Home Wi-Fi: Fixing Coverage Before Buying Faster Broadband

Most home internet complaints are Wi-Fi coverage problems, not broadband speed problems. Upgrading the package makes no difference when the bottleneck is the distance between the router and the room.

Diagnose before spending

Run a speed test twice: once with a device connected by cable to the router, and once on Wi-Fi in the room that is slow.

• Cable fast, Wi-Fi slow — a coverage problem. A faster package will not help.
• Both slow — a broadband problem. Now a package or provider change is the right answer.

This single test saves most people from buying the wrong thing.

Free fixes first

• Move the router. Central and high, out in the open, not in a cupboard, not on the floor, not behind the TV. This alone often solves it.
• Away from other electronics and away from large metal objects and mirrors.
• Use the higher frequency band for nearby devices and the lower one for distant ones. The higher band is faster but passes through walls poorly.
• Restart it. Genuinely, sometimes.
• Check how many devices are connected. Modern homes have far more than people realise.

When the free fixes are not enough

• Mesh systems — several units that cover a house as one network, handing devices between them. The right answer for larger or awkwardly shaped homes. More units is not automatically better; placement matters more than count, and each unit should still have a solid link back.
• Wired access points — the best result if you can run cable, because each point gets full speed rather than sharing wireless backhaul.
• Powerline adapters — send data over the electrical wiring. Convenient, and performance depends heavily on the house's wiring. Both adapters need to be on the same circuit to work well.
• Simple range extenders — cheap, and typically halve the speed at the extended point. A last resort rather than a first choice.

Router specifications worth checking

• The Wi-Fi generation it supports, and whether your devices can use it.
• Number of ethernet ports, since wired connections are still the most reliable for anything stationary.
• Whether your provider's router can be replaced, which is not always straightforward.

Buying a router faster than your broadband package does not increase your internet speed. It can improve the speed between devices inside the house and handle more devices at once, which is a different benefit.

Before you order

Run the cable-versus-Wi-Fi test first so you buy the right category of thing. Check whether your provider's service works with a third-party router. Check the number of mesh units against your house size rather than buying the largest pack. And check the return window, since coverage problems are house-specific and the only real test is trying it.