How to Improve Your WiFi Signal: 10 Fixes Ranked From Free to £600
Six of these cost nothing. Do them in order and stop spending when the house works.
The fastest way to improve your WiFi signal is to move the router: central, high, off the floor and out of the cupboard. Then split the bands, change the 2.4 GHz channel to 1, 6 or 11, and only spend money after that: a cable first, a mesh kit second, wired access points if the house is big or old.
In short
- Six of the ten fixes are free. Router position and a manual channel change fix more weak rooms than any gadget.
- Test the broadband at the router by cable first. If that is slow, no WiFi fix will help.
- Below -70 dBm on a phone analyser app is where video stutters and calls drop; aim for -65 or better in every room you use.
- A £10 Ethernet cable to the TV or console takes the heaviest user off the WiFi.
- Mesh at £100 to £250 suits most 3 to 4 bed houses; wired access points from £300 are for big, old or busy ones.
The ten fixes ranked
Ordered by cost, which is roughly the order to try them in.
| Fix | Cost | Expected gain |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Test the broadband at the router by cable | Free | Stops you buying WiFi kit for a slow line. |
| 2. Move the router: central, high, out of the cupboard | Free | 5 to 10 dB in the far rooms. Often the whole fix. |
| 3. Split or name the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands | Free | Fewer dropouts on doorbells, plugs and older devices. |
| 4. Change the WiFi channel manually | Free | Two to three times the speed in a crowded street. |
| 5. Update the firmware and restart | Free | Cures random slowdowns on hubs up for months. |
| 6. Remove old plug-in extenders | Free | Speeds behind the extender double. |
| 7. Ethernet cable to the TV or console | £5 to £20 | Full line speed to it, more airtime for everything else. |
| 8. Powerline adapters (last resort) | £40 to £60 | 20 to 300 Mbps depending on the house wiring. |
| 9. Mesh WiFi kit | £100 to £250 | Usable signal in every room of a 3 to 4 bed house. |
| 10. Wired access points on PoE | £300 to £600 and up, fitted | Full speed in every room, garden office included. |
Step one: is it the broadband or the WiFi?
Plug a laptop into one of the router's Ethernet ports, turn its WiFi off and run a speed test: that is your broadband. Repeat on a phone next to the router, then in the worst room. If the cabled test is slow, the WiFi is not the problem and the call is to your provider. If both are fine but the far bedroom gets a tenth of it, you have a signal problem.
Our walk test
Stand in each room you use, run a speed test and note the result. On Android a free WiFi analyser app also shows the signal in dBm: -50 is excellent, -65 is fine, below -70 is where trouble starts, and at -80 a web page struggles to load. iPhones hide the figure; an old Android handset is worth keeping.
Free fixes 2 to 6
Move the router. WiFi spreads from the router like light from a bulb, so a router in a corner cupboard at floor level is lighting the skirting board and the garden. Put it central if the socket allows, at head height, and away from the microwave, the fish tank, mirrors, radiators and the back of the TV.
Split or name the bands. 2.4 GHz goes further but is slow and crowded; 5 GHz is fast but fades through walls. Most hubs merge them under one name, and smart plugs, doorbells and older gadgets that only speak 2.4 GHz drop out as a result. Give each band its own name or turn off the smart merge; our guide to a Ring doorbell that keeps going offline is mostly about this setting.
Update and restart. Apply any firmware update, then restart; a hub up for months without one develops slowness nobody can explain.
Pull out old extenders. A plug-in repeater receives and re-transmits on one radio, so anything behind it gets at most half the speed, and it adds a second network name your phone clings to. Unplug them and repeat the walk test; see mesh WiFi vs extenders.
How to change your WiFi channel
Log in to the router at the address on its label, usually 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1. Under Wireless, set the 2.4 GHz channel to 1, 6 or 11, the only three that do not overlap; try each for an evening and keep the best. Leave 5 GHz on auto at 80 MHz width, or 40 MHz in a block of flats.
- BT Smart Hub: Advanced Settings, Wireless. Turn off Smart Channel and pick the channel; turning off Smart Connect splits the band names.
- Virgin Media Hub: Advanced settings, Wireless. Switch off Channel optimisation and set the channel for each band.
- Sky Hub: Wireless, then the 2.4 GHz section. Choose a fixed channel instead of Auto and Apply.
Under £60: a cable beats any gadget
Fix 7: an Ethernet cable to the TV or console. The device that hammers your WiFi hardest never moves: the TV streaming 4K or the console pulling 80 GB updates. A flat cable along the skirting costs £5 to £20, gives it full speed and frees the airtime for everything else. For another room, see running Ethernet cable through your house.
Fix 8: powerline adapters, last resort. They run the network over the mains wiring, and the result depends on your circuits: adapters on different circuits, or one behind an extension lead, and the speed collapses. At £40 to £60 a pair they are worth a try when a cable is impossible. We would not design a network around them.
£100 to £250: a mesh kit
If rooms still read below -70 dBm, mesh is the next step for a typical 3 to 4 bed house: two or three matching units sharing one name that hand your phone between them as you move. We fit the TP-Link Deco X50 most often, about £150 to £200 for a two-pack at the time of writing. Put the second unit halfway to the worst room, never in it, because a unit with no signal has nothing to pass on; a cable between units gives each full speed. Our best mesh WiFi systems in the UK round-up has current picks.
£300 to £600 and up: wired access points
Big houses, thick brick or flint, three storeys, a garden office or forty devices online at once eventually outgrow mesh. The professional answer is wired access points: flat units on the hall and landing ceilings, each fed by one Ethernet cable from a PoE switch that carries data and power, run through the loft so nothing shows. We install UniFi for this; a two or three access point house with cabling lands between £300 and £600 fitted at the time of writing. Our UniFi home network setup guide explains the parts, fixing WiFi dead spots shows how we place them, and our WiFi and networking service covers Sussex, most often around Horsham. For dropouts rather than a weak signal, start with WiFi that keeps disconnecting.
Tried the free fixes and the back bedroom is still dead?
We will walk the house with a proper meter, tell you which paid fix it needs and fit it. See our WiFi and networking service. The survey is free and the quote is fixed.
Book a Free SurveyFrequently Asked Questions
Will a new router improve my WiFi signal?
Sometimes, but less than people hope. A newer router in the same cupboard has the same walls to get through. It helps if yours is old and struggling with many devices, but a second unit in the right place, a mesh node or an access point, does more for a weak room than any single router.
Is 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz better for WiFi signal?
5 GHz is faster but fades through walls; 2.4 GHz is slower and busier but reaches further. In the same room as the router 5 GHz wins easily; two walls away 2.4 GHz is often the only band left. Let phones use both, and put 2.4-only smart plugs and doorbells on a separately named 2.4 GHz network.
Why is my WiFi slow when the speed test says my broadband is fast?
Because the speed test measured the line, not the air. Broadband arrives at the router at full speed; what reaches your phone depends on distance, walls, how many devices share the band and the neighbours. Test on a cabled laptop, then on a phone in the slow room: the gap between the two numbers is the WiFi problem.
How much does it cost to get WiFi in every room?
For most 3 to 4 bed houses, £100 to £250 on a mesh kit you place yourself. For larger or solid-walled houses, wired access points fitted through the loft are usually £300 to £600 at the time of writing. Give the free fixes an hour first; they solve a surprising share of weak rooms.