How to improve your home Wi-Fi
A fast plan won't help if the Wi-Fi in your home is weak. These steps fix most problems without buying anything.
Place the router well
- Put it in a central spot, up high and in the open, not in a cabinet or behind a TV.
- Keep it away from microwaves, baby monitors and thick masonry or metal.
- If your home has several floors, place it on the middle one when possible.
Understand the bands
- 2.4 GHz reaches farther through walls but is slower and more crowded.
- 5 GHz is faster over shorter distances.
- 6 GHz (Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 devices) offers the most capacity with less congestion, at the shortest range.
Cover a large or awkward home
- Mesh systems use several units that work together and usually perform better than plug-in extenders.
- Wired backhaul: if you can run Ethernet to extra access points, you will get the best results.
- Extenders can help in a single dead spot but often cut speed for devices that use them.
Use Ethernet where it counts
For desktop computers, game consoles, streaming boxes and work-from-home setups, a cable is more stable than Wi-Fi and frees up wireless capacity.
Housekeeping
- Keep router firmware updated and use a strong password.
- Replace routers that are many years old, especially if they can't handle your plan's speed.
- Run a speed test in different rooms to find weak spots.
If your wired speed is also slow, the issue is the plan or provider. See 10 fixes for slow internet.