Summary
- Your first step to improving Wi-Fi signal is optimizing router placement. Get your router out of any closets or drawers, and put it on a desk or table in a central location.
- Kill any (unused) bandwidth hogs such as filesharing apps, background audio and video streams, or Wi-Fi accessories you no longer need.
- You may also be able to force devices to connect to preferred bands and/or channels. If that doesn’t work, it may be time to look into extenders or mesh routers.
When it comes to daily life, Wi-Fi signal is more important than we sometimes give it credit for.
Most people understand that when a signal is distant, a device’s connection is going to become flaky or drop off entirely, which can certainly ruin your workday or a movie on Netflix. But even when it’s within range, a signal can still be sub-par, affecting performance. Think of your data as a sailboat — it just isn’t going to move fast if the wind isn’t strong. If you’re playing a game like PUBG, boosting your signal can legitimately mean the difference between scoring a headshot or falling prey to one.
Thankfully, it’s usually not that hard to fix signal issues. You may not even have to touch your router’s software controls. There are situations when tweaking may be necessary, or you’ll have to go out and buy new gear, but I’m going to leave those for the second half of this piece. As a rule, there’s no need to become your own IT department to get the most out of your Wi-Fi connection.
5
Fixing your router placement
Start with this before anything else
I’ve covered this elsewhere in detail, but router placement is essential to a clean signal. The analogy I like to use here is a radio station — you’ll hear your shows loud and clear if a tower is broadcasting across open fields, but absolutely nothing if you’re on the opposite side of the Rockies. Really, a Wi-Fi router is a radio tower too, just broadcasting a different kind of data on a much smaller scale.
Your first priority is to get your router out of any closet, drawer, or cabinet it might be in. You might not like the look of that, or have much space to work with, but stuffing a router away hampers its signal before it can even reach any devices. Once that’s done, make sure it’s sitting on a desk or a table, and away from walls or any major obstacles. It might be tempting to stick a router behind your TV, especially if that’s where your modem is located, but that TV is effectively a wall made of metal, plastic, glass, and electronics. Don’t sit your router on the ground, either.
In the broader picture, it’s important to pick central locations that optimize reach (when possible). If you’re using a standalone router in a three-floor house, for instance, it should probably be sitting in your living room on the middle floor. A mesh system offers more flexibility in this regard, as long as the routers are positioned well enough to talk to each other. More on that later. In a multi-story home, there should be at least one router on every floor.
4
Stop any unnecessary internet activity
Fewer cars on the highway
Strictly speaking, this tip deals with signal congestion rather than quality, but a router isn’t much good to you if there are too many apps and devices competing to talk. With older routers based on Wi-Fi 5 (a.k.a. 802.11ac), there’s the additional threat that older connections will be kicked off to make way for new ones, particularly if you have a large enough family or a lot of Wi-Fi-based smart home accessories. It’s best to use Thread or Zigbee accessories when you can, too.
Start with your computer. You’ll want to stop any background apps or processes that are consuming a lot of bandwidth, such as a Twitch, Spotify, or YouTube stream you forgot to close. The worst offenders are peer-to-peer filesharing apps, such as BitTorrent clients — if you don’t set any bandwidth caps, and/or forget to stop sharing files when they’re finished downloading, they can bring a network to its knees. You’ll also want to schedule app and OS updates for off-hours rather than the middle of the day.
In the physical realm, make sure to turn off or permanently disconnect any Wi-Fi devices you aren’t using. You shouldn’t have a 4K TV streaming when no one’s watching, as comforting as it might be.
3
Switch devices to different bands or channels
This isn’t always an option
All routers assign devices to different frequency bands. Wi-Fi 5 and 6 routers are equipped for the 2.4 and 5GHz ranges, while 6E and 7 units introduce an additional 6GHz band. The higher the frequency, the better the speed, at the expense of range. Whereas a 2.4GHz connection might reach all the way across your house, a 6GHz signal may not extend far past the room your router is in.
On a standalone router, you can typically assign each band its own SSID (network ID). This opens up the ability to connect devices to the band best suited to their purpose. You might put all your smart home accessories on the 2.4GHz band, for example, but assign your PC to 5GHz. Remember, though, when devices need to talk to each other locally, it’s best to put them all on the same network. Check your router’s manual or web guide for instructions on how to access software control panels. If you’re lucky, you may be able to change these things via a mobile app.
You might put all your smart home accessories on the 2.4GHz band, for example, but assign your PC to 5GHz.
You may not have this option at all on a mesh system, such as my Eero Pro 6E. To make roaming seamless, mesh routers unify every band under a single SSID by default, and tend not to allow separating them. Normally, this is a plus rather than a problem, but some 2.4GHz-only devices can become confused.
If segregating devices by band doesn’t help, you might be able to go a step further and try different channels within each band. Typically, routers assign channels automatically and do a good job at it, but it’s not impossible that you might have more luck forcing a specific setting. Download a network analyzer tool to determine which (if any) channels your neighbors’ Wi-Fi networks may be hogging.
2
Improve coverage with additional routers or extenders
The last resort
At a certain point, the only way of improving signal quality is to extend coverage. Even with thoughtful router placement and minimal congestion, weak zones can persist, whether because of range limits or interference. A basement office might have too much concrete overhead, say, or you might have no choice but to install a standalone router in an out-of-the-way room.
Wi-Fi extenders are usually the cheapest way of extending coverage, but these have fallen out of fashion for a couple of reasons. The first is that extenders often require a separate SSID, in which case devices have to connect to them manually, rather than sticking to the main SSID(s) on a router. Extenders also tend to have weaker performance than a router, which can potentially create problems if you’re trying to play a game or watch a movie.
Even with thoughtful router placement and minimal congestion, weak zones can persist, whether because of range limits or interference.
Mesh systems get around this by making every access point a router, and unifying things under a single SSID. There are two main issues to be aware of, the first being cost — a decent mesh bundle can cost upwards of $300, and the best ones are near or over $1,000. The second is that the quality of a mesh network is extremely dependent on the quality of its backhaul (the connections between each router). Some people go to the trouble of linking their routers directly using Ethernet cables. You’ll probably be fine, as long as your system has a dedicated wireless backhaul, rather than one splitting bandwidth with connecting devices like your phone.
You may not need to replace all your Wi-Fi gear to take advantage of mesh technology. Some brands let you buy additional standalone routers and create a mesh that way, but you’ll have to check the web for software and hardware compatibility. In fact, some hardware makers insist on proprietary mesh standards, meaning you’ll have to stick to that brand for anything you buy.
