1. Don't put your router on the floor. Get your router off the ground at least 5-7 feet if possible. It's kind of like a light bulb; when you turn it on you want it to shine as far as possible, not straight into the ground.
Ceiling mount is technically the best option—but if that's too much to ask, just sitting an AP on top of a tall bookshelf can work wonders. The higher you can mount your access points, the better.
Routers tend to spread their strongest signals downward, so it's best to mount the router as high as possible to maximize coverage. Try placing it high on a bookshelf or mounting it on the wall in an inconspicuous place.
In two-story houses, the best place to put your router is often on the ceiling of the first story or the floor of the second story. [1] [2] These two places often allow for the best wireless connection, as they are a very central location for both levels of the home.
A lot of folks default to an upstairs office, but that's usually located in a remote corner of the house. Even worse: the basement; that area makes it hard for the wireless signal to reach all areas of your home. Put your router in the center of the home, preferably on the first floor.
Routers send out wireless signals—but physical obstructions can still create problems. Even the ground itself can absorb a good amount of your signal. That's why the best practice is to place your router a few feet off the ground, such as on a cabinet, desk or wall mount.
Lift It Up – We recommend you place your router five to seven feet off the ground with a clean line of sight. Your router emits radio waves that spread out and down from their source. Placing your router a good distance off the ground improves the range of your signal.
Placing your router at a higher height is a great idea for even and solid connection. Having your router higher than ground level can lessen the number of interferences, and can help extend its range.
For the least signal degradation possible, you want the radio waves to spend as energy as possible inside dense objects like walls. Lower 2.4GHz Wi-Fi frequencies travel through walls a bit better, thanks to wider waves that only have a handful of peaks inside the dense portion of the wall.
Don't place your router near electronics
Radio signals are the enemy of your router and will interfere with the broadband connection; this means your TV, radio, wireless phone, or even remote-control toy can all lag your Bridgerton binge watching.
What about a three-story house? That's easy: simply place the router right in the middle of the second floor to achieve even coverage and remember that the best location for a wireless router upstairs or downstairs is approximately in the center.
Wi-Fi signals go down as well as up, so if you put it on the floor, a proportion of the signal will traverse down. Thus, you must avoid putting it on the floor. It is better to put the wifi router higher up (on a shelf/mounted on a wall) to get better coverage.
Pay attention to your wireless router's antennas.
As we know, our antenna signals are radiated vertically and outward. If you only need to use it on the first floor of your home, we recommend you place antennas vertically, so that the antenna coverage can achieve the best on the same level.
These guidelines recognize that too much exposure to electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation can harm the human body, particularly at close distances. While maintaining a safe distance from the WiFi router can greatly reduce your exposure to its radiation, keeping the router in your bedroom is not recommendable.
Working with a wireless device too close to the router can have a detrimental affect on performance. The signal may be too strong and distorted causing data corruption and retransmissions which will slow down the performance considerably.
The industry standard will usually be the same as above, and people should plan for about 150 feet indoors and about 300 feet outside from most quality routers. This is still what you can expect without obstructions and other problems that can limit your coverage.
Just make sure that the modem or router has at least 4 inches (10 centimeters) of clearance on each side to give it good air flow.
In theory, Wi-Fi signals are capable of passing through walls and other obstacles relatively easily. However, in reality, some walls are thicker or use reinforced concrete and may block some of the signals. Materials such as drywall, plywood, other kinds of wood and glass can be easily penetrated by wireless signals.
The best way to move your router is to move both your modem and router to the new location. But, if you have a separate modem and router, you have the option of moving just the router. To do so, you need to run an Ethernet cable from the modem in the old room to your router in the new room.
✔ Be on the inside surface of an exterior wall or a wall which is easily accessible for cabling the fibre. ✔ Be near a dedicated power source or an appropriate, safe alternative ✔ Be in a safe location away from hazards, including busy areas where it may be knocked and damaged.
Put a Lid on It
Baskets with lids are the real MVP for router storage. Slip it onto a shelf or leave it sitting on top of your credenza. Put a larger one on the floor or in a lovely stack. Just remember to provide plenty of room around the router to let air flow.
Manufacturers typically recommend that all antennas point straight up, but Wi-Fi works fastest when the router antenna and the device antenna are positioned the same way. Laptops tend to be horizontal, but the antenna positions for phones and tablets depend on how you hold them.