Router placement: where to put your router for better WiFi
By Rupangkan KalitaPublished
Put your router somewhere central and open, at shelf height, away from metal, concrete and microwaves. Homes are rarely even, so the best spot is the one closest to the rooms that need WiFi most. If a socket holds it back, a longer cable usually costs less than an extender.
Router placement is the cheapest WiFi fix there is: the best spot is central, open and raised, close to the rooms that need the signal most. Moving the router costs nothing or the price of a cable, and it often does more than a new box would. Here is how to pick the spot, and how to check it worked.
Where is the best place for a router?
WiFi spreads out from the router in every direction, so a router in a far corner sends much of its signal outside your home. Aim for this:
- Central. As close to the middle of the rooms you use as your sockets allow.
- Raised. A shelf or a wall beats the floor, where sofas, people and furniture get in the way.
- Open. Out in the room, not inside a cabinet or behind a TV.
- Near the busy rooms. If you work and stream at one end of the home, lean towards that end. A perfect middle helps nobody if the rooms there sit empty.
What should you keep a router away from?
Some materials block far more signal than others. Apple's support page on wireless interference ranks them like this:
| Interference | Materials |
|---|---|
| Low | Wood, glass, many synthetic materials |
| Medium | Water, bricks, marble |
| High | Plaster, concrete, bulletproof glass |
| Very high | Metal |
So a wooden door barely matters, while a metal-reinforced concrete floor can cut the signal badly. Water counts too, which is why an aquarium or a bathroom between router and sofa can hurt.
Apple also lists common sources of interference to keep clear of: power cables, microwave ovens, fluorescent lights, wireless video cameras and cordless phones. A kitchen counter next to the microwave is a poor home for a router.
Where should a router go in a two-storey home?
Near the middle of the home, on the floor where you use WiFi most. Floors tend to block more than inner walls, above all concrete ones, so a router at the far end of the ground floor often leaves the opposite bedroom upstairs with almost nothing.
If you spend most of your time upstairs, try a high shelf on the lower floor close to the stairs, or move the router up. Three floors, or a concrete floor between two, is usually more than one router can cover well, and that is where mesh WiFi or an extender starts to make sense.
What if the socket is in the wrong place?
Your router has to connect to the socket your internet comes in through, and that socket is often in a corner or a hallway. You have three ways around it:
- A longer cable. The cheapest option. Ask your provider which cable you can safely extend.
- Keep the router there and add a wired access point. An Ethernet cable carries the connection to a second WiFi box in the middle of the home.
- Add a repeater or extender. The simplest to set up, but it only works in a spot that still gets a strong signal.
How do you know a new spot is better?
Don't trust one speed test in one room. The test tells you about that spot at that moment, and two rooms the same distance from the router can behave very differently.
Map your home instead. WiFi Heatmap & Coverage Map maps your rooms as you walk and paints the signal on the floor: green where it works, red where it dies. On LiDAR models it scans the walls in 3D; on other iPhones you tap the corners of the floor. You mark your router during the scan.
From that map the app gives one of a few plain answers:
- Move the router. It names the wall to move it to, how far that is, and how much shorter the average path to your floor becomes, giving extra weight to the weakest areas. The app says plainly that this is geometry, not a prediction, so scan again after the move.
- The router is already well placed. Moving it wouldn't gain enough to be worth unplugging anything.
- Add a repeater at the marked spot, with how much of the weak floor it would reach.
- Nothing needs fixing, in which case slow WiFi in that room more likely comes from the network beyond your router.
Your first room is free in full, and nothing leaves your phone. The steps are in how to make a WiFi heatmap on iPhone. Get WiFi Heatmap & Coverage Map on the App Store.
Questions
Where is the best place for a router?+
A central, open spot at shelf height, on the floor of the home where you use WiFi most. Keep it out of cabinets and away from metal, concrete walls and microwave ovens.
Should a router be high or low?+
High is usually better. On a shelf or a wall it has fewer sofas, people and appliances in the way than it does on the floor or behind a TV.
Can I put my router in a cabinet?+
It is best not to. A wooden door costs little signal, but a metal cabinet or a shelf full of electronics costs far more, and routers also need air around them to stay cool.
Where should a router go in a two-storey home?+
Near the middle of the home, on the floor where you use WiFi most. If the upper floor is the busy one, try a high shelf close to the stairs on the lower floor, or put the router upstairs.
Can I move my router to another room?+
Usually, yes. The router has to reach the socket your internet comes in through, so moving it may need a longer cable. Ask your provider which cable you can safely extend.
Should I move the router or buy an extender?+
Move the router first, because it costs little or nothing. Add an extender only if a weak area remains once the router is in the best spot it can reach.
How do I check if a new router spot is better?+
Map your WiFi before and after the move. WiFi Heatmap & Coverage Map paints the signal on your own rooms, so you can compare the red areas on the two scans.
Sources
- Apple Support: Resolve Wi-Fi and Bluetooth issues caused by wireless interference (checked 2026-11-05)
- WiFi Heatmap & Coverage Map on the App Store (checked 2026-11-05)