How to enable airtime fairness for faster Wi-Fi: complete guide

This guide will explain how to improve your Wi-Fi speed by enabling the "airtime fairness" setting on your router, a often overlooked but extremely effective solution to optimize your home network performance.

Airtime fairness is a feature that regulates the data transmission priority among devices connected to the router. This is particularly useful in home environments where old and new devices coexist, as slower devices can slow down the entire network.

This setting is ideal for those with many connected devices, such as smartphones, laptops, smart TVs, and IoT devices, and who want to improve latency and browsing speed without having to physically move the router.

By following this guide, you will learn how to configure airtime fairness on your router, thus improving the performance of faster devices without excessively penalizing slower ones.

Prerequisites

• Router with access to the administration panel
• Devices connected to the Wi-Fi network
• Access to the internet for any firmware updates

PROCEDURE: How to enable airtime fairness on the router

• Step 1: Access the router administration panel
  • Open a web browser on your computer or smartphone.
  • Type the IP address of your router in the address bar. It is usually something like 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1.
  • Enter the login credentials (username and password). If you haven't changed them, you should find them in the router manual or on the device label.
• Step 2: Find the wireless settings
• Step 3: Look for the airtime fairness option
• Step 4: Enable airtime fairness
  • Select the option to enable airtime fairness.
  • Save the changes and restart the router if necessary.
• Step 5: Verify Wi-Fi performance
  • After enabling airtime fairness, verify Wi-Fi performance on your devices.
  • Note any improvements in latency and data transmission speed.

Verification and Troubleshooting: How to test if it works and what to do if it fails

At the end of this guide, you will be able to verify the effectiveness of airtime fairness on your router and resolve any configuration issues.

Verification Test

• Run a speed test: Use online tools like Speedtest to measure connection speed before and after enabling airtime fairness. Note the results for comparison.
• Evaluate latency: Play an online game or make a video call to check if latency has improved on faster devices.
• Monitor slow devices: Check if older devices are still working correctly. The impact should be negligible.

Troubleshooting

• Setting not found: If you cannot find the airtime fairness option in the router administration panel, consult the manufacturer's manual or technical support. Some routers may use different names for this setting.
• Operator-provided router: If your router is provided by the operator and you cannot access the setting, consider purchasing a third-party router that offers greater flexibility.
• Smart home devices: If you have many low-priority smart home devices, you may notice a deterioration in their performance. In this case, consider using a separate VLAN or protocols like Zigbee.
• Overloaded router: If you have more than 40-50 connected devices, the router processor may become a bottleneck. Consider upgrading to a Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7 router.

At the end of this guide, you will have understood how the airtime fairness setting can significantly improve your Wi-Fi performance, especially in environments with many connected devices.

To apply what you have learned:

• Look for the airtime fairness option in the wireless settings.

Remember that this setting is particularly useful if you have old and slow devices sharing the network with modern devices.

If the problem persists, consider more advanced solutions such as using a Wi-Fi 6E or 7 router, or isolating smart devices on a separate VLAN.

Put these tips into practice and enjoy a smoother and more responsive Wi-Fi connection.