it matters. An Ethernet cable to a PC/console provides instant stability and zero neighbour drama. If your home is built like a signal-killing bunker (too much iron in the walls), get a mesh system instead of one heroic router suffering alone. Finally, if your router starts to act like a confused potato, schedule a weekly reboot. Routers leak a lot of memory and get slower over time; periodically rebooting them once a week is old-school, but effective.
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