Whether or not you are working from residence, binge-watching Netflix, or streaming your gameplay on Twitch, there is not any such factor as an excessive amount of bandwidth. Even if in case you have gigabit fiber mainlined into your router, everybody might use assist getting quicker web round the home. It would not matter if in case you have the very best wires outdoors your home—eliminating subpar speeds and Wi-Fi lifeless zones is essentially as much as you. Listed here are some methods to troubleshoot and, hopefully, enhance the standard of the Wi-Fi inside and out of doors your home.
Try our different networking guides, together with the Best Mesh Routers, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Home Office Gear, and explainers, like how to secure your home Wi-Fi network, router shopping tips, and Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 breakdowns.
Up to date Might 2025: We added particulars to most sections, together with tips about Ethernet, Wi-Fi bands, and adjusting antennas.
1. Transfer Your Router
That router within the closet? Not a good suggestion. Partitions, cabinets, and even bookshelves can doubtlessly dampen your Wi-Fi sign. Bodily shifting the router could make an actual distinction to web speeds and the way far wi-fi transmissions attain. The proper spot will rely on your house, however attempt to not disguise your router in a nook, beneath a cabinet, or inside a drawer—the extra central and distinguished it’s, the higher. For more information, learn our information on where to put your router for the best possible home Wi-Fi.
You would possibly have to get artistic with cabling to get your router in a greater place, however it will likely be well worth the effort. The purpose is to get your primary units—consoles, laptops, and so forth—as shut as potential to your router. Gadgets that do not want fairly a lot bandwidth, like sensible thermostats, do not must be a precedence by way of bodily proximity.
For that reason, it is price contemplating the look of your router when buying. In the event you purchase a hideous router, you’re extra more likely to put it in a closet. Work out one of the best spot given the situation of your high-priority units, then contemplate what is going to look good to you in that spot. If you do not have a flat floor close to one of the best space, mount your router midway up a wall. If potential, maintain it away from different units that use electromagnetic waves; that features child displays, wi-fi keyboards, and microwaves.
Routers have antennas, both inside or exterior, and even simply altering the angle can affect the energy of your Wi-Fi elsewhere round your house, so do not be afraid to waggle these antennas and see if there’s an enchancment. For routers with inside antennas, even turning the router round or angling it in another way could make a distinction.
2. Use an Ethernet Cable
It is simple to neglect that wires nonetheless exist! We do not, it is in our identify, nevertheless it must be mentioned: You do not want Wi-Fi. A wired Ethernet connection to your router is quicker and extra steady than Wi-Fi, and it could actually’t be affected by different units or massive fish tanks. The draw back is that it limits the place your units will be, and it is much less handy.
