A neighbor says his tablet works in the kitchen. In the back bedroom it loses the signal. "The tablet must be broken," Rocket says.
Raven asks, "What do you notice? It works in one room and not another. What is different about the rooms?"
Nova flashes a map of the home. "Would you like a hint? Find the box with the blinking lights. Then measure the walls between it and the bedroom."
Most homes have a router. It is a small box with blinking lights and a few cable sockets.
The router has two jobs. First, it connects all the devices in the home to each other.
Second, it connects the home network to the internet. One cable leaves the home for that.
Every message that leaves your tablet goes to the router first. The router passes it along.
Think of the router as the mail room at Beacon Station. Every letter goes through the mail room. The mail room sends it on the right path.
The router also does something else useful. It keeps the devices in your home talking to each other. A tablet can send a page to the printer without ever leaving the home.
Radio waves get weaker as they travel. They also lose strength passing through walls, floors and big metal things.
Close to the router, the signal is strong. Far away, or behind several walls, the signal is weak.
A weak signal means slow loading, frozen videos or a dropped call.
That is why the tablet works in the kitchen. The back bedroom is too far.
| Where the tablet is | Walls between it and the router | Signal |
|---|---|---|
| Same room as the router | 0 | Strong |
| Next room | 1 | Good |
| Far room, upstairs | 3 or more | Weak |
| Statement | True or false? |
|---|---|
| The router connects the home network to the internet. | ? |
| Walls make a Wi-Fi signal stronger. | ? |
| A weak signal can make a video freeze. | ? |
| The tablet in the story was broken. | ? |
Well done! You know the router is the mail room, and you know why signals fade. Tomorrow you will see what a message looks like on its journey.