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Router Placement Guide: Where to Put Your Router for Best WiFi Coverage

So I've been helping friends and family with their internet issues for years, and you know what the number one problem is? Bad router placement. Like, they'll have a brand new gigabit router hidden in a closet or tucked behind the TV and wonder why their WiFi sucks.

Last month I finally moved my router after living with mediocre WiFi for way too long, and holy crap the difference was incredible. So here's everything I learned about where to actually put your router.

The Quick Rules (TL;DR)

If you only remember four things:

1. Center of your home - Not the corner where your cable comes in
2. Elevated position - Shelf height or higher, not on the floor
3. Open space - Not in a closet, cabinet, or behind furniture
4. Away from metal and water - These block WiFi signals like crazy

That's it. Follow those four rules and your WiFi will be way better. But let's dig into the details...

Why Location Matters So Much

WiFi signals radiate out from your router in all directions (kinda like a sphere). The further the signal travels, the weaker it gets. Walls, floors, and objects also weaken the signal.

So if your router is in one corner of your house, the opposite corner is getting a super weak signal that's traveled the maximum distance AND gone through multiple walls. That's why centralized placement matters.

I used to have my router in the basement where the cable comes in. The main floor was okay-ish, but upstairs? Forget about it. Speeds would drop from 500 Mbps to like 80 Mbps. After moving the router to the main floor (center of the house), upstairs went from 80 to 380 Mbps. Same router, just better placement.

The Ideal Router Location

Horizontal Position: Center of Your Home

Imagine drawing a circle from your router - ideally, your entire house fits within that circle. For most people, this means somewhere near the center of your home on the main living level.

Yeah, I know, the cable company installed your modem in the basement corner or garage. That's the worst possible location, but it's where they had easy access. You've got options:

• Best option: Run ethernet from your modem to a central location, put router there
• Easier option: Use a long coax cable to move the modem to a better spot
• Last resort: Get a mesh WiFi system with nodes throughout the house

I went with option 1 - ran a 50ft ethernet cable from my basement modem up to my living room. Took like 20 minutes and cost $12. Best $12 I ever spent on my network.

Vertical Position: Higher is Better

WiFi signals spread outward and slightly downward from the router. So placing it high up helps the signal reach more of your home.

Good heights:

• On a shelf (5-7 feet high)
• Mounted on a wall
• Top of a bookshelf
• On top of a tall cabinet

Bad heights:

• On the floor (terrible, please don't do this)
• Inside a low cabinet
• Under a desk

Before I moved my router, it was literally sitting on the basement floor. Moving it to a shelf in my living room (about 6 feet off the ground) made a huge difference.

Things That Block WiFi Signals

Not all materials are equal when it comes to WiFi. Here's what I've learned:

Major WiFi killers:

• Metal - File cabinets, appliances, metal shelving. WiFi basically can't penetrate metal.
• Water - Fish tanks, water heaters, radiators. Water absorbs radio signals.
• Concrete - Basement walls, some exterior walls. Thick concrete is brutal.
• Brick - Old brick walls can significantly weaken signals.
• Mirrors - The metal backing reflects WiFi signals.

Moderate WiFi blockers:

• Wood (especially thick/dense wood)
• Drywall (not too bad, but each wall adds up)
• Books (a wall of books can weaken signals)
• Plaster walls (worse than drywall)

Minor WiFi impact:

• Glass windows (minimal impact)
• Thin drywall
• Wooden doors (when open)

Common Router Placement Mistakes

Let me share some disasters I've seen (and done myself):

Mistake #1: In a Closet

My dad kept his router in a hall closet because "it's ugly and has blinking lights." His WiFi was terrible. Moved it outside the closet (literally just 3 feet), speeds doubled.

Closets are basically WiFi jail cells - walls on all sides, often containing metal shelving and water pipes. Don't do it.

Mistake #2: Behind the TV

Super common because that's where cable companies install stuff. But your TV is a big metal box that blocks signals in that direction. Plus, the TV stand is usually against a wall, meaning you're blocking signals in two directions.

If you must keep it near the TV, put it to the side of the TV, not behind it.

Mistake #3: In the Basement

Unless you live in your basement, this is a terrible spot. The signal has to travel through your floor (often concrete or thick wood) to reach the living areas.

If you can't move the router out of the basement, at least put it near the ceiling of the basement, directly under your main living area.

Mistake #4: In a Corner

Remember the circle thing? If your router's in a corner, most of that circle is outside your house. You're broadcasting half your WiFi signal to your neighbors or your yard.

Mistake #5: Next to Cordless Phones or Microwaves

These devices operate on the same 2.4GHz frequency as your WiFi and can cause interference. Keep your router at least a few feet away from:

• Cordless phone base stations
• Microwave ovens
• Baby monitors
• Bluetooth speakers
• Wireless security cameras

Optimizing Router Antenna Position

If your router has external antennas, their position matters. Here's what actually works:

For multi-story homes: Position antennas perpendicular to each other. Like if you have two antennas, one vertical and one horizontal. This provides coverage in all directions.

For single-story homes: Keep antennas vertical. WiFi signals radiate perpendicular to the antenna, so vertical antennas provide horizontal coverage (which is what you want on a single floor).

For routers with 3+ antennas: Keep most vertical, but angle one or two at 45 degrees. This provides good coverage both horizontally and vertically.

Honestly though? The antenna position makes less difference than the router's physical location. Focus on getting the router in the right spot first, then tweak antenna angles if needed.

Testing Your Router Placement

After moving your router, actually test if it helped:

1. Run speed tests from different rooms before moving the router
2. Move the router to the new location
3. Run speed tests again from the same spots
4. Compare results

When I moved my router, I literally walked around with my laptop running speed tests. The improvements were obvious:

• Living room: 450 → 480 Mbps (minor improvement, was already close)
• Kitchen: 280 → 420 Mbps (big improvement)
• Upstairs bedroom: 80 → 380 Mbps (massive improvement)
• Basement: 490 → 320 Mbps (got worse, but I don't use internet down there anyway)

The key is placing the router near the areas you actually use WiFi.

When Router Placement Isn't Enough

Sometimes even perfect router placement won't give you full coverage. This happens if you have:

• Large house (3000+ sq ft)
• Multiple floors with thick floors/ceilings
• Concrete or brick walls
• Very long/narrow house layout

In these cases, you might need:

• Mesh WiFi system - Multiple units that work together
• WiFi extender - Cheaper but less effective than mesh
• Additional access point - Requires running ethernet

But try optimizing your single router placement first. You'd be surprised how much it can help.

My Current Setup (After Learning All This)

For context, I have a ~1800 sq ft two-story house. Here's what I ended up with:

• Router location: Living room (first floor, center of house)
• Height: On a shelf about 6 feet up
• Position: Open air, not enclosed
• Distance from TV: About 8 feet (not behind it)
• Ran 50ft ethernet from basement modem to this location

Now I get 400+ Mbps everywhere except the basement and garage (which I don't care about). Before this, I had dead zones in multiple bedrooms and the kitchen dropped to like 100 Mbps.

Total cost to fix: $12 for the ethernet cable. Best network upgrade I've ever made.

Bottom Line

Router placement is probably the cheapest and easiest way to improve your WiFi. Before buying a mesh system or upgrading your router, try moving your existing router to a better location.

Just remember:

• Central location (horizontally)
• Elevated position (vertically)
• Open space (not enclosed)
• Away from interference sources

It might mean running an ethernet cable or dealing with a less aesthetic setup, but the improvement in WiFi coverage is absolutely worth it.

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