Depending on your home’s layout, it can be tough to find a Wi-Fi solution that covers every room. Wi-Fi signal can be affected by thick walls, appliances, and even your neighbor's Wi-Fi router.

The good news is that there are ways to improve your existing router’s Wi-Fi coverage, so don’t go out and buy one of the best Wi-Fi routers just yet. With the right extender and maybe even just better positioning for your router, you can improve your connection without spending a load of cash.

Wi-Fi extenders

Wi-Fi extenders are likely the first solution that comes to mind. These devices connect to your router's Wi-Fi connection and broadcast a new WI-Fi signal closer to the area with a weak signal. The challenge with most Wi-Fi extenders is that they need to be placed between your router and the location you’re trying to cover because they need a good connection back to your router to work properly.

Something important to keep in mind about these options is that they need to use their wireless connection both to connect to your Wi-Fi network and your devices, so you won’t get the full speed shown on the box. For example, an AC1200 dual-band extender has 867Mbps capacity at 5GHz and 300Mbps at 2.4GHz, so it’s really not as fast as it seems. You don’t need that much speed for browsing and streaming video, anything over 50Mbps will do really, so for most people, an extender this fast will be sufficient. If you’re gaming or downloading large files frequently, you’ll want something a little more powerful.

Most Wi-Fi extenders have an Ethernet port on the bottom which can be used to get a wired device, like a desktop PC, online. It can also be used to connect the extender to the router allowing the extender to act as an access point with its full speed available to clients. If you’re able to run an Ethernet cable from your router to the extender, you could get much better speeds, though it’s a bit more work. Still, with one of the best Ethernet cables, such as a flat Cat 6 cable, you could run it along the baseboards or under a rug.

If running Ethernet simply isn’t an option, you could try a power line adapter or, if your house is equipped for cable TV, a Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) adapter. These solutions use the existing wiring in your home to transmit data with a common Ethernet jack on both ends. There are even some Wi-Fi extenders that have power line adapters built-in. MoCA and power line adapters are generally stable and reliable, but they rely on your home’s wiring so if there’s a lot of extra noise or old splitters, it may not work as well as expected.

Mesh Wi-Fi

While Wi-Fi extenders get the job done, your mobile tech, like phones and tablets, may fail to automatically switch from your primary router to the extender as you move through your home. To solve this, mesh networks have multiple nodes that are part of the same Wi-Fi network and devices can smoothly roam between them to get the best possible connection.

Mesh nodes connect to each other to find the best connection back to the main router and can even connect to other mesh nodes. While you often give up a bit of speed with a mesh, if you get a fast one, like the TP-Link Deco BE85, you can get multi-gig speeds over Wi-Fi. Setup takes a little longer than a standard router since you’ve got to connect multiple devices, though it’s still pretty quick with most manufacturers offering easy-to-use apps.

If you want to put together a mesh system, you have a few options. You can start with one of the best mesh systems, with everything you need in one box. You can also put together your own system with multiple routers, though you’ll need a router that supports it. Luckily, many routers have been updated with mesh support, such as Asus AiMesh, TP-Link OneMesh and EasyMesh routers, and Linksys Intelligent Mesh. There are also plenty of other mesh solutions, so it’s worth checking if your current router supports mesh before buying something new.

You’ll need to stick to a single brand for anything that’s not EasyMesh, but you’ve got plenty of options no matter which system you choose. For example, Eero mesh routers will work with any other Eero device, and so will TP-Link Deco systems. Orbi systems, on the other hand, only support a handful of satellite routers, so you’ll need to pick something from the supported list. There are pros and cons to both approaches, but it's a good idea to know what your expansion options are before getting in too deep.

If you’re ready to replace your whole home network and don’t mind doing a little extra planning, you can also pick up something like a UniFi Cloud Gateway and a couple of access points (APs) for Wi-Fi if you don’t mind putting in some more work and running a few cables. You can get a cheaper Wi-Fi 6 AP, or if you’re ready for something faster, a Wi-Fi 7 AP.

Think about router placement

Before you start loading up your shopping cart with loads of networking tech, take a few minutes to make sure your current setup is as optimized as possible. Not everyone wants a router sitting out in the open with antennas pointed every which way, so they hide them behind TVs or in the corner of a room. Unfortunately, these are some of the worst places you can put a router.

Most antenna setups broadcast in an elliptical pattern around the router, so you want the router to be at roughly the same elevation as the devices that will use it. TVs often have a large metal sheet on the back of the panel which is excellent at blocking Wi-Fi signals. Similarly, your walls will degrade the signal, so putting the router right against the wall could work against it. For the most part, your router should be as centrally located as possible.

If your router has adjustable antennas, you want the long side to be facing your devices rather than pointing at it. For a single-story home, your antennas should just be facing straight up. Routers with internal antennas are designed to give more of a sphere of connectivity, but if you tear them down, you’ll find most antennas are either vertical or at a 45-degree angle.

Test your signal

It can be hard to know if what you’re doing is having a positive effect on your network quality, so grabbing a signal-strength app can be a big help. You can use something simple like WiFi Analyzer on Android or WiFiman from Ubiquiti on Android or iOS. Keep in mind that iOS doesn’t provide as much information about signal quality, so you’ll need to rely on speed tests a bit more. If your router has an app, it may also provide up-to-date signal quality information.

For most people, the most important stat is download speed since most of our internet usage is content consumption. If you’re a streamer, however, upload speed can be very important as well. Last but not least, gamers should be most concerned about ping. Ping is your network latency and is directly related to lag in-game. Even the best mesh routers and extenders will add a little latency, so be careful about putting your gaming PC or console too far away from your router and if you can, run an Ethernet cable for gaming.