What is the best location in the house to place the internet router?

We have all experienced the painful moment when the internet connection is lost due to weak network and WiFi signal. And we have learned that there is a right way and a wrong way to set up the internet network. If you want to know the difference between the two methods: regardless of checking the router’s security, you should know that the wrong way will leave you waiting for a long time staring at the device’s screen until the webpages load, or perhaps face internet stability issues during Skype or Zoom calls, or maybe due to slow file download speed, or the result of a frustrating experience with online games due to ping delay and slowness.

All of these problems mean that you have set up the internet network in a wrong way. So, in this topic, we will try to find the best place in the house for the internet router, and see what appropriate adjustments should be made to ensure a better internet connection.

Jason Cole, a PhD student in Physics at Imperial College London, relied on mathematics to determine the best place to put the internet router. He was able to solve the Helmholtz equation, which is used to map electromagnetic fields like those waves emanating from the router internet.

Based on his personal apartment, Jason found that placing the router far away in a corner is not an ideal way to get a good connection, even though most people already rely on placing the router in one of the corners of their distant homes. During his conversation with a tech newspaper, he provided a set of golden tips to help the internet router send a strong WiFi signal throughout the home and escape the tunnel of delay periods that we have to endure while browsing the internet. Here are his most important tips…

1- Place the router in a central location

Jason says that wireless radio waves, like waves in the sea, emanate in all directions from the main source. So, if the router is left at one end of the house or in the distant corner of a room, you will lose at least half of the full coverage range of the wireless signal. Also, it should be noted that the signal is stronger the closer you are to the signal source (the router), so try to minimize the distance between you and the router while sitting with your laptop or phone.

The ideal place to put the router is in a central and middle location. In other words, it should be in the center of your home to get rid of the many walls and long distances that may hinder and reduce the coverage range of the wireless signal. Also, when choosing a location for the router, you should take into account all the devices that will connect to it and calculate the distance you are from the distribution source.

2- Place the router in a high place

Imagine wireless radio waves emanating from the router in the form of scattered water bubbles in the air, meaning that they do not only scatter horizontally, but are also two-dimensional and deceptive bubbles, scattering vertically as well, so it might be better to have the router in a high place instead of placing it on the ground to avoid the floors consuming a large portion of its wireless coverage range.

Some technicians and internet networking specialists always prefer to place the router on high shelves or mount it on wall walls. Also, you should consider if you live in a two-story house, if you move frequently to the lower floor, the router should be close to the floor of the upper floor, and if you ascend to the upper floor frequently, it may be better to place the router near the ceiling of the lower floor – but not literally stuck to the ceiling of the floor. Remember to check the internet cable from within the router settings.

3- Avoid too many walls and windows

Wireless waves pass best through outdoor air, so the ideal position will allow you to have a direct line of sight between your device and the radio waves emanating directly from the router at all times. But it will be challenging when it comes to sending those waves to neighboring rooms.

Fortunately, most building materials allow the Wifi signal to pass through, where wooden beams and dry walls will not block the wireless signal transmission. However, you should minimize the number of walls between your device and the router to a minimum. Be cautious of denser building materials such as bricks and reinforced concrete, as these materials absorb radio waves much more than ordinary wooden walls.

4- Remove metal obstacles

The real problem will not be caused by wooden walls, glass, or even columns and concrete walls, but the real enemy of the wireless radio signal is metal objects. Whether wire shelves, steel desks, refrigerators, barbecue grills, or water heaters. Metal objects absorb wireless signal waves and turn their surrounding area into a completely dead and isolated zone from the network.

Therefore, it is essential to make sure to remove all metal obstacles standing in your way between you and the router. And remember that they may sometimes be hidden. In other words, they may be the result of water pipes behind the wall or running through the ceiling, an iron bathtub, a steel security door covered with wood, anything metal that may interfere with the signal, take it into account and do not sit next to it or try to distance yourself from it while choosing the right place to place the router.

5- Avoid interference and noise

Large electrical appliances, cordless phones, Bluetooth speakers, and baby monitors that operate on the 2.4GHz frequency range, cause signal interference due to crowded waves within the same wireless signal range. If you live in a crowded residential building, it is better to switch to the 5GHz channel because it is currently the least crowded. It is also better to move the router away from electrical appliances from 5 to 6 feet minimum, such as televisions or even if they are close to the electric elevators next to the front door of the apartment. But of course, there is nothing worse than a microwave interfering with the Wi-Fi signal, so stay away from it as much as possible.

In this way, when you get rid of all the negative obstacles that may slow down the network or cause stability issues in performance, your chances of enjoying high-quality internet will be better. Remember that you can make some manual adjustments to improve internet speed and stability, and there are also simple modifications to try to improve internet stability and reduce ping better. If all previous attempts fail to improve internet speed, try manually changing connection axes, and be sure that you will be satisfied with the results. When you are done with everything, take a look at the meanings of the most important terms in the world of the internet and networks.