Cell signals travel in straight lines. The higher your router or antenna is, the more likely it is to have a clean line of sight to the tower. A router sitting on the floor in a corner gets the worst possible signal. Try putting it on a high shelf, near the ceiling, or on top of a cabinet. Even a few feet of height can make a meaningful difference.

If your home has two stories, the top floor is usually better. Routers with external antennas should have those antennas pointing straight up — not angled sideways.

Walls, especially concrete, brick, or metal-reinforced walls, absorb and block wireless signals. Metal objects — filing cabinets, refrigerators, heating ducts — reflect and scatter the signal. If your router is tucked behind a metal appliance or pressed against a thick concrete wall, move it to an open spot in the room. Wooden walls are much more signal-friendly than masonry.

A quick test: move your router to the center of the room, away from all walls, and run a speed test. Then move it back and test again. You might be surprised at the difference.

If your router shows 1–2 bars of cellular signal, faster speeds aren't possible regardless of your plan. Signal bars show how strong the connection to the tower is. If signal is weak, the first fix is improving signal strength — not changing your plan.

On most Nomad Internet routers, you can log into the admin panel to see actual signal strength in dBm (decibels). A reading around -70 dBm is good. Below -90 dBm is weak. The closer to 0, the better. If yours is below -90 dBm, focus on antenna and placement improvements first.

For serious signal improvement, an external antenna is the single biggest upgrade you can make. A directional antenna — one that you point toward the nearest tower — concentrates the signal from one direction instead of picking up noise from all directions. You can buy directional antennas for under $50 at most electronics stores or on Amazon.

Window-mounted antennas are easier to install than roof-mounted ones and still provide a big improvement over the built-in antenna on your router. You run a short cable from the antenna through the window to your router. Make sure the antenna points toward your nearest cell tower — you can find tower locations for free at cellmapper.net.

Routers, like computers, get bogged down over time. A weekly reboot clears out old connections, refreshes network settings, and often gives you a noticeable speed boost. Just unplug the power, wait 30 seconds, and plug it back in. Let it restart fully before testing your speed.

Some people set an outlet timer to do this automatically at 3 a.m. every week so they never have to think about it. It's one of the easiest and most effective maintenance habits you can build.

WiFi adds latency and can lose packets, especially with walls and interference in the way. For devices that don't move — a desktop computer, a smart TV, a gaming console — plug them directly into your router with an Ethernet cable. You'll get faster, more stable speeds and free up WiFi bandwidth for your phones and tablets.

A 25-foot Ethernet cable costs about $10 on Amazon and can make a dramatic difference for streaming and video calls. Most routers have 4 Ethernet ports on the back.

Every device connected to your network uses some of your bandwidth — even if it's sitting idle. Phones that are connected but not in use will check email, sync apps, and download updates in the background. Disconnect devices you aren't actively using, especially video streaming devices and gaming consoles that auto-update overnight.

If someone in your house is video calling and another person is streaming 4K Netflix, you're splitting your bandwidth two ways. For video calls, ask others to pause heavy streaming until the call is done. Even 720p streaming uses less bandwidth than 4K and looks fine on most screens.

Most modern routers broadcast two WiFi networks: one at 2.4 GHz and one at 5 GHz. The 5 GHz band is faster but has a shorter range. The 2.4 GHz band is slower but reaches farther and penetrates walls better.

For a device sitting 10 feet from the router, connect to the 5 GHz network. For a device in a room on the other side of the house, use 2.4 GHz. Many routers use the same network name for both bands and automatically assign the best one, but if yours doesn't, look in your router's WiFi settings to set this manually.

Router manufacturers release firmware updates that fix bugs, improve performance, and add features. Many routers don't update automatically. Log into your router's admin panel (usually at 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 in your browser), find the firmware section, and check for updates. Updating takes about 5 minutes and can meaningfully improve performance.

Nomad Internet's routers may get updates pushed automatically, but it's always worth checking if you're experiencing issues. If you're not sure how to log into your router's admin panel, contact Nomad's support team — they're happy to walk you through it.

Cellular networks slow down during peak hours — typically 7–10 PM when everyone is streaming. If your internet feels slow in the evenings but fast in the morning, network congestion is the cause. Run a speed test at 7 AM and at 8 PM on the same day to compare.

If congestion is consistent, schedule your heaviest downloads (software updates, backups, large file downloads) for late night or early morning. Most devices have a setting to schedule automatic updates for off-peak hours. This alone can make your daytime experience much smoother.