You might not have considered that where you place your router in your apartment matters. In some cases, if your apartment is very small, it might not matter too much. But, if you have a larger apartment, you will need to make sure that you are getting the most out of your internet connection.
To do this, you will need to know where you should place your router in order to get the best signal possible. We have several suggestions for you to help you know where it really should be.
1. What room is it in? The first consideration that you need to make is which room makes the most sense to have your router. Many people like to place them in a kitchen or cupboard to try to get them out of the way and to keep them well concealed. But this is a mistake.
You will want to have your router in a central location. That way, the signal will have an opportunity to flow out from the center, effectively hitting all areas of your apartment. You will want to keep it out of the kitchen as well so that your microwave or any granite countertops that you have will not interfere with the signal.
2. At what height do you keep your router? This consideration might seem odd, but we can explain. If you have searched Riverstone Networks to find the best DOCSIS 3.1 modem router combo that you can find, you will want it to be able to do its job effectively. WiFi signals travel downward naturally, so if your router is on the floor, the signal will not be able to move as efficiently as it would in your apartment.
This means that you cannot stash the router under a table or in a cupboard. You need your signal to move the right direction.
3. What is nearby? You also need to look to see if there are any obstacles that could interfere with the signal of your internet. This means you do not want to have your router next to something large, because much of your wireless speeds will be sucked directly into the obstacle as it is trying to pass through it. The same works for walls, but you cannot prevent walls from existing. You will want to have it away from a brick wall, however, so it will not absorb the signal inadvertently and leave you with much slower internet than you planned on.
People also count in the realm of “what is nearby?” This means that bodies can also take away from the signal by simply being in the same room as the router. This means that it is a better idea to have the router away from crowded rooms, where it can rest out in the open.
4. Think about overheating: Sometimes routers overheat. Remember that there are a lot of processors within the router so it gets moving a lot with certain demands and can heat up as a result. If you have stuffed your router in a dark corner rather than in a central location, your router might run the risk of overheating.
Naturally, you will want to look for a location within your apartment that can provide a high level of ventilation. If your router does overheat, there is a chance that it will meltdown and not be functional anymore. Make sure that it is in a safe and everyone will be able to use it well.
The ultimate lesson from this is that you should not always place your router in a location that will put it at risk of being dumped onto the floor. You need to keep the router from overheating as well, placing it a safe location.
Remember: treat your router well and you might have a much longer life with it than you might otherwise. As you don’t want to replace a router constantly, you will need to make sure it is placed in its perfect location and kept as well-ventilated as possible. Then, you will get the most out of your router.