We explain what we must take into account when hiring and choose a rate, but also in our day-to-day use of the network.
Before hiring
Before contracting one rate or another, we must take into account a series of aspects not to regret after. Of course, we must look at the permanence of the rate if it is an apartment in which we will spend little time. Or how many people are going to connect or what speed are we going to need, but also the price.
Check permanence
The first thing we have to look for when choosing one rate or another in a shared apartment is permanence. If you are students it is possible that you will only spend nine months in that apartment, a course. That you change the following year or that the people with whom you have hired change. Or that you don’t want to pay for the summer months if you’re not going to be there already.
It is not usually a problem today because there are many companies that do not have any type of permanence and with which you get the installation for free. Or, operators that offer us a low price for a three-month stay that we can assume taking into account the duration of the course or the rental contract that we have signed in that apartment.
How many devices are connected?
Before choosing one rate or another, we must take into account how many devices will be connected. For example, it will not be the same as you are two people in a connected floor to the same router so that there are seven of you. Seven persons with their corresponding computers, Smart TV, phones, tablets. In this case, it is interesting to take into account that the router can saturate if it has few channels since it must be alternating between all of them, thus forming a queue and latency peaks.
Why should we take this into account? It is convenient to know, in these cases, if the operator you are going to hire allows the change of the router for a higher quality independent model that improves the connection and reduces instability.
Check student offers and prices
If you are students, there are specific offers, cheaper rates that offer good services in different companies. That is why it is recommended not only that you review the offers without permanence that there are every year in the operators but that you do a review, every summer, why they offer us specifically for students (if you still are)
Prices and packages vary from year to year and we can find new offers every week. To calculate the best rate it is advisable that we search or calculate the total price that it will cost us during the year. That is, how much nine months of Internet on the floor is going to cost us, from September to June. The total price of nine months divided by the people who will occupy it. Based on this, we look for cheap rates and that the permanence does not exceed this period.
Although prices change, Simyo offered in August 2021 a rate of 25.99 euros per month for 100 mbps fiber, for example. OR 300 Mbps for 30.99 euros per month. Digi also offers 300 Mbps fiber in 2021 for 25 euros per month with a three-month stay or 1 Gbps fiber for 20 euros per month. Affordable options if you are two or three people in the same apartment since they do not involve hardly any expense.
Installation and use
Once you have chosen which company to hire and what rate, we must take into account a number of things in our day to day. For example, it is advisable that we create a network for guests and we do not have to continuously give the password to all the people who visit us. Or that you protect your computer, for example. Or let’s improve coverage. Steps that will hardly take time and will improve the connection.
Password and network for guests
It is important that we have good security in our WiFi network. A password other than the one that comes in the default router or a specific guest network. If you share a flat in a student flat, you should bear in mind that it is common for there to be many visits. That there are continually colleagues and companions of each other to do work or simply to have a good time. That is why it is advisable to create a specific network for guests. This way we can prevent someone from downloading viruses on our network, which there is malware that infects our devices or even protect access, for example.
To create a guest network we must go to the router. The way to access will depend on the model, the company, etc. Generally we will enter the router by typing 192.168.1.1 in the address bar of the browser unless you have changed the IP address assigned to it. Once you write enter, we will enter the web where we must access with our router password. If we have not modified it, the default passwords are usually admin / admin or admin / 1234 although you can contact your operator to find out.
When you have accessed, you must look for the settings and search for “create guest network” or something similar. The menu will vary depending on the router in question, but you can enter the name and password and save the WiFi network for guests, isolated from our network and without having to repeat our usual password. In addition, most routers have configuration options to set bandwidth limits or configure the maximum number of clients to connect.
Configure your computer as a “private network”
In Windows we can differentiate between public network or private network in the computer settings. When we connect to a network, it asks us and we must choose. The idea is not that I ask you out of curiosity, but that we can configure it in one way or another to prevent malware attacks that are connected to the same network as you. Although you are going to share a flat with friends, it is usual that in apartments with friends or students there are always many people and many people connected to the same network, so it is recommended that we configure this as soon as possible.
If we use a private network, Windows 10 allows all devices connected to the network to connect. If we use a public network or configure the computer as such, Windows isolates our equipment from others so that it is protected. They will not be able to connect with us.
If you didn’t configure it when connecting, you can always go back to Windows settings. The first time you connect to the WiFi you can choose whether it is public or private. If not, we can always go back to settings to change it.
Go to the screen Windows 10 Settings and go to the Networks and Internet section and from here open the WiFi section that you will find in the left menu of the screen. Here you can see if the WiFi is on or off. In addition, you will manage if you want it to be public or private. Tgo over your network to see the options and here you will see the network profile and two possibilities. You can choose public or private and change it whenever you want.
Use WiFi extenders or amplifiers
If the Internet is not working properly when we have already installed it, we can put a solution. It may be a large apartment with many people connected. Let there be four or five rooms, for example. In that case, if the coverage is not good, we can use inexpensive network extenders or WiFi amplifiers.
An affordable option to test if our coverage improves is to bet on the xiaomi wifi amplifier that allows up to 24 connected devices, for example, and takes up little space and plugs into any outlet in the house. It has dimensions of 80 x 54 x 70 millimeters and does not require installation so it is suitable for any user. In addition, we can configure it with the app: from the app you can check the signal of the router or the amplifier to see if it is stable or not, you can configure the different rooms …
Some operators also offer their own amplifiers such as Movistar with its Smart WiFi 6 by Movistar that we can buy from your website. You can choose the self-installing option for 129 euros or the option with installation is worth 179 euros. It is optimized for IoT, supports WiFi 6, offers WPA2 and WPA3 security, incorporates Band-Sterring WiFi Roaming functions, and functions as a repeater. Of course, we must be customers of the operator.