Stop complaints about slow Wi-Fi for good with 5 fixes for laggy Internet

Is buffering getting in the way of your binging? Kids blaming laggy Internet for losing online games? Wish your iPad could connect while curling up with an ebook in bed?

Good news: You have a few options to improve the speed, range, and overall performance of your wireless network.

The following tips and tricks should also help if you have multiple Wi-Fi devices on your network at the same time — such as a computer, printer, smartphone, tablet, Smart TV, video game console, multi-room sound system, and smart home gadgets.

It starts with your ISP

Don’t hide your router or keep it on the floor. Elevate the router and make sure there’s no obstructions. (Photo: Netgear/handout)

You could have the fastest router in the world, but it won’t be useful if you aren’t getting fast speeds from your Internet Service Provider (ISP). 

Budget permitting, ensure you’re getting the fastest speeds offered by your ISP – especially if you like to stream video, play online games, and have multiple simultaneous devices on the network. Usually, the more you pay, the faster the download and upload speeds, and the more data you’re allowed to use per month (unlimited is the way to go if your ISP offers it).

If it’s been a few years since you’ve upgraded the modem you rent or bought from your ISP, confirm with them it’s the best they got.

More: How to tell if net neutrality repeal is why your Internet is slower

More: Why you can go over your Internet provider's data cap

Location, location, location 

Use both the 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz bands of your router, to reduce interference with other devices. (Photo: Linksys/handout)

The next step is to ensure your router, which gives you your wireless Internet, is in an optimal spot in your home.

Keep it on the main or top floor and close to the center of the house for optimum reach. Refrain from keeping your router in the basement, if you have one, as it’ll be tough for devices elsewhere in the home to communicate with it. On a related note, don’t shove the router in a corner of a home, or locked away in a cabinet, because you don’t like the way it looks. Instead, keep it out in the open for maximum reach in and around your home. Make sure it’s off the floor and on a desk or bookshelf.

Also, keep your wireless router up to date with the latest downloadable firmware.

Newer routers, consider MESH

A multi-room MESH system is becoming popular as it’s designed for larger homes. (Photo: D-Link/Handout)

According to a recent IDC survey, nearly half the people surveyed use routers that are at least 12 years old. Yikes.

If it’s been a few years since you’ve upgraded your router, consider picking up a new one – with 802.11ac speeds instead of the older 802.11n — as it’s not only faster but covers a wider area and supports more simultaneous devices. For maximum impact, your devices, such as a laptop, should also support the newer speeds.

Often a number is associated with the router, such as an AC3200 router, which is faster than an AC1900 router, for example (the higher the number, the better).

Those in a larger home (or older home, with, say, concrete walls) might consider a MESH network, which is a more advance router, and includes multiple “bases” or “hubs” – wireless extenders, if you will — to place around the home. These devices all wirelessly communicate back with the router to blanket a broader space, and with faster and more reliable Wi-Fi.

Channel changer

Today’s Wi-Fi routers broadcast in two different frequencies: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Figuring out the best one for your situation can improve your network’s reach, speed, and reliability.

Devices on the 5 GHz frequency minimizes interference among devices also operating on the 2.4Hz frequency in the home, such as microwaves, baby monitors, and cordless phones. While the 2.4GHz frequency is able to reach farther distances than the 5GHz frequency, devices connected to the 5Hz frequency operate at faster speeds.

When joining your devices to your router (required once), you can choose which frequency you prefer.

Security, privacy

Especially now that routers have a broader range than ever before, it’s critical to have a password on your home’s Wi-Fi connection. You don’t need a degree in computer engineering to add a good password. If unsure, contact your ISP for help.

Neighbors who secretly use your wireless network get a free ride, which can also slow down your Internet performance. What’s more, you might be liable if nearby web surfers download illegal content, such as pirated movies, from your Internet connection. A password also minimizes the chances of someone hacking into your computer and access your personal info.

We asked Google Assistant, Amazon 's Alexa and Apple's Siri 150 questions. Here's who won.

We pose 150 questions to Siri, Google and Alexa to see which one has more correct answers. Watch TalkingTech with Jefferson Graham USA TODAY

(Photo: Jefferson Graham)

CONNECTTWEETLINKEDIN 9COMMENTEMAILMORE

OK Google, we get it. You are smarter than the other assistants. 

This has been the subtext of recent Google I/O developer conferences. The latest edition kicked off Tuesday in Mountain View, Calif., where the Internet giant showed off how its Assistant, available on phones and its smart speaker Google Home line, was getting more adept at mimicking human conversation. 

Google has a long ways to catch up when it comes to the share of smart home devices. Amazon has Alexa in some 12,000 connected devices, compared to 5,000 for Google and just 194 for Apple's Siri, says Voicebot.ai, a website that focuses on voice computing.

But in smarts, Google topped not just our informal survey but many recent ones as well, including surveys from online marketing firm Stone Temple and investment company Loup Ventures.

We spent the weekend asking the same 150 questions to the Google Assistant on Google Home, Amazon's Alexa via the Echo speaker and Apple's Siri on the iPhone. Google answered correctly 80% of the time, compared to 78% for Amazon and 55% correct for Siri. 

A quick caveat for our methodology — if Google and Amazon gave us a complete, audio answer to the question, that counted as a successful response. When an assistant said it wasn't set up to respond, or didn't know, that counted as a fail. 

And when Siri responded with a "Here's what I found on the Web," and a link to look it up ourselves, that also counted as a non-answer. (We tried some of those questions again with Apple's HomePod, which is a $350 speaker, and rival to the Echo and Google Home, but didn't fare much better. While it did answer one query, the rest returned with a "I can't get the answer on the HomePod" response.)

Our questions came from a variety of courses: We cribbed from the 800 questions posed in recent surveys by Loup, the suggested queries on Amazon, Google and Apple's websites to ask their assistants, and topics offered by social media.

More: How Google Assistant, Siri and Amazon Alexa responded to our pesky questions

Google, via the Home speaker, told us how to get to the nearest Mexican restaurant, what time the Avengers movie was playing at the cineplex, who won the Best Picture Oscar of 1989, the date and flight number of my next scheduled airline flight and the definition of a first cousin once removed. 

What it couldn't tell us was also quite interesting. Some notable Google Assistant failures. It couldn't: 

Read our latest G-mail email aloud. Which Siri could do, but not Alexa. 

Google the movie Back to the Future.

Tell me, "Who was Jesus Christ."

Answer if aliens really exist and why cats have whiskers. (Alexa has responses for both and Siri was happy to tell me about Jesus.)

Alexa was surprisingly strong when it came to hard-core science factoids that Google excels in, like naming the melting point of gold, how far away the moon is from the Earth and citing the weight of the sun.

It can translate 'good morning' in German (all three can do this) and tell you how to say 'thank you' in Japanese. (As can Google; Siri can't.)

Both Google and Amazon can play your morning news briefings — Siri doesn't do this. Alexa can read recipes, and being that it's Amazon, also order paper towels, batteries, dog food or even shop for an iPad. Siri couldn't do any of this with audio directions, instead answering "Here's what I found on the Web," and links. 

Google Home could do all the shopping as well, by sending you to Google Express, its answer to Amazon, but it puts a $100 limit on purchases. I could shop for the iPad but not complete the purchase because of the limit; I could ship other products.

With Siri, as always, it's a matter of managed expectations. 

It generally could answer most of the questions posed by Apple on the Siri section of its website, like using it to call and text friends, set timers and appointments, relay information ("When is the L.A. Galaxy's next home game?) and tell what the weather would be like today, tomorrow and on the weekend.

But we've got some caveats. Apple suggests we ask Siri to play "the top song from 1985" on its website. Yet, when I ask, it says, "Sorry, I don't know what topped the charts on that date."

Google Home has come a long way since we first reviewed it in 2016, and it couldn't answer so many questions. We'd like to see simple improvements like learning how to "Google" information more effectively (the Back to the Future query was an easy one), read my latest e-mail and texts aloud, improve on sports stats ("What's Alabama's record this season?") and learn how to answer the Jesus question. 

Bret Kinsella, the publisher of Voicebot, thinks Google has done a great job showcasing the utility of the product — now it should be more fun. 

"I'd like to see them humanize it more, have it do more things you can do as a family," like letting users know what's on Netflix tonight or adding more games.

But seriously, it's Apple that has its work cut out for it, not Google. And we'd like to offer a simple suggestion. Stop having Siri direct us "to the Web," and instead announce actual answers, just like Google Home and Alexa.

Siri's super-low 55% response rate on our survey is due to the fact that it keeps offering non-hands-free, "Here's what I found on the Web" links, when its rivals offer true audio replies. 

When asked to tell me where to get a car repaired locally, instead of reading me choices, it sends links to the Firestone shop. Ask where to buy golf clubs, and you get a link to a nearby golf course. Inquire about recipes for a Tom Collins drink or how to make banana bread, and Siri directs you to look it up online. 

Apple has the data. If Amazon and Google could do it, there's no good reason why Siri couldn't join this party. Make that one shift, and the successful query gap could be closed significantly overnight.

This meat thermometer is perfect for the grill—and it's on sale right now

This meat thermometer is perfect for the grill—and it's on sale right now (Photo: ThermoWorks)

— Our editors review and recommend products to help you buy the stuff you need. If you make a purchase by clicking one of our links, we may earn a small share of the revenue. However, our picks and opinions are independent from USA TODAY’s newsroom and any business incentives.

Even if you have one of the best grills out there, it can still be tricky to cook your meat justright. Having to throw your food back on the grill when it’s undercooked (or worse, tossing it out if it's overcooked) is annoying, which is why you should probably invest in a meat thermometer before the outdoor cooking season kicks off.

Right now, ThermoWorks is running a one-day sale for 20% off the DOT meat thermometer. This model usually goes for $39, but right now you can get it for just $31.20. This device has a long, heat-resistant cable that so you can monitor your meat's temperature even when the lid is closed and sealing in those smoky flavors. The probe can read temperatures up to 572 degrees and its cable is safe in up to 700-degree heat.

The ThermoWorks ThermoPop is the best thermometer we’ve ever tested because of its quick and accurate reading, so you can expect similar results with the ThermoWorks DOT.

If you’re worried about getting your meats just right during your cookouts this summer, you may want to invest in this amazing grill thermometer while it's on sale.

Get the ThermoWorks DOT for $31.20 and save $8.80