How to improve my WiFi range

Living without WiFi today is practically unthinkable. Getting out of range halfway through the kitchen or to the bedroom upstairs is a big annoyance. In the business environment, the need to ensure good WiFi coverage throughout the work environment is even more pressing. Fortunately, there are simple and effective solutions to prevent this from happening and improve the WiFi range.

Often, simply installing the router or access point is not enough to achieve stable and uniform coverage. Especially if there are many walls, several floors, or there are numerous connected devices and a multitude of networks in the area. The characteristics of the router and its configuration also play a role.

In this article, we give you 5 tips to improve your WiFi range by optimizing the performance of your router and how to add amplifiers at strategic points to make your WiFi reach further.

1. Find the best location for your router

Wireless Internet connectivity works through radio waves that travel through the air and connect your devices to the router and, through it, to the Internet. The WiFi signal can pass through obstacles, but only to a certain extent.

Depending on the layout of the space in your home or office and the materials used in the construction, the range will be greater or lesser. For example, metal and concrete are much more resistant to the WiFi signal than wood, plaster or glass.

For this reason, the location of the access point or router is key to improving WiFi range. Ideally, it should be in a central location, both horizontally and vertically. That is, if we only have one access point and there are three floors, place it on the second floor.

Find a central point for the router, avoiding placing it inside a cabinet or other element that hinders the expansion of the waves

This will ensure that the signal is distributed more evenly throughout the space since the router emits at 360 degrees. However, it is not recommended to use a single router or access point to cover several floors.

Place the router in an elevated position and, of course, do not hide it in a drawer or closet. The clearer the line of sight between the router and the devices, the greater the range of the WiFi signal.

2. Strategically orient the router’s antennas

Not all routers have antennas, but if they do, it is important to orient them strategically to improve the WiFi range. Antennas help transmit the WiFi signal in certain directions.

Generally, router or access point antennas, if available, are omnidirectional: they are elongated and emit the signal around them as if they were a doughnut. These antennas can be adjusted from horizontal to vertical position.

If you have only one antenna, it should be vertical since it facilitates the connection with most of the devices around it. If the access point or router is on the roof, the antennas should ideally be horizontal for better coverage.

The reason is that the radio connection works best when the transmitter and receiver are oriented in the same plane. With the two antennas perpendicular, the connection quality is maximized with a larger number of devices.

If the router has more antennas, you can use the remaining ones to point in a particular direction where you want to improve the WiFi range because more devices are connected, for example.
Most routers allow you to change the antennas, so it is also a good idea to buy more powerful antennas to make your WiFi reach further.

3. Optimize speed with the proper band

The frequency band we use to connect our devices to the router also influences the coverage range. Knowing its characteristics is key to making smart use of the available bands and improving the WiFi range.

• The 2.4 GHz band is the most popular, available on all routers, and offers good coverage: up to 46 meters indoors and 92 meters outdoors. The disadvantage is that it usually provides lower connection speeds. It is the one supported by any device.
• The 5 GHz band offers higher connection speeds, but its range is considerably lower: 15 meters indoors and 30 meters outdoors. Not all devices support it.
• The 6 GHz band, available in newer devices, sacrifices even more range for much higher speeds. It is more recent, a small number of devices support this band.

Therefore, to improve the WiFi range, you can connect devices that are closer to the router to the higher frequency bands, which have a shorter range. Thus, you free up the 2.4 GHz band, which has a longer range, to connect devices farther away without saturating the router.

4. Buy a router with WiFi 7

WiFi 7, also known as 802.11be, introduces the ability to simultaneously connect to multiple frequency bands, such as 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz, through a technology called Multi-Link Operation (MLO). This allows devices to use multiple bands at the same time to transmit and receive data, maximizing available bandwidth and reducing latency.

Remember that to take advantage of a router with WiFi 7, your devices must also be compatible

By combining the bands, WiFi 7 optimizes data transfer, offering significantly higher speeds, a more stable connection and better performance in crowded environments or with multiple connected devices. This feature is ideal for high-demand applications such as 8K streaming, online gaming and dense enterprise networks.

Although it does not directly affect the coverage range, it is worth remembering to keep your router’s firmware up to date to reduce security risks and receive performance optimizations from the manufacturer.

5. Install repeaters or WiFi Mesh

Finally, if all of the above is not enough to improve the WiFi range in your home or business, the ultimate solution is to install amplifiers at strategic points to receive and expand the signal. These considerably increase coverage, especially in large areas or areas with many barriers.

• WiFi repeater: A device that receives the wireless signal from the router and repeats it in the area where it is located. It is connected to the electric current. It must be placed in an area with good coverage so that the repeated signal is strong enough.
• WiFi Extender: This device is similar to the repeater, but instead of repeating the wireless signal, it is connected directly to the router by an ethernet cable. Therefore, we can place it anywhere without losing quality in the original signal.
• PLC (Power Line Communications): PLC devices work through the electrical network. The receiver is connected to the router via an ethernet cable and plugged into the power supply. The transmitter is placed in the target area and plugged into the same power supply. Instead of transmitting the WiFi signal over the air, it is transmitted over the power line, avoiding interference from physical obstacles such as doors and walls.
• Mesh WiFi: The most interesting option for companies, especially in large areas, is mesh networks. This involves the installation of a system consisting of a router and several strategically located access points that automatically redirect the WiFi signal to ensure optimal coverage in each space.

If you are not sure which areas of your home or business have the most coverage problems, it is a good idea to conduct a site survey before investing in these devices to decide which is the best solution for you and where to place them.

Tools such as Acrylic WiFi Heatmaps allow you to make a detailed map of the WiFi coverage in your environment, providing specific recommendations to improve the WiFi range.