How to place the router in the apartment

So try to place the router so that the signal has outputs everywhere. Of course, this is quite difficult, unless you have a studio apartment. But in an ordinary Soviet house, it is enough not to put it next to a load-bearing wall, behind which you have another room – otherwise the signal in this room will be worse.

Antennas on the router

The first Wi-Fi routers came with one antenna. Later there were models with two, three, four. And some routers have up to a dozen of them. At the same time there are routers without them at all. What is the secret? Why do some devices need so many antennas, while others do without them at all? What do they do and how many of them should there be for good Wi-Fi coverage? This will be discussed in our article.

Without going into the intricacies of radio engineering, let us note at once: any radio device that receives and transmits a signal needs an antenna. Without it, the transmitter itself cannot send or receive radio waves.

Every smartphone, Wi-Fi adapter and, of course, Wi-Fi router has an antenna, even if you can't see it. Phones, for example, used to come with an external antenna. And some had an additional antenna that was extended to improve reception. Now you will not find such models. All modern smartphones and phones are available with a built-in internal antenna. That is, it is hidden inside the body of the device and visually it is not visible.

The same applies to routers. If you see a wireless router without an antenna, you know: it is there, only inside. There is no such thing as a Wi-Fi router without an antenna.. The number of built-in antennas can also be different – one, two or three. Sometimes, to improve reception, it is placed around the entire perimeter of the case. But the external one still works better. It has a higher gain.

Contrary to popular belief, the antenna does not make the radio signal stronger at all. Signal strength depends on the transmitter. It makes it more stable and increases the range by distributing the signal in certain directions. That is, the greater the gain, the greater area of Wi-Fi coverage can be provided.

Now let's understand why a router needs so many antennas and how it affects the quality of its work.

How many antennas does a home router need?

Old routers used to work with one antenna and seemed to do a pretty good job. So why would anyone think to bolt another one to the router?

The Internet used to be slow, and often the speed provided by the provider was in the range of one or two megabits per second. But over time, the speeds have increased, and so have the requirements for network equipment.

The faster the Internet, the faster the Wi-Fi must work. Otherwise, wireless devices will work slowly. This is the reason why the routers "grew" the second antenna.

The thing is that the old models of routers had one antenna that worked simultaneously for receiving and transmitting (SISO). One antenna was not enough to provide high speed even with a powerful transmitter. Such routers can provide a maximum of 72 Mbps in a wireless network with a channel width of 20 MHz. In practice, it is significantly less – 30-50 mbps. Which, with three or four client devices on the network at the same time, is very low.

Two or more.

Then routers with two antennas, both working simultaneously to transmit and receive, started to be available. This increased the speed up to 144 Mbit/sec. This scheme of operation is called MIMO – translated from the English "multiple input-output".

By the way, modern smartphones, tablets and laptops are also equipped with at least two antennas. If you have an old device with one, it won't work properly with a dual antenna router, and the data transfer rate will be lower.

Okay, but then why the third antenna? Again for speed. Typically, routers with three antennas use 3×3 MIMO or 2×3 MIMO configurations. That is, three (in the second case two) antennas are used for transmitting. When receiving, all 3 are used. This configuration can provide wireless speeds of 216 Mbit/sec. If the channel width is 40 MHz instead of 20 MHz, the speed will be up to 450 Mbit/sec. This is with 64-QAM modulation. But if the router and devices support TurboQAM and or NitroQAM, the speed can be significantly higher!

How is the signal transmitted?

Equipment with Wi-Fi wireless access provides Internet connectivity for laptops, phones, TVs with the Smart TV option, tablets, smart watches, and other devices. The signal in the space is transmitted in the airwaves. Walls, furniture, and other structures prevent it from spreading in the apartment. They create a kind of barrier and reduce the quality of the connection. The more such obstacles, the weaker the signal. The signal strength is also affected by the distance from the access point.

When placing the router in the apartment, the degree of material absorption is taken into account:

1. Building materials with a low degree of absorption – ordinary glass, plastic, fiberboard, wood, drywall.
2. Average absorption has tinted glass, brick, primer, plaster, water.
3. Materials with a high degree of absorption significantly affect signal conductivity – ceramic, iron, aluminum, reinforcing bars.

Where to Place?

Watch a video about finding a place for a router here:

Where should I put my router in my apartment? To ensure a quality signal, stick to the rule of thumb: "fewer obstacles between connection points – better connection. To achieve a clear connection, stay in the area with the fewest obstacles between the router and the receiving device. Before installing, consider whether the router will be used exclusively for wireless connectivity or whether a desktop computer will be connected to it.

A suitable place where it is best to install a router in an apartment with a standard layout, is the corridor. Firstly, in this situation it is easier to connect the cable coming from the entrance. Secondly, the hallway in a standard 2- and 3-room apartment provides access to other rooms with less interference.

You can also place the device in the area where a person will most often use the wireless network. An alternative option is the center room.

Once the location is chosen, you need to determine the point of location. It is better to install the router on the wall or place it on a dresser or shelf. Many devices have holes for attaching to the wall. The location of the router in the apartment at a height gives the owner more advantages. In such cases, the waves are distributed evenly in the absence of obstacles.

Choosing a location with the help of apps

Software developers have not neglected the issue of effective location of wireless equipment. There are software products designed for both mobile platforms and windows environments. As a rule, they are small applications which do not take much time and computing resources to install.

After installing such an application on your laptop or smartphone, walk around your apartment to the places where you plan to use the wireless Internet. For example, the Ekahau HeatMapper utility will map your coverage using a preloaded apartment plan. You will have real-time information about all access points.

It is also worth noting the program NetSpot, which not only allows you to scan Wi-Fi networks, but also gives recommendations for improving their performance.

There are different versions of the programs, from simple free to high-quality professional products that have their own price. It's up to you to decide which one to choose.

Weak router dashboard

Now gaining popularity is the layout of low voltage equipment inside special switchboards. This is done for ease of access, safety and aesthetic look. In new buildings are increasingly common ready-made switchboards for low-current devices such as intercom, alarm, video surveillance, network equipment and others.

If the switchboard of an apartment SCS is recessed in the wall, it will prevent the signal propagation of the router installed inside such a switchboard. Therefore, in such cases, the wireless equipment is moved to the wall outside the panel. The best option in this case will be a plastic wall cabinet for a router with ventilation, which can be installed in any convenient location.

Conclusion

So, above we have considered the most important, in our opinion, points that should be taken into account when installing a router indoors. Let's briefly list the main recommendations:

• Choose a place in the room that is far enough away from the supporting structures and far enough away from other sources of Wi-Fi signals.
• Place the Wi-Fi router so that its antenna radiates as effectively as possible.
• Use a device that supports Airtime Fairness, or turn off compatibility mode for older standards: 802.11a/b/g/n.
• It makes sense to increase the channel width to 80 or 160 MHz.
• It makes sense to reduce the power of the access point to equalize the power relative to users' wireless adapters (laptops, tablets, and smartphones).

Perhaps, after reading these recommendations, you have already figured out what you can do with your home wireless device to make the Wi-Fi network quality just a little bit better.

Comments from NAG specialists

Dmitry Portnov, an engineer of wireless equipment department, comments.

If you don't have a need for more in-depth study of the subject, this article should be taken into consideration. The principles and criteria of indoor access point placement and Wi-Fi network configuration are quite thoroughly described in the article.

But the devil, as they say, is in the details. It is worth noting that the 802.11 standard was not created to provide the highest possible bandwidth per megahertz of the busy airwaves, but to ensure uncompromising compatibility and serviceability of the protocol even in the worst conditions. That's why it's not quite right to say "make fast Wi-Fi", it should say "make high-quality, stable Wi-Fi" !

Nevertheless, the article is correct:
– recommendations for the location of access points,
– information about the directional diagrams,
– information about the state of the airwaves.

And, dear readers, what other parameters do you think are important for high-quality and stable Wi-Fi?

Where not to place the router

• Do not install the router in the vicinity of home electronics – televisions, microwave ovens, computers, etc. In general, all those devices that can interfere with radio waves.
• Do not place the router on metal structures. They are great at blocking and weakening the Wi-Fi signal.
• Do not place it next to a mirror. It reflects the signal and can severely interfere with the signal if the mirror is mounted on the wall between rooms.
• Do not install your router in bathrooms or other high-humidity areas. Especially if your router does not have water protection, and by the way, it is not present in the vast majority of home routers.

Where is the best place to install a router?

The main rule of choosing where to install the router – between it and any extreme point in the apartment should be the least of the walls. And, that means the router definitely should not be installed in a side room. The ideal place for its installation we have shown in the diagram below.

As you can see, on one side the router is close to the front door, because of which you will not have to lay the ISP cable throughout the apartment, thereby disturbing the neatly made repairs. On the other hand, the router is separated from each room (except the bathroom) with only one wall, and this ensures maximum Wi-Fi coverage throughout the apartment.

Of course, even here there can be nuances like metal structures, reinforced interior partitions and other elements that we did not take into account. It's also worth considering where you use Wi-Fi most often. For example, if you prefer not to use the phone in the bathroom, it might be a better solution to install a router in Room 1. Especially if that's where you work with Wi-Fi most often. But you definitely shouldn't put it in room #2 and the kitchen.

In general, in reality, the ideal location for a router may be different, but we only tried to clearly show the principles that must be followed when choosing it.

Higher is better

What do the router and the cat have in common? They both just love to look at the world from above. Just as a cat can lie for hours on a closet, an Internet box works best when it's somewhere higher up. For example, on a shelf closer to the ceiling. The reasons for this are utilitarian – the signal travels better from top to bottom.

A number of routers even have special mounts to hang them on the wall without buying a separate shelf. Thus, it is sufficient to drill a couple of holes in the wall and screw in screws with dowels, and the router to hang on them. But here's an important point: it is better to choose plastic self-tapping screws. The router does not like the extra metal and reacts unpredictably to it.

Horns up!

And one last tip: keep an eye on the position of the router antennas. Regardless of their number, the router "horns" should be directed upwards, if possible, and not sideways. This is in the case if you have followed all the previous tips, and there are no obstacles between the router and Internet-hungry devices.

If you have them (for example, you can not do anything bearing a wall or a mirror), it is better to buy a router with multiple antennas and change their direction so that the signal bypasses obstacles. Experimentally, by changing the position of the antenna, you can achieve good reception.

Read about other routing secrets in our materials:

How does the signal travel?

Devices with Wi-Fi access provide Internet access for laptops, phones, TVs with the Smart TV option, tablets, smartwatches and other devices. The signal in the space is transmitted through the air. Do not allow it to spread to the walls of the apartment, furniture and other structures. They create a kind of barrier and reduce the quality of the connection. The more obstacles, the weaker the signal. In addition, the signal strength is affected by the distance to the access point.

When laying the router in the apartment, the degree of absorption of the material is taken into account:

Where to place?

See a video on how to find a place for a router here:

Where should I put my router in my apartment? To guarantee a quality signal, follow the rule of thumb: "fewer obstacles between connection points, better connection. To achieve a clear connection, they stop in the area with the fewest obstacles between the router and the receiving device. Before installing, consider whether the router will be used exclusively for wireless connectivity or whether a desktop computer will be connected to it.

A suitable place where it is better to install a router in a standard layout apartment is in the hallway. Firstly, in this situation it is easier to connect the cable coming from the input. Secondly, the hallway in standard 2- and 3-room apartments allows unobstructed access to other rooms.

You can also place the device in the area where a person will most often use the wireless network. An alternative option is the center room.

Once the location is chosen, you need to determine the location. It is better to install the router on the wall or place it on a dresser or shelf. Many devices have holes for wall mounting. The location of the router in the apartment at a height gives the owner more advantages. In such cases, the waves propagate evenly in the absence of obstacles.

Connecting all devices to the network

The first step on the path to optimization is unchanging: everything that can be connected via cable should be connected via cable. In this uncomplicated way the possibility of speed and stability problems with the corresponding client devices is eliminated. The bottleneck in the wireless network will be solved in the second stage.

Almost all stationary devices – TV, game console, Blu-ray player and others – are equipped with an Ethernet port for a LAN cable. Just for them, they need a broadband twisted-pair connection for stable video streams (media library, YouTube) and multimedia data from the media of other home network devices (PC, NAS) at high speeds.

Instead of pulling a twisted-pair cable from each client device to the router, you can connect all the devices in the same room to a gigabit network switch (about 1,000 rubles, see right) – this option would be more logical, given that the cable from the switch to the router, which will provide Internet access and data exchange with the rest of the home network, can easily be hidden.

If that's not possible, go to the section on mesh extensible networking systems and Powerline Wi-Fi Extenders designed to extend wireless coverage (see page XX) – these technologies also allow you to connect the switch to the router.

The more functions that are available to perform over a home network, the more convenient it is to use. For example, if your printer still does not support networking and does not connect to your router over a twisted-pair or wireless network, you will have to take steps to be able to print files from any computer or mobile device.

Eliminating the bottleneck in your wireless network

To meet today's wireless speed requirements, your router must support at least the 802.11ac standard with a nominal bandwidth of 1333 Mbps (802.11n can handle large amounts of data in most cases, too). Make sure the router is not covered by anything, and place it higher up.

If some parts of the network are slow, use an Android app (such as WiFi Analyzer) or a Windows tool (such as NetSpot) from your laptop to find out where the dead spots are. If changing the channel (page 100) does not improve the connection, you can install signal boosters that are as close as possible to the client device: repeaters, access points, Powerline Extender devices, or mesh-based Wi-Fi-Network extensible systems.

The easiest way to increase network coverage is to install a Wi-Fi repeater. You need to place it, as well as the router, as high as possible (about midway between the router and the "dead zone") and make sure there are no obstacles for the signal to pass nearby. The setup process usually involves plugging in power and pressing the WPS button on the router and extender.

The next step is to connect the client devices that were previously in the "dead zone" to the wireless network deployed by the extender. Since the extender sends and receives data packets simultaneously during operation, in many scenarios (namely, when the hardware or location of the devices allows only the 2.4 GHz band), the speed of the already slow data transfer over the wireless network drops by half.

How to properly position router antennas to maximize Wi-Fi signal range

Quite often when I visit friends and relatives, I see that their wi-fi router antennas are located in any way, but not as required. And the reason for this is that people simply don't know how the signal from wi-fi antennas spreads. And in fact, everything is very simple. And even the manufacturers themselves show exactly how the antennas should be located. Look at the box of your router (if you haven't already thrown it away.), there will be a hint. Below I will tell you exactly how to position the antennas for better signal reception and transmission.

In order to understand how to place the antennas on the wi-fi router, it is necessary to understand how the signal from these very antennas is dispersed. And here, of course, not everything is so simple. And there are many different types of antennas. But we are interested specifically in the antennas in household routers, which are usually a spring, with the right number of coils, hidden in a plastic pin. The classic antenna on a router looks like this:

This is the type of antenna installed in most home routers. Although there are models with built-in antennas and omni-directional antennas. But we will not consider them, because in this case, the manufacturer himself has taken care that the antennas were installed in the right direction.

Now let's see how the Wi-Fi signal diverges from this type of antennas. Google will help us for this, where you can find a lot of different studies and measurements. If we take a simplified diagram, it looks like this:

Complain to comment

Then you have to wrap your head in tinfoil. Because apart from the router, the apartment is full of other radiations: microwave, cellular, neighbor's routers, 5G towers, reptiloid transmitters, radio waves from radios and repeaters, radio and TV signals.
Oh, my gosh, I'm so scared myself.

If you ever stood next to a spectroanalyzer, your confidence would shake to some extent.

What's the point? You will need a grounded screen with earth resistance less than 0.01 Ohmm, which is at least 2000 metal pins 20 meters apart. Then your screen will help, but otherwise hide in a bunker with walls of one meter of armor:)

Knock on the door and introduce yourself as an employee of an Internet company, say preventive maintenance, and then do with the antennas what you need!

For example, I have three routers in my apartment, all with a password, of course. And what is free? Without knowing the password, I can not use the Internet, then.

It also happens that the router is lying somewhere on the floor behind the desk in a pile of wires and of course there are complaints about the poor connection. So it was a friend in an old Petersburg fund, where thanks to the wooden floors WiFi worked more for the utility neighbors from below and was not the full coverage is not such a large three-bedroom apartment. As soon as they got the router up on the closet, immediately the connection in the far room was stable.

And my router does not have any antennas outside.
What am I supposed to do, put it on its side or upright?

What are you smoking out there that's got you so worked up?
What difference does it make which side you put the oil on, it'll fall down anyway!

Well, lamers don't get it.
And those who are at least a user – they get it.
//Ps
How strange, my router is 15 years old.
The incoming channel is 250 Mbps, by youfly 220-230 Mbps load is stable…

And what are the numbers stated?
For example claimed gigabit per second.
And you have to understand that firstly this gigabit is possible only in ideal conditions – the air is clear, the signal is good, and the subscriber's device supports it.
Secondly, gigabit is the speed of the link – the radio channel through which the data will be transmitted. Data can be service and user data. In wi-fi, the share of service data is about 55%.
Accordingly, the speed of user data will be around 450 megabits.

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