How to Improve Wi-Fi Speed
Most Wi-Fi problems come down to placement, interference, or ageing hardware. Work through these fixes in order — you'll likely solve the problem before reaching the end.
1. Move the router to a central location
Wi-Fi signal radiates outward in all directions. A router in a corner or at one end of your home wastes half its signal broadcasting outside. Place it centrally, elevated (a shelf or table, not the floor), and away from walls where possible. Each wall a signal passes through reduces throughput by roughly 30%. Avoid placing it inside cabinets, behind TVs, or near large metal appliances.
2. Restart your router
Router memory fills over time with connection state, ARP tables, and queue buffers. A restart clears all of this. Unplug the router's power cable, wait 30 seconds, and plug it back in. If restarting helps but the slowness returns after a few days, your router is likely underpowered for your household's traffic load and should be replaced.
3. Switch to the 5 GHz band
Modern routers broadcast two networks: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. The 5 GHz band is significantly faster (up to 3–4× on compatible devices) and less congested because fewer devices use it and it has more non-overlapping channels. Its drawback is shorter range — walls reduce its signal more than 2.4 GHz. Connect phones, laptops, and tablets on 5 GHz; use 2.4 GHz for devices far from the router or for IoT devices that don't need high speed.
4. Change the Wi-Fi channel
In dense areas — apartments, offices — multiple routers compete on the same Wi-Fi channels, causing interference that degrades speed and increases jitter. Log into your router's admin panel (usually at 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1), find the wireless settings, and switch from "Auto" to a manually selected channel. For 2.4 GHz, use channels 1, 6, or 11 — they don't overlap. Use a Wi-Fi analyser app on your phone to see which channels your neighbours are using and choose the least congested one. Full channel selection guide →
5. Update your router's firmware
Router manufacturers release firmware updates that fix bugs, patch security vulnerabilities, and often improve Wi-Fi performance. Log into your router admin panel and look for a firmware update option, usually under "Advanced" or "Administration". Many newer routers support automatic firmware updates — enable this if available.
6. Use Ethernet for high-bandwidth devices
Wired connections are faster, more stable, and have far lower jitter than Wi-Fi. Gaming consoles, desktop PCs, smart TVs, and NAS drives do not need to be on Wi-Fi. Moving these devices to Ethernet frees up significant Wi-Fi airtime for devices that genuinely cannot be wired — phones, tablets, laptops. A single streaming 4K TV on Wi-Fi can noticeably degrade the Wi-Fi experience for all other devices in the room.
7. Reduce interference sources
The 2.4 GHz band is shared with Bluetooth devices, microwaves, baby monitors, and some cordless phones. Running a microwave while on a Wi-Fi video call on 2.4 GHz will cause noticeable interference. Keep your router away from microwaves and cordless phone bases. If you use a lot of Bluetooth devices, switching your Wi-Fi to 5 GHz avoids this overlap entirely.
8. Add a mesh node or Wi-Fi extender
If your home is large or has thick walls, a single router cannot provide adequate signal everywhere. A Wi-Fi extender (also called a range extender or repeater) connects to your existing router wirelessly and rebroadcasts the signal. It's cheap but adds latency and halves your throughput in the extended area. A mesh Wi-Fi system is better — it uses a dedicated backhaul channel between nodes, maintaining both coverage and speed. Mesh systems from Eero, Google Nest, and similar brands are straightforward to set up and dramatically improve multi-room coverage. Mesh vs extender — which is right for you? →
9. Replace your router
Consumer routers typically last 3–5 years before hardware limits become apparent. If your router is older than 5 years, single-band (2.4 GHz only), or supports only Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n), a new router will likely double your Wi-Fi speeds. Look for Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) routers — they handle more simultaneous devices efficiently and perform significantly better in congested environments. ISP-provided routers are often the weakest point in a home network.
Still slow after all of this?
If your speed test result on Ethernet matches your plan speed but Wi-Fi is still poor after trying everything above, the bottleneck is your router's Wi-Fi radio. A replacement is the most cost-effective solution at that point.
If your Ethernet speed is also lower than your plan speed, the problem is with your ISP or modem — not your Wi-Fi. See our guide to diagnosing slow internet broadly →