Slow or patchy Wi-Fi is one of the most common home-tech frustrations, and it's rarely caused by a single thing. Speed, coverage and interference all play a part. The good news is that most homes can get a noticeably better connection without buying anything — just by changing where the router sits and how it's configured.
Here's a practical, order-of-effort approach. Start at the top and stop once things feel solid.
1. Move the router to a better spot
Placement is the highest-impact change you can make, and it's free. Wi-Fi radiates outward in all directions and weakens as it passes through walls, floors and large metal objects.
- Put the router in a central, open location rather than a far corner or a cupboard.
- Raise it off the floor — a shelf or desk beats behind the sofa.
- Keep it away from microwaves, cordless phones and thick masonry, which all interfere with the signal.
- Don't hide it inside a cabinet or media unit; enclosed spaces muffle the signal.
2. Reboot and update
Routers run continuously for months and can slow down or drop connections over time. A simple restart clears that up. While you're at it, check the router's settings page for a firmware update — manufacturers regularly ship fixes that improve stability and security.
3. Use the right band
Modern routers broadcast on two bands, and they're good at different jobs:
- 2.4 GHz reaches farther and handles walls better, but it's slower and more crowded.
- 5 GHz is much faster but has shorter range.
Use 5 GHz for devices near the router that need speed, like a laptop or TV, and let more distant or low-bandwidth devices fall back to 2.4 GHz. Many routers handle this automatically under a single network name; if yours doesn't, connect each device to whichever band suits it.
4. Reduce congestion
In flats and dense neighbourhoods, your Wi-Fi competes with your neighbours' on the same channels. Most routers pick a channel automatically, but if evenings are consistently slow, logging in and switching the 2.4 GHz channel to 1, 6 or 11 — the three that don't overlap — can help. Also disconnect devices you're not using; every active connection takes a small slice of capacity.
5. Secure the network
An open or weakly protected network invites freeloaders who eat into your bandwidth. Make sure you're using WPA2 or WPA3 encryption with a strong password. This is as much about performance as it is about privacy.
If you've never changed your router's admin password — the one for the settings page, not the Wi-Fi password — do that too. The factory defaults are widely known and are a common weak point.
6. Extend coverage the right way
If a spare room or the far end of the house is still weak after all this, you need to extend coverage — but how you do it matters:
- Mesh systems use multiple units that share one network name and hand your devices off seamlessly as you move around. This is the best option for larger homes.
- Plug-in extenders are cheaper but often halve throughput and create a separate network you have to switch to manually.
- Wired backhaul — running an Ethernet cable to a second access point, or using your home's coax or electrical wiring with adapters — gives the most reliable result of all, because the hardest hop no longer depends on Wi-Fi.
7. Know when it's not the Wi-Fi
Sometimes the bottleneck is the internet plan itself, not your network. Run a speed test on a device connected by Ethernet, close to the router. If that speed roughly matches what you pay for, your wiring is fine and the issue is coverage or a specific device. If it's far below your plan, the problem is upstream — time to restart the modem or call your provider.
A quick checklist
- Central, elevated, unobstructed router
- Rebooted, with current firmware
- The right band for each device
- A clear channel in crowded areas
- WPA2 or WPA3 security enabled
- Mesh or wired backhaul for large spaces
Work through these in order and most homes will see a real difference before spending a cent. Hardware is the last resort, not the first.