Best Router Placement

Router placement is the cheapest Wi-Fi upgrade. Move the router before buying a new plan, extender, or mesh system.

Best Place for a Wi-Fi Router

Central

Put the router near the middle of the area you want to cover, not at one edge of the home.

Elevated

A shelf, desk, or wall mount usually performs better than the floor.

Open

Avoid cabinets, cupboards, metal shelves, thick walls, and appliances.

Router Placement Checklist

Place the router as close to the centre of the home as practical.
Keep it at least waist height, ideally on an open shelf.
Move it away from TVs, speakers, microwaves, baby monitors, and large metal objects.
Avoid hiding it inside a cabinet or behind furniture.
Point antennas vertically unless the manufacturer recommends otherwise.
Run a speed test before and after moving it to confirm the improvement.

Places to Avoid

Do not place your router on the floor, inside a TV cabinet, behind a sofa, in a closet, next to a microwave, or beside a large mirror. These locations block, reflect, or absorb Wi-Fi signals and can increase jitter even when download speed looks acceptable.

Router Placement for Apartments

Apartment buildings have heavy Wi-Fi congestion. Place the router away from shared walls where neighbours' routers may be closest, and use 5 GHz or 6 GHz for devices in the same room. If 2.4 GHz is crowded, manually choose channels 1, 6, or 11 after checking nearby networks.

Router Placement for Multi-Storey Homes

For two floors, place the router near the centre of the home on the floor where you use Wi-Fi most. For three floors or long layouts, a single router may not be enough. Use wired access points or mesh Wi-Fi with wired backhaul where possible.

How to Test Router Placement

Run a speed test in the same room as the router, then repeat in the rooms where Wi-Fi feels weak. Compare download speed, upload speed, ping, and jitter. If nearby results are good but distant rooms are poor, router placement or coverage is the problem, not your ISP plan.