Where should I put my router?
Central, high and in the open — and the specific things that ruin a signal if the router sits near them.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 30 min
- Read
- 2 min
Short answer
Central to the house, as high as practical, out in the open, and away from metal, mirrors and water. Most routers sit in a hallway corner behind a cupboard door, which is close to the worst possible place.
A router radiates roughly spherically, so its position determines coverage more than its specification does. It usually ends up wherever the socket happens to be, which is rarely where the signal is needed.
Step by step
- Put it as central as you can.Signal spreads outward in all directions. In a corner, half of it goes into the garden. Central position doubles the useful coverage without spending anything.
- Get it up high.On a shelf rather than the floor. Signal spreads downward and outward more readily than up, so a router on the floor wastes half its range on the foundations.
- Keep it in the open.Not in a cupboard, not behind books, not in the meter box. Enclosures block signal substantially, and the router also needs airflow.
- Keep it away from metal and water.Radiators, filing cabinets, mirrors, fish tanks, boilers and water tanks. Metal reflects the signal and water absorbs it — both are more disruptive than a brick wall.
- Keep it away from other 2.4GHz devices.Microwaves, cordless phones and baby monitors share the band. A router next to a microwave will drop out every time it runs.
- Point the aerials sensibly.If it has external aerials, vertical covers one floor well; one vertical and one horizontal covers two floors better.
- Move the socket if the router cannot move.The master socket can be relocated, or a long ethernet cable can put the router where you want it. Both are cheaper than a mesh system.
- Test after each change.A speed test in the worst room before and after. Otherwise you are guessing whether anything improved.
Tips
- A wifi analyser app shows signal strength room by room and turns this from guesswork into measurement.
- Moving a router two metres can transform a dead room. Try it before buying anything.
- If the router must live in a bad spot, a long ethernet cable to a second access point in a better spot is inexpensive and very effective.
Questions people ask
Where is the best place for a wifi router?
Central to the house, high up, out in the open, away from metal, mirrors, water and microwaves. Position matters more than the router's specification.
Does putting a router in a cupboard matter?
Yes, considerably. Enclosures block the signal and trap heat. It is one of the most common self-inflicted wifi problems.