The reliance on a good connection to the internet is critical in today’s modern fast fast-paced life. Personal devices, TVs, work set-ups, online gaming, and even smart features in the household all rely on a strong internet connection to allow people the benefits of the digital age. Despite this, many still find that they suffer from buffering, dropped connections, lag, and black hole spots in their home due to issues with connectivity. For many, the quick solution to this is to seek a new internet supplier and router to try to fix the problem. But often, there is a solution to this that is much more basic – it comes down to where you have placed your router and how effectively it is located in the home.
Where your router sits in the home can make or break your Wi-Fi performance. We will examine the best spots in the house to place your router, ensuring you get the most out of your internet provider and current router setup. By making these changes, you may see vast enhancements to internet performance, often doubling speed and extending coverage quickly. Let’s take a look at some of the best spots and why this placement matters so much.
The Basics Of Wi-Fi
WI-Fi internet connectivity typically uses radio waves in the 2.4 GHz to 5 GHz frequency bands. These radio waves transmit data between your router in the home, your devices, and the wider broadband world wide web.
Older 2.4 GHz waves used in older routers travel further and penetrate walls better than newer 5 GHz waves, but they are generally slower and can suffer from more interference from other household items such as kitchen appliances and other technology. 5 Ghz band waves are much faster and modern but they have a significantly shorter range which means they are much less likely to spread throughout the full home. Modern routers actually combine the use of both these frequency types to try and fit the best one for the right situation.
The Best Placement, Gold Standard for Router Positioning
It doesn’t matter what you are using your Wi-Fi for; the best placement for your router is finding the centre spot. You may be looking to play online games and avoid lag. You may be using your Wi-Fi predominantly in the house for your work-from-home set-up. You may be a crypto trader who relies on super-fast broadband connections to close those all-important deals as quickly as you possibly can. Whatever you are looking to use your internet connection for, it doesn’t matter; placing your router in the centre of your house is the best way to ensure that waves are distributed evenly and throughout the home. Think of routers like a lightbulb emanating another form of wave instead of light.
By having your router in the centre, you are, straight off the bat, ensuring that the signal is evenly distributed and minimising poorer connections or dark spots in certain areas of the house. If you are still finding that your router is not providing the ideal connection needed, then you may want to try positioning your router in an area of the home where you are likely to need the quickest connection. It seems primal in this modern age that the placement of routers really matters with so much technology around, but the bottom line is that it does. For those looking to game online, it might be best to have your router near your desk or gaming set-up in the study or living room. For those who regularly check trading platforms with crypto futures to find crypto investment options, then placing your router in your study may be the best idea.
Many find themselves poorly positioning their Wi-Fi due to where the connection enters the house from the wall jack installation. This can easily be remedied through the use of a longer Ethernet cable or a mesh Wi-Fi system to allow you to place your router in a more desirable location for your needs.
Other Methods Of Placement To Enhance Connectivity
Whilst it is best to place your router centrally, there are other steps which you can take to ensure that you are maximising the potential of your router. Consider the following:
- Raise Your Route
Whilst routers may seem simple in essence, they are actually pretty complicated pieces of tech. They typically will send out their signals sideways and downwards. This means that finding a spot where you can raise your router off the floor is going to increase the capacity of the waves reaching your devices. The router only has to work harder to send out signals if it is low down. Instead, by elevating it, you are allowing more waves to freely escape the router and find their desired devices.
- Open Spaces
Making sure that your router is not joining a pile of clutter in a cupboard or placed in a hard-walled corner will enhance connectivity. Much like how placing your router on the floor limits its power, the same is true of placing your router in obstructed areas, such as in cupboards or in corners of rooms, where the signal is being sent out and diminishing instantly by obstructions. Studies suggest that 29% of people think that placing your router in a cupboard will not affect the signal strength, with many studies evidencing that this can be a large contributing factor to Wi-Fi loss issues in the home. Get your Wi-Fi out in the open and on show.
- Avoid The Kitchen
For many homes, the kitchen tends to be the central room in the home. As such, many decide to place their routers here, but we are here to tell you this is a big no-go. Placing your router in the kitchen is a recipe for disaster.
With so many metal appliances in the kitchen, you are running the risk of the signal from your routers being interfered with all over the place. This is further compounded when looking at the impact that microwave ovens have on Wi-Fi waves. The electromagnetic waves that are used to power microwaves have been shown to disrupt routers’ connectivity massively. At 30cm away from microwaves, routers lose around 90% of their efficacy, with the microwave impacting router signals by around 75% even at 2-3m away.
- Concrete Stops Waves
Keeping your router away from concrete or solid walls is another great way to keep connectivity maximised. Walls can be a massive obstruction to signal strength when it comes to routers. The waves bounce off the walls and do not go through them. This means that by placing your router near walls, you are limiting its ability to spread waves evenly from the outset. Removing obstacles, especially those that involve concrete, is wise when thinking about router placement in the home.
Finely Tuning Your Wi-Fi Connection
Once you have found a suitable home for your router, you may still face connectivity issues in some areas of the house. After all, it can be difficult to fully enhance connection in some cases. But all is not lost. There are other ways that you can enhance the router signal throughout the home.
- Angle your router antenna thoughtfully
- Implement mesh networks to add more connection points throughout the house
- Upgrade your hardware and router
- Use direct Ethernet connections rather than solely relying on Wi-Fi connections
- Place your router on the first floor for 2-storey houses to ensure equal coverage
To Conclude
It may seem obsolete, but finding the best spot for your router in the home can save you from a world of buffering pain. Make sure that you have placed your router in the centre of the house or as close to the action as possible. This will maximise your connection in the area of the house that you need it. Equally, avoiding obstructions and finely tuning your setup is worthwhile to solve your issues. A smooth internet connection is bliss; don’t let something affect your internet access so much.
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