Where your router sits can matter as much as what it is. How to find the best spot at home and what to keep it away from.
Most routers end up wherever the provider’s cable enters the house: behind the TV, inside a cupboard or on the floor of a hallway. It is convenient for the installer and often poor for the signal. Moving the router costs nothing and can transform coverage.
How Wi-Fi travels
Think of a router as a light bulb sending signal out in every direction. Anything solid between the bulb and your device dims it. Dense materials like brick, concrete, stone, metal and water dim it the most. Distance dims it too. So the aim is simple: put the bulb where it can shine over as much of the home as possible with as little in the way.
The ideal spot
- Central. As near the middle of the home as you can manage.
- Raised. On a shelf or wall mount rather than the floor.
- In the open. Not inside a cabinet, drawer or TV unit.
- Upright. Many routers are designed to stand vertically.
What to keep it away from
- Microwaves and some cordless phone bases
- Large mirrors, metal shelving and appliances
- Fish tanks and other large containers of water
- Thick exterior walls and chimney breasts
When the cable will not reach
If the incoming line is stuck in a corner, you have options. A longer network cable can run from the provider’s box to a router in a better spot. Some providers will move the socket. Or you can leave the router where it is and add a mesh unit or wired access point centrally.
Test before and after
Before moving anything, run a speed test in three or four rooms and note the results. Move the router, restart it, and test the same rooms again. Small shifts of a meter or two can make a noticeable difference, so try a couple of positions if you can.
Multi-storey homes
Signal spreads sideways better than through floors. In a two-storey home, a router high on the ground floor or low on the upper floor often covers both. Larger homes usually need a second unit; see fixing dead zones.
Once placement is sorted, work through the rest of the network fixes.