What Router Settings Should You Change? 

My WiFi name is 'Obtaining IP address...' people just stare at it waiting to get connected and later realising the gimmick

As someone that works for an isp and works with wifi devices daily I can verify that the information provided here is accurate. However I would just like to mention that you should probably upgrade your router firmware since pre 2018-2019 firmware of routers have a wpa2-wps vulnerability that can be exploited. If your router isn't supported anymore and the manufacturer didn't release a firmware update you probably want to get a new router. Just make sure the router that you buy is still supported by the manufacturer and that the firmware of the router is up to date.

I'm still laughing at "it hurts when IP"

Everyone: how to reach 100mbs? Me: how to reach 1mbs?

On 2.4GHz, you can unlock channels 12, 13, and 14; you can only legally buy/sell routers in the USA that use channels 1-11. Download new firmware for your router, but set your region on the website to Asia/Japan prior to downloading. Once you flash the router with Asian firmware, channels 12-14 should be unlocked. Technically, it's only illegal if you interfere with emergency services as they alone use these channels. Worked on my router, clean channels while 1-11 were congested by 20+ neighbors within range.

I would suggest using Auto channel selection unless you're having specific congestion issues. Networks around you can change and you're not always going to monitor them around you to keep the desired channel up to date with those changes.

"If you don't trust your friends to stay under your data cap" I hate data caps, they need to be vanquished.

When I bought my house and renovated it I ran Cat6 cables throughout the house. I don't like relying on wireless, but it is set up for things like my phone.

Can I download more ram for my router?

2:25 You forgot to mention that 5GHZ also has very poor wall penetration, if you put just one wall between you and the AP the signal strength can drop as low as half which of course reduces its speed even further.

" I can hear you poop" Wifi name. Thanks for the idea.

"it hurts when IP" THAT... is my new router name.

Linus and team, you missed the MTU setting (Max Transmit Unit). You should first check with your ISP what the MTU size is for the medium you are using, for example, cable and DSL use 1492 bytes, which represents the size of packets. Your LAN by default will use 1500 bytes per packet, meaning that each packet sent from LAN to WAN has to be split in 2 packets. The second packet is then "padded" with useless bytes that increase the load for your router and slows down your overall speed. Having LAN MTUs of 1492 will reduce router heat and operations thus focusing on transfer of information rather than packet shaping. Keep up the good work, I love your tech videos!

Video suggestion: Linus, could you do a quick video on Port Forwarding, I've seen it multiple time in my router settings but never took the time to dig into it.

Whoever thought up Wu-Tang LAN is a f*cking genius. 0:23 Give that dude a raise.

Let's be honest, who didn't name their Wi-Fi something like "FBI Surveillance Van" or something similar to have fun with neighbors and visitors?

Working at an ISP ive noticed that if you router has DFS enabled by default on the 5G band most of the time you can disable it and you will see alot less conjestion within the 5G band

My Wifi name is "Dora the Internet Explorer" xD

Shame Linus, you had the perfect opportunity to segway into a Tunnel Bear ad, and instead you went with Synergy.

I always leave my wifi open for my neighbors to use. I am pushing for a completely free wifi neighborhood. Oh, and it is a lot of fun to plug the router into a hub; and a laptop on the other port. The things I see using the packet sniffer are quite interesting sometimes :)

So I can make my speed 1kb per second so my friends never want to use my internet

The other thing you need to make sure you do is update the router firmware. If the router manufacturer doesn't support it anymore, you'll need to get a new router or install 3rd party firmware on it. WPA2 was broken by krack. There are fixes available but updating your wireless device isn't enough. You also have to ensure the router/access point is updated as well since both router and client need to be able to use the 'fixed' standard. I say 'fixed' since you're talking about sending data over the air. It's only a matter of time before it gets broken again (if it's not broken already). Running Ethernet/Powerline/MoCA is preferred, BUT since wired isn't not an option for everyone you can also look into throttling clients down and QoS. You can do things like prioritizing your PCs and throttling down anything else for example, depending on your needs and leave what ever is left for any new devices so you can keep the more bandwidth heavy devices in check. QoS will also let you prioritize things like video streaming so you can make sure Netflix/Hulu/RU-vid get priority while things like e-mail that can wait a few more seconds will not interfere with them.

I'd love to see linus tech tips do an off shoot channel on enterprise hardware, servers, routers etc.

I believe port forwarding is the setting that gave me the most pain when I had to do it first to open my NAT type.

There are different signal power regulations in some countries so changing the location in your router might effect your over all signal strength.

I would like to see a video about configuring NAT, port-forwarding and most specifically - double NAT from ISP.

What WiFi analysis app do you use?

This is hard to keep up with. Some of us are trying to learn, linus lol

@Techquickie We have a lot of devices at my house. i alone have a total of 12 devices. My solution was to have a router for each party. I have a router and switch in my room for all of my wired and wireless stuff, then we have a 5ghz router for all the streaming and phone access that isnt my own. and we have a comcast router for all of my mom's work stuff. I read that having too many devices could overload a router and though it would be a good idea to spread the load over 3. So far it is working. but maintenance is kinda tricky being that only one can use the 192.168.x.x address. Is this something you could address in a future video for those who have many devices and should get another router to ease the load?

So a little more security is to disable SSID broadcasting and connect through hidden Network in WiFi selection this helps keep your neighbor from piggybacking your WiFi. Also some routers allow you to disable eth ports on them this is useful for those friends that know directly connecting to the router will bypass any security measures other than Mac and IP filters.

your videos are really helpful,thanks!

Ethernet running in the walls is the best.

Man i love this I have learnt so much from him and his channels, both of’em

Would love Port Forwarding for Dummies video (especially for Cox Panoramic)

Great little tutorial. As far as DNS goes - set your DNS to the address of your PiHole device, and then use unbound on your pfSense device for any addresses not yet cached in the PiHole. Works like a champ!

The DNS setting really helped me, thanks Linus.

What wifi analyzer app is used in this video? Is it available in the Apple App store?

Hello Linus!! Do you advise that people disable UPnP on home routers? It was once considered a major security flaw but I'm not sure if that's still considered to be the case. Does the benefit to leaving it enabled outweigh any potential risk? Keep up the great work!

3:02 which WiFi Analysis App? I’ve already found numerous rubbish ones.

The VPN Passthrough setting in 5:02 is about allowing VPN connection initiate from PC, not the configuration to connect VPN server from router. Said configuration should be somewhere in Advance tab of Router Web Admin.

What WiFi Analyzer do you recommend

Use instead of Synergy Microsoft's garage software, MouseWithoutBorders - it is free and works.

well now we know that WPA2 isn't that safe :/

I live in a nice little flat, with 20 other flats with WiF networks within range of my network. And I have noticed that most of the networks use one of 4 channels, causing certain problems "in the waves". So now I ask why this is? And the answer is quite simple; something like 9 of 10 ISPs servicing homes supply their customers with a box that contain a modem, a (primitive) router and WiFi and the average home users changes only a few, if any, settings in the box; basically "connect the cables for LAN, power is usually the instructions they get from their ISP. So of course that's what they do.

Routers compatible with dd-wrt can easily be configured as an access point rather than a router. Stock firmware might work too on some models. On router A (connected to the modem), hand out a static IP to router B. Give router B that IP and disable DHCP on router B (so clients will get their IP from router A). Connect router A to router B's LAN port (NOT the one market "Internet") so devices on router B aren't firewalled from those on A. Optional: give router B the same network name and password as A, so most smartphones and laptops will connect to the one with the strongest signal if both are in range. If you mostly have devices that stay near one router, give B a different SSID than A and a different password, so you can explicitly tell your device which AP to use. In both cases you want A and B on different channels for obvious reasons. Unlike repeaters, this setup has no speed penalty because data sent to router B is sent to A via an Ethernet cable and does not use up Wi-Fi bandwidth. If you move around between rooms frequently, your devices might be "stuck" to the far router and not switch to the closer one until all open TCP connections terminate (it doesn't know A and B are on the same NAT until after it connects to B), in that case you want to buy an AP that is meant to be an AP and has smart "steering" capabilities to handle dumb devices. Those cost extra but are usually white, look nice and are powered from the Ethernet cable, so you mount it on the ceiling almost as a decoration.

Will synergy work on my commodore 64?

Solid advice. I would also disable UPNP, especially on the WAN side.

Also I formatted my old linksys router to use as a repeater/ booster while the modem/ router I got from my provider for the upstairs. Still get my full speed downstairs on the linksys.

My wifi name:- Its not cheap My password:- give me 500 bucks 😂

I got an ad starring Linus when I clicked on this video. Damn you cookies

0:12 It's an Ethernet uprising!!!

Not the case here in my country.The ISP has greyed the areas or don't show at all any option to make adjustment to speed it up.

I utilized band steering and network prioritization so my stuff gets the best signal and priority over all the freeloaders in my house sucking up my bandwidth.

Please enable auto subtitles, thanks.

I literally thank Linus every day for recommending Synergy xD

Im dealing with my problem in my routers latency😅, and thank to this video it was thoughtful 👍

Hi Linus. You mentioned 50% loss if using two routers. Would it work well if one used the 2.4 as a back-channel and the five as the regular networking?

I knew this would have little relevance to the average user. A good setting is to name 2 wifi SSIDs the same and get seamless handover. Another one is changing from a/b/g/n/ac or whatever to not include a/b/g. Turning off DHCP on a second router is a good one, so you can keep them both on the same subnet and make your LAN more routable. Setting your ISP gateway to bridge mode can be beneficial if you know about firewalls or simply have another router to take care of that. There are more but practically all of those are more useful than the ones in the video, which are either obvious or best left alone.

one more important setting missed here is mac filtering which comes handy for registering on mac table, devices allowed access to wifi

Has Techquickie or Linus Tech Tips ever done a video about how to use an equalizer? My specific use was learning how to balance out the audio in movie,tv shows and other videos that have uneven audio levels? Such as voices are extremely quiet, are easily drowned out and at times completely indistinguishably when explosions or other loud noises are going off? Additionally I would find a brief explainer/tutorial that explains the ideal uses for the more common nobs available on equalizers?

Thanks a ton Linus. I am a simpleton and was flooded with WiFi networks around my house. The Channel setting really made a huge difference for my wifi home network. 9+13.

3:01 Hahahahahaha, this is exactly where my wifi on my phone decided to disconnect on me... I live in a built up urban area too.

Do a video on NAT types!

The thumbnail had me 😂😂

People with wireless problems such as intermittent connection or slow speeds, look to disable QoS and band steering if your modem has those options.

Speaking of clever WiFi network names, someone in my area came up with “The Promised LAN”. I chuckle every time I see it in my list of accessible points, likely because I see that list whenever I have to tell my phone to reconnect to my house’s unreliable-as-hell network.

4:42-yeah trust google, what else can they steal from me!! oxymoron google security

"data cap" damn im so thankful I live in Slovenia, w/o datacaps and 150/150 speeds

One important Router setting you don't talk about is QOS, i specifically select a router with QOS function (not widely available the last time i check) With a VOIP phone and a low speed internet QOS improve sound quality and latency.

I know this is a 6-7 year old video, but i thought maybe the Verizon 5g home internet gateway would have a fan setting or some to turn it off or on in its settings but it didn't. The fan never spins up no matter how hot it gets. And this is literally the second one we just got last week because the original one pretty much never had and working fan either. Im starting to thinks theres probably something wrong with how there made and no ones caught on yet or there's just a couple of bad ones and i happened to get two of them

Linus is right, my network name is "The LAN Before Time"

Fantastic video. Well done. Would have liked it more detail in some parts to enhance security. Will look through your channel to see if I can find more.

02:57 you can open the *cmd in windows* and type this command *netsh wlan show networks mode=Bssid*

How does the popcorn setting on a microwave work?

Just subscribed, great video. Do you have any videos on converting to "modem only mode" and adding separate router/switch etc?

Setting my 5 ghz wifi channel bandwidth to 40 mhz does help amplifying signal strength. It helps when the router is in other room beyond a door (1 extra bar for me).

"It hurts when IP" XDDDD

Which WiFi consuming less battery 2.4GHz or 5GHz Also which Wifi bandwidth consume less battery

2:05 oh god that model haunts my dreams

* Disable WPS, its easily hacked by a small app on an android phone

Mines is called “GETYOUROWN”

imo best setup... One network for self and home devices using mac filtering and no ssid broadcast with wep for better speed, and guest network with ssid broadcast and wpk2 aes but no mac filter

will be looking at Synergy as well, thanks Linus

I would love a longer video on the other settings we should be aware about.

@Techquickie I got a video idea for Anthony: Beefing up cheap routers that use Linux and hence are moddable (i.e. TP-Link w/ Qualcomm Atheros chips) with DD-WRT, OpenWRT or similar projects. I made a mesh wireless LAN without packet loss, achieving low jitter, fully covering an old house with thick stone walls for under 100€ (w/ 5 routers), letting me use the whole 30Mbit/s of my LTE connection anywhere around the property.

I turned off UPnP for security purposes. Enabled MU-MIMO, Enabled Fast Roaming, Enabled Implicit Beamforming, Enabled WMM, Enabled 20Mhz/40Mhz coexistence.

Well my wifi username is NotFreeRealEstate password:-U shall Never KNOW

1:56 data cap?

You explain things very very well

I would like to hear more about how to make a bridge between two modems. My old modem has voip for the land line and I have to mount it on the new one in order to make the land line working again

"Wi fi experience"

What is WPS? Video suggestion.

This video wouldn’t load because my WiFi sucks lol

what is the website or thingie you used

Please do a video Series on pFSense, I use it as a part of my voluntary work at my "doorms", And it has a bunch of settings advanced networking protocols and systems not usually used by consumers, however they can provide options for private proxies, and custom NAS-Services for interested people. I personally have use of Trunks, and thus local domain names so i dont have to remember the ip's all the time, there are also Aliases, for keeping track of problematic users, and IPv6 Tunnels. My personal favourite though is the duplex options which allow me to distribute data traffic manually like load ballancers, or give my self that 1000/1000 mBit/s Full Duplex, although i have to unplug my local router as it bottlenecks at 100/100. WPS settings are also super nice to use to setup home printers etc. And last but not least static subnets, that set based on device hookup.

What kind of bull crap is the data cap Here in Europe we have it unlimited,you are really getting bled out of your money there

THE PASSWORD

HOLY FUCKING SHIT! Thank you Linus My 5 GHZ connection was topping speeds at 24 mbps and after applying the settings you mentioned (ESPECIALLY the channel tweak) my speeds are now at 49.5 Mbps which is what I payed for The congested 2.4 GHZ connection runs typically at

Looking for the advance course. Nothing on fragmentation threshold, beacon interval, or RTS.

Technically you do have the time, but you decide not to.