I tested 7 common Wi-Fi “speed fixes” — here’s what actually made a difference

I kept seeing the same Wi-Fi advice everywhere: restart your router, change the channel, move closer, switch DNS, use 5 GHz, buy a new router, etc.

So I decided to actually test some of them instead of just repeating the usual advice.

Here’s what I noticed:

1. Moving the router higher made a surprisingly big difference.
I moved it from a low position near furniture to a more open, elevated spot. The improvement in the rooms farther away was immediately noticeable.

2. Switching from 2.4 GHz to 5 GHz helped a lot — but only nearby.
Close to the router, 5 GHz was considerably faster. A few walls away, though, 2.4 GHz was sometimes more stable.

3. Changing the Wi-Fi channel actually worked.
There were a lot of neighboring networks using the same channels. Moving to a less congested one improved consistency more than I expected.

4. Changing DNS didn't magically increase Wi-Fi speed.
Pages sometimes felt a little quicker to start loading, but my actual download speed barely changed.

5. Rebooting helped temporarily.
It fixed some weird slowdowns, but if the underlying problem was poor coverage, it obviously didn't solve that.

6. Ethernet was still in another league.
Not surprising, but the difference in latency and consistency was much bigger than I expected.

7. The biggest lesson: signal bars don't tell the whole story.
I could have a strong Wi-Fi signal and still get disappointing performance because of interference or congestion.

I'm curious about other people's experiences because Wi-Fi setups vary massively.

What's one change you made to your home Wi-Fi that gave you a REAL noticeable improvement?

Router placement? Mesh? Access points? Different channels? Ethernet backhaul? Something more unusual?

Would be interesting to build a list of fixes that actually worked for people instead of the usual generic advice.

This format is stronger because the title creates curiosity, the body gives people something useful, and the final question makes it easy for readers to comment. I would not put an external link or advertise anything in this post—especially since your r/wifis rules include “No spam.” The immediate objective should be comments, upvotes, saves, and subreddit growth. Once the community has activity, you can use occasional relevant links much more naturally.