Best Router Placement: Strong WiFi in Every Room
Where you place your router matters as much as which one you buy. Here is how to find the best spot.
Moving your router is the cheapest WiFi upgrade there is. WiFi spreads out from the router in all directions and weakens through walls, floors and objects, so a better spot can double the signal in far rooms.
Moving your router is the cheapest WiFi upgrade there is: WiFi spreads out from the router in all directions and weakens through walls, floors and objects, so a better spot can double the signal in far rooms. Put it central, high and in the open, away from interference, metal and water.
Here is how to find that spot.
Placement rules
- Central: put it near the middle of the home, not in a corner or at one end.
- High: on a shelf or wall, about chest height or higher.
- In the open: not in a cabinet, behind a TV or inside a closet.
- Away from interference: keep it 1 to 2 meters from microwaves, cordless phone bases and baby monitors.
- Away from metal and water: fridges, mirrors, fish tanks and radiators block signals.
- Antennas: point some vertically and some horizontally for multi-floor homes.
Central and high are the two moves I try first, since they fix more dead zones than any setting.
How materials affect WiFi
| Material | Effect on signal |
|---|---|
| Wood, drywall, glass | Low loss |
| Brick, plaster | Medium loss |
| Concrete, stone | High loss |
| Metal, mirrors | Very high loss, reflections |
| Water (aquariums, people) | High loss |
When a room is weak, the wall is the first thing I blame, not the router.
Placing mesh nodes and extenders
Place the next node or extender about halfway between the router and the dead zone, where it still gets a strong signal. Putting it in the dead zone gives it nothing to repeat.
I place a node where the signal is still strong, never in the dead zone itself.
How to test placement
- Run a speed test in each room before and after moving the router.
- Use a WiFi analyzer app to see signal strength and busy channels.
- Check the 5 GHz band especially, as it drops faster through walls.
I test before and after every move, since a guess about placement is usually wrong.
Placement by home type
- Flat: central hallway or living room, away from the front door and the kitchen.
- Two-storey house: upstairs landing or a high shelf on the ground floor near the middle of the house.
- Long bungalow: the middle of the house; add a mesh node at each end if needed.
- Home office in a back room: place the router closer to where you work, even if it means a longer cable from the internet socket.
Can’t move the router because the internet socket is in a corner? A long Ethernet cable from the socket to a better spot is cheap and makes a real difference. I run a long cable when the socket is in the wrong place.
Antenna direction
If your router has external antennas, angle them for your home. Signal spreads out sideways from an antenna, so:
- For a single floor, point them straight up.
- For two floors, angle one or two sideways (horizontal) to send more signal up and down.
- Spread them at slightly different angles rather than all the same way.
It won’t turn a weak router into a strong one, but it can help a room that’s just on the edge. I angle one antenna sideways for a second floor, since that is where it helps most.
Kitchens, bathrooms and garages
Some rooms are naturally hard for WiFi. Kitchens have fridges, ovens and microwaves full of metal. Bathrooms have tiles, mirrors and pipes. Garages often have metal doors and thick walls. My router never lives in a kitchen, since metal and water weaken every signal.
Avoid putting the router in these rooms, and expect weaker signal through them. If you need WiFi in a garage or garden office, an outdoor mesh unit or a wired access point usually works best.
Map your WiFi in 15 minutes
- Pick five spots you use most: sofa, desk, bed, kitchen table, garden.
- Run a speed test in each and note the result and signal bars.
- Move the router slightly (higher, more central) and test again.
- Keep the position that gives the best average, not the best single room.
This simple test often finds a better spot than any rule of thumb. I trust the numbers from this test more than any guess about a good spot.
Router placement in apartments
In flats, walls between you and neighbours stop your signal and theirs. Placing the router in the centre of your own flat keeps more signal inside and reduces interference from next door. If your internet socket is by the front door, a long Ethernet cable to a central spot is one of the cheapest upgrades you can make.
I put the router in the centre of the flat, since the walls keep most of the signal inside.
