Name: 5 Tips for Improving Your Home Wi-Fi
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5 Tips for Improving Your Home Wi-Fi

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Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission.FollowWant better Wi-Fi? Follow these tips for finding the best place for your router.Ry CristSenior Editor / Reviews - AppliancesOriginally hailing from Troy, Ohio, Ry Crist is a text-based adventure connoisseur, a lover of terrible movies and an enthusiastic yet mediocre cook. A CNET editor since 2013, Ry's beats include smart home tech, lighting, appliances, and home networking.Taylor MartinCNET ContributorTaylor Martin has covered technology online for over six years. He has reviewed smartphones for Pocketnow and Android Authority and loves building stuff on his YouTube channel, MOD. He has a dangerous obsession with coffee and is afraid of free time.5 min readWhether you're working from a home office, setting up smart home gadgets or just trying to unwind with some Netflix at the end of a long day, a reliable internet connection at home is pivotal -- but Wi-Fi can be frustratingly finicky. Despite paying monthly fees to an and even if you've had a&nbsp; professionally installed, you may still find yourself spending too much time watching your phone, laptop or streaming device grind away as it tries to stay connected.&nbsp;The good news is there's an easy way to optimize your Wi-Fi network and address these issues, and it'll only take you just a few minutes.&nbsp;There are &nbsp;and while there are a to improve the overall wireless speeds and coverage in your home, one of the most crucial factors is the location of your router. And note, the best place is not always where the technician set it up. So keep reading to learn about the best place in your home for your router and other tricks for faster Wi-Fi. You can also check out our picks for the , the and the .&nbsp;Read more:&nbsp;First things first: It all starts with &nbsp;or other equipment. Not all routers are the same and the size and layout of your home will determine what type of wireless network you need. For most apartments and smaller homes (under 1,500 square feet), a single wireless access point should suffice. That said, if your router is several years old, you may want to consider upgrading to , or . That's the latest generation of Wi-Fi technology, and it'll give you the fastest wireless speeds possible and the best overall coverage. For bigger, multilevel homes, it's worth considering making the to offer consistent coverage throughout the entire house. Once the main access point is installed, if you find a far corner of your home doesn't have solid wireless coverage, just add another node to that area. Problem solved. To learn more, check out our and if you're not sure where to begin in choosing your next router, consult our&nbsp;. Regardless of whether you have a single access point or a mesh network, where you place the primary access point still matters.Here Are The Wi-Fi Range Extenders We RecommendWhen you first move into a new home or apartment, the modem is usually installed along the wall in one of the far reaches of the house. This is simply because that is where the line comes into the house and the technician's job is to set up the connection -- not optimize your network. That part is on you. It's tempting to just leave everything where the technician set it up. But it's unlikely that this is an optimal location to have your router. Routers send the signal out in all directions, so if it's left in the corner of your home, a significant percentage of your wireless coverage is being sent outside your home. That's why your best bet is to move the router to a central location to optimize the signal. Installing a router across the house from the modem may prove troublesome. It may require manually running an especially long CAT5 or CAT6 Ethernet cable under the floor or along the bottom of your walls, or enlisting the help of power line network adapters, which use your home's electrical wiring to pass an internet signal from point to point. But the improved wireless coverage will be worth it. Routers tend to spread their strongest signals downward, so it's best to mount the router as high as possible to maximize coverage. Try placing it high on a bookshelf or in an inconspicuous place.&nbsp;Search online, and you'll find lots of custom wall mounts built for specific routers, like for the mesh router. If you're struggling to find a good, elevated spot, something like that could be a great solution.Try to pick a location that's away from other electronics and large metal objects. The more walls, large obstructions and electronics near your router, the higher the chances are that something will interfere with the signal.One type of electronic device to especially avoid is the microwave, which emits a strong signal in the 2.4GHz band, the same wireless band your router operates in. You'll also want to be careful not to stick your router behind a large TV, which can cause electronic interference while also physically blocking or disrupting the signal.Along with electronics, keep an eye out for bulky furniture that might be limiting the signal's reach. Wi-Fi doesn't travel well through water, for instance, so if you have an aquarium in your home, try to avoid situations where it'll be in between your router and the device that needs to connect.Which Router Upgrade Is Right for You?Some routers have no antenna at all, but some have up to eight. These antennas help direct the signal. If there are two or more antennas on your router, don't position them all in the same direction.&nbsp; Instead, make them perpendicular to one another -- position one horizontally and the other vertically. Or slightly change the position of all the antennas to cover a wide range of angles. You might have to experiment a bit to find the most effective configuration.&nbsp;The signal from each of those antennas will come out like a wave traveling in all directions, and that wave will be perpendicular to the antenna itself, so a vertical antenna is going to be more helpful in single story homes, while a horizontal or angled antenna is going to put out a signal that travels upward, which might be more useful in a multi-story home.In worst-case scenario situations, it may prove useful to map out the signal in your home to see where there might be gaps or problems areas in your coverage. Several years ago, we used &nbsp;to map out the signal strength -- in the end, we got a great look at the weak spots in our Wi-Fi network, which helped us shore things up by moving our hardware to more optimal locations.If you're considering upgrading your router, be sure to check out . For homes with children, make sure to , too.Find Free Wi-Fi Near You to Stay ConnectedGet the CNET How To newsletterReceive expert tips on using phones, computers, smart home gear and more. Delivered Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission.FollowWant better Wi-Fi? Follow these tips for finding the best place for your router.Ry CristSenior Editor / Reviews - AppliancesOriginally hailing from Troy, Ohio, Ry Crist is a text-based adventure connoisseur, a lover of terrible movies and an enthusiastic yet mediocre cook. A CNET editor since 2013, Ry's beats include smart home tech, lighting, appliances, and home networking.Taylor MartinCNET ContributorTaylor Martin has...

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Taylor Martin

Ry Crist

CNET, formerly Computer Network, is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. Founded in 1994 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie, it was the flagship brand of CNET Networks and became a brand of CBS Interactive through CNET Networks' acquisition in 2008.

5 Tips for Improving Your Home Wi-Fi

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