What is the Best Place to Put a WiFi Router in a House?

What are good internet speeds? And to ensure these speeds, where do you place the WiFi router in your house for the best coverage? The router should be positioned centrally away from obstacles and interference

The Wi-Fi router is the most important part of your home network. It’s where all your devices connect to the internet and it can be hard to get a good signal if it’s not in the right place. But what is the best spot for your WiFi router in your house?

Router placement is an important decision you have to make if you want Wi-Fi to reach various points. The major setback the people experience without knowing the solution is optimal placement. Poor placement comes with challenges such as unreliable speeds and poor signal.

Several factors determine how powerful your internet can be. Among them is observing the proper height for placement of the router. Positioning and strategic choice of a point is one thing that you need to select carefully.

We have some tips on how to find that perfect place for your WiFi router so you never have another bad connection in your house again! Follow these steps and we guarantee you will see an improvement in speed, coverage, and reliability. Plus, there are many other benefits of having a better Wi-Fi signal at home!

Best place to put the WiFi router in a house

Choose a central location

The central point allows the router to distribute the signal equally. All the devices operating within the range will have high-quality signal and speed hence delivering the preferred outcomes. A central location enjoys less interference from obstacles and other hindrances.

Placing the router at the furthest end or in a corner lowers its coverage. The first obstacle is a corner or too much distance to the devices that make the quality lower. All your devices should have clear access to the router.

The goal of any WiFi network is to provide a strong signal throughout the home or office. But there are many factors that can affect how well this works, including obstructions in the environment and interference from other devices such as microwaves and cordless phones and this happens if the signals have to travel far.

Keep away from thick walls

These walls make the network signal bounce back. Apart from bouncing back completely, the Wi-Fi signals fail to penetrate through the wall. The next room will have a week and unreliable signal. Walls are very good at making the signal disappear hence losing the potential to deliver a stable service.

Radio waves get interference when they meet thick walls and other obstructions. If the router is closer to a concrete wall, even the devices that are within the open space end up performing poorly. Understanding how Wi-Fi works are one principle you need to understand to avoid such obstacles.

You’ll want to make sure that all rooms have good coverage from the router so everyone can enjoy fast internet speeds no matter what room they’re in. It’s also important not to cover up any windows with furniture or curtains because this could block signals from getting through.

Away from electronic devices

One principle of all electronic devices is that they have waves. These waves interfere with the Wi-Fi signal waves. A connection that is struggling to work lowers and delivers an inferior and unstable performance.

Electronic devices can be found in the kitchens and those in the living room. The tv, microwave, fridge, and baby monitors have waves that lower the connection quality. In such instances, you need to select a point that has not an electronic device. You may have to remove them if they are not in a strategic position.

Ensure that you place the WiFi router away from reflective surfaces in your house

Reflective surfaces do not allow the signal to go through them. They scatter and distort the signal making the quality not dependable. It is essential to avoid surfaces such as glasses, windows, and water tanks.

Placing the router behind the fish tank in the house will make the performance very poor and unreliable. Cabinets and tools with stainless steel are some of the surfaces that you need to avoid at all costs. If such surfaces are present, you will have to ensure that the router does not get closer to them.

Having a reflective surface is the basis of boosting Wi-Fi signals using aluminum foil. Therefore, if you want the signals to flow in all directions, you need to avoid reflective surfaces.

Choose the proper height

Some people tend to wonder about the best height for Wi-Fi router placement in a 1 and 2 story house. It can be pretty challenging to locate an optimal point for such a house. Understanding how Wi-Fi waves operate is essential in such cases.

Wi-Fi waves work well when they project in a downwards direction. If you place a router on the ceiling, it will project the signal downwards hence covering all the areas below and above.

Placing the router on a shelf is also advantageous as it will send the signal to the areas below. If you have a one or two-story house, placement at the top will make the two floors enjoy the connection without a hassle.

The signal gets through the flow to the one that is below. Maintaining the quality of the connection at this point is simple and quite effective. If you mount it on the wall at a height close to the ceiling, it will make the connection effective.

Pick a spot for the router away from the kitchens

The kitchen is one of the places that have many electronic devices and metal surfaces. Chances of having the signal penetrating through such surfaces lower to a great degree. You can therefore be sure that the performance will not be as you expect.

One major thing you need to keep away from in the kitchen is the microwave. It emits waves that project using the 2.4Ghz band. A dual-band router or a triband model will manage since if the 2.4Ghz signal encounters obstacles, the 5Ghz band will ensure you are covered.

However, since the 2.4Ghz band has the longest range, if you place the WiFi router in the kitchen, your house will have dead zones wherever you use the microwave since the range will be very short.

Consider the usability: Place the router near where most users are most of the time

If you are putting the router in an office, the best place will be where your working tools are located. Putting it away from the office will make the quality of the signal very poor. In offices, the best point is on the ceiling or the shelves.

Such a selection will reduce interferences even from movement or people. Placing it low, especially in a place where people gather, will make its quality unreliable and cover a small range.

Consider the place you want to cover

A short range will allow you to place the router anywhere and allow it to project a better signal. If you need to cover long-range, you will experience a challenge because of the distance. You will have to assess the coverage and measure it against the router’s range in such a case.

Once you have the facts and figures, you will pick an optimal and central position to place it. Consider using a tool that will maintain proper height if you have to cover an extended range. Observing obstacles like electric lines in open areas is essential.

Choose the best angle for the antennas

Antennas help in managing the range of the connection. It is essential to place them at a point that will make them reach the devices that are located at the farthest ends. Choosing the correct position for placement of the router regarding the positioning of the antennas will make you reach the extended ranges.

The antennas should have a free view of most of the places in your house. This will ensure the best coverage in all corners of the house.

Room for extension

In the future, there may be a need to extend the connection. Devices such as Wi-Fi extenders and repeaters will help in managing the task. The placement of the router will make the extension process simple and very successful.

For instance, if the router is at the corner, how will it reach the Wi-Fi repeater. If you place it at an open place, there will be a straight path between the router and the Wi-Fi booster. Success during extensions will be inevitable.

Avoided crowded areas

People are significant obstacles in Wi-Fi connections. Human beings have watery bodies that also tend to block the Wi-Fi signal. The connection that is operating in a place that has many people will be inferior.

Consider an area that has few people. If you cannot avoid the number of people, you can choose to place it above the height of people. Your devices should be at a point that many people will not access at a single time.

Related post: How to protect a router from lightning

Keep your router away from rooms with too many metals

Some rooms have too many metals, such as iron sheets and construction materials. You need to avoid such rooms at all costs. When you put a router in them, the signal will fail to penetrate and encounter too many obstacles.

The quality of the connection will, in such a case, be lower, making it unreliable. Metals and radio waves are great enemies. Remove all the metals if you need the room.

Do not keep your router covered

Some people are notorious for covering routers so that they are clean. Some will even put them inside the cupboards so that they don’t become dirty. A covered router will deliver an inferior service.

It also increases the chances of having a low speed and inadequate range coverage. It is, therefore, essential to ensure that no surface is covering the router. Remove the router from the box and the cupboard hence a reliable outcome.

Do not place the router on the floor or lower surfaces

The floor has the potential to block the signals from reaching the devices, especially those above it. If you place the router on the floor, it will channel the signal to the floor hence lowering its performance. Any device that is above its height will not get a proper signal.

Lower surfaces also cover a lower range. You will not have an excellent chance to enjoy the high-quality connection. Other rooms will not have an excellent chance to enjoy the connection.

Another possible thing is that you will not enjoy the opportunity to enjoy proper speeds as the bands focus on managing the next obstacle. Avoiding the floor or lower surfaces is another important way to determine the place to put your WiFi router in the house for the best connection.

Avoid unseen obstacles

Some obstacles are straightforward to ignore but have a serious effect on the quality of the connection. An excellent example of such obstacles is other routers and wireless connections, such as Bluetooth devices.

These devices tend to create a lot of noise which in turn makes the connection very poor. Speeds lower, and the signal quality gets interfered with. Any devices that project waves should be far from your router.

Conclusion

The placement of a router is essential because it boosts its performance. Choosing strategic positions for placing the router is something you should master. We have given you a blueprint of what to look at when choosing an optimal placement point.

If you’re experiencing a poor Wi-Fi connection, it may be due to the placement of your router. You need to consider several reasons why the internet signal is poor and place the router far from these causes. Therefore, you can use the tips above to determine the best place to position your WiFi router in your house.

In a nutshell, the best place for your wifi router in a house is on top or near an exterior wall that faces away from other buildings and structures, such as trees, power lines, houses, etc. This will ensure that there are no obstructions between your home and any nearby towers.

It’s also important not to put it too close to water bodies and metal objects like filing cabinets or microwaves because they can interfere with its signals. Finally, make sure there’s nothing blocking its antennas by keeping them at least 10 inches away from walls or furniture so they can receive the strongest possible signal!