Why location matters
Most home routers radiate roughly outwards in a broad doughnut shape. If the router sits in a corner, half of that coverage goes to the street or the neighbours. Internet providers often install the line where the cable enters the building, typically a hallway or the front of the house, and the router simply stays there. That spot is convenient for the installer, not necessarily for you.
Five placement rules
- Go central. Aim for the middle of the area you want to cover, measured in walls rather than metres.
- Go up. A shelf at chest or head height clears sofas, beds and people.
- Stay in the open. TV cabinets, cupboards and metal racks all cost signal.
- Keep clear of metal and water. Avoid placing the router behind the television, beside mirrors or next to a fish tank.
- Mind the antennas. For adjustable antennas, a mix of vertical and horizontal positions helps devices held at different angles.
The space between
A radio link uses more than the straight line between two points. Physicists describe an elliptical region around that line, the Fresnel zone, named after Augustin-Jean Fresnel. Objects intruding into this region reduce signal even if they do not block the direct line. In practice, it is one more reason to lift equipment above furniture and keep the path between access points reasonably clear.
When one router is not enough
Large homes, homes with heavy masonry and homes spread over several floors often need more than one access point. The options, in rough order of reliability:
- Wired access points. A second access point connected by Ethernet cable gives full speed wherever the cable reaches.
- Mesh with wired backhaul. A mesh system manages several nodes as one network; using cable between nodes keeps the wireless capacity for your devices.
- MoCA or powerline backhaul. MoCA carries data over existing coaxial TV cable; powerline adapters use household wiring. Results vary with the age and layout of the wiring.
- Wireless mesh. Nodes talk to each other over the air. Convenient, but each wireless hop shares airtime, so place nodes where they still receive a solid signal from the previous one, not at the edge of coverage.
- Simple range extenders. The cheapest option, and often the least predictable.
A placement method
Sketch a floor plan. Mark heavy walls from Zone 2. Put the first access point at the centre of the most-used area. If a room is more than two heavy walls or one concrete floor away, plan a second point there, wired if at all possible.
Testing the result
Most phones and computers report signal strength as RSSI, usually in dBm. Values closer to zero are stronger: around −50 dBm is excellent, while values near −75 dBm or lower often bring slowdowns. Take readings in each room after a move, and keep a simple note. Small changes of a metre or two can matter more than expected.