Written by: Nathan Steele
Date:

Moving into a new home is fun and exciting. You are starting your life anew and are anxious to fully move in. But there are so many tasks that you need to complete before you can start to feel comfortable in your new home. Long distance moving companies Hoover can take care of your relocation and get your belongings safely to your new home. Everything else is your responsibility. So make sure you start tackling one problem at a time even before you physically move. One such task is to set up internet at your new home. You will start the process of connecting your home even before you step into it for the first time. But you will finish setting it up only after you move in.

First steps that you need to take to set up internet at your new home

One of the first steps that you need to take is to check which IPSs offer the service in your area. ISP stands for Internet Service Providers. They are responsible for getting an internet connection to your home. And just like long distance moving companies Dothan, there are a few of them. It’s up to you to choose which one you will be using. If you are not moving too far away, like coast to coast, there’s a decent chance that your current ISP is offering service at your new location. So that should be the first place you look. It’s easiest to just transfer your current subscription. If not, take a look at what is offered and how you can cancel your current plan.

laptop with google opened
It will take some planning to properly set up an internet connection

Start planning your internet connectivity even before you choose your home

For some people, having a good internet connection is not crucial. For others, it’s more important than stable electricity. Especially if you are working from home. So just like you will be choosing long distance moving companies Gilbert based on services and prices, you will be choosing your ISP. But with a little caveat. Not all houses and apartment buildings are connected to all ISPs. That can actually be a big determining factor when choosing a place to live. So make sure you explore your options before you rent or buy a home.

Which internet connection package should you choose?

After you find out which ISPs offer service in your new neighborhood it’s time to choose an internet service package. If you are not familiar with the terminology, that’s ok. You just need to know what your use case will be. Here’s how to choose your internet connection speed:

  • If you have just a few devices and you use them to surf the internet and watch online streaming, 5Mbps to 10Mbps would be a minimum. Recommended speed will be 25Mbps – 50Mbps. For example, Netflix recommends 15MBps for their 4K plan.
  • If you have a few phones and a few computers connected to the network and you intend on playing online multiplayer games, watching streaming, and doing some work online you should look for 100Mbps speeds and more.
  • For those who work from home and need to share large files, like designers, software engineers, and architects, you will need upwards of 150Mbps with an emphasis on upload.

Important note: Your upload speed (the speed at which you are sending files) is usually around 8 times slower than your download speed (the speed at which you receive files). Also, some ISPs offer metered connections, meaning that you’ll only have a limited amount of data transfer, regardless of speed. Make sure you choose an unlimited plan for your home internet.

yellow ethernet cable representing the need to set up interent at your nerw home
It’s best to use ethernet cables to connect your PCs and repeaters

Set up internet at your new home like a pro and do wiring before you move in

Now it’s time to start planning your home network. Depending on the size, it might take some effort to set up the internet at your new home. So it’s much easier to start doing so before you move in. When booking long distance moving companies Akron, make sure you give yourself some space to work on your home before they deliver your belongings. It will be much easier to do the wiring before your furniture and all other belongings arrive.

Plan your home network based on the size of your home

The size of your home will have a big impact on how you set up your home network. We’ll go over the setup details later, for now, we just want to assess how many access points you will need. For best results, you’ll want your home computers to have a wired connection. But equally as important, you want your laptops and mobile phones to be able to connect from anywhere in your home.  You will get one main router from your ISP. Try and place it in a central position. With luck, it will be able to cover your entire home. And you’ll be able to easily wire your computers from it. If not, you’ll need to buy repeaters and additional access points. You might also be able to get them for free, especially in high-tech cities in the US. But it’s most likely that you’ll need to pay for them yourself. Luckily, you can easily find network repeaters for as low as $10.

Set up your home wi-fi name and password

The first step after you plug in your router is to set up wi-fi. You’ll want to rename the network name and secure it with a password. Different router manufacturers use different settings. But most times, your router will come with wi-fi already enabled. It will either be an unlocked network that bears the name of the router manufacturer (D-link, TP-link, etc.) or an already secured network with a name that consists of random letters and numbers.

No matter what the case is, you will find useful information printed on the back of your router. If the network is unlocked, it will give you the IP address for the setup interface as well as the username and password. For example, you’ll see something like this:

  • https://192.168.1.1/ – an IP that you will use to connect to the router settings
  • username – usually admin or Administrator
  • Password for your router settings. Note that this is not your wi-fi password.

Some long distance moving companies Ankeny offer internet setup service, while others don’t. No matter what the case is, it’s not complicated and is something that you can easily do by yourself.

woman using laptop and a smarthphone at the same time
You can use both your phone and your laptop to set up internet and your new home and password protect your wi-fi network

How to change wi-fi settings and set up the internet at your new home?

If the network is already locked, there will also be network details in addition to the setup interface IP. Now you can either use the laptop or your phone to connect to the router. Either connect by ethernet cable or connect to the wifi and open your favorite internet browser. Type the IP in the address bar, just like you would if you wanted to visit a website. Enter the username and password that you found on the back of your router. The user interface should be straightforward. You are looking for Wi-Fi settings where you’ll be able to change the name of your network (usually referred to as SSID) and password.

If you’ve never done this, it might seem complicated. But don’t be afraid to try. Even if you mess anything up, most routers have a reset button that will revert it back to factory settings. Having wi-fi will make the first day in your new home much easier. You’ll be able to connect with friends, share photos, and chill after a long day of unpacking. So it’s definitely worth trying.

It’s not hard to set up internet at your new home all by yourself

As you can see, setting up the internet in your new home isn’t difficult. It just takes a little bit of effort. Even if you’ve never done it before, you can absolutely do it now. If you get stuck, chances are that your long-distance movers will be able to help you out once they arrive. The most important thing here is to choose a quality ISP and fast internet plan and a good internet type. Stay away from metered connections and if you can, choose fiber optic internet that goes straight to your home. It will make the internet cheaper and much faster.