The best place to put router in 2 story house is different for all users and their homes.
This guide will discuss all the essential and surrounding factors of router positioning as well as the best possible place to install and keep your router in a two-floor house!
To determine the best place for a router in a 2 story home, begin by downloading a WiFi analyzer on your phone.
Then select a central location between the two floors for the router and use the tool to identify whether the signal strength is good on a location.
Let’s unwrap more!
What is the Best Place for a Router?
Maybe we’re asking the wrong questions. The best place for a router mostly depends on the user’s needs and where the WiFi should be stronger.
In a 2 story house, the best place for a router is in a central location, on the second story, as close to the floor as possible.
However, this method might not always work, since some rooms and specific locations in your home might turn out to be dead zones.
Dead WiFi Zones in Our Homes?
This is completely normal and you should expect to have corners in your home where the WiFi is just not strong enough for your device to remain connected.
This is why the router positioning in a 2-story house also depends on where your workstation is, and perhaps your TV-chill area.
The Solution?
The solution is to use a WiFi Analyzer app to measure the WiFi speed after repositioning your router to determine whether the WiFi is good in the desired locations.
In case you’re unable to find a place for a router that covers all rooms in your home, you need a WiFi extender.
Choosing the Best Place to Put WiFi Router in 2 Story House?
We’ve designed a short step-by-step guide on selecting a router stop in a 2-story house:
1. Measure the Cable’s Length
The first and most important aspect is to measure the Ethernet or optical cable that comes from the outside into your home.
You need to know exactly how much allowance you have and where exactly the router can be positioned.
In addition, you need to trace the path of the cable, which additionally consumes length in order to make the cable as less visible as possible.
This is important because in some situations the cable’s length is what limits the users to position the router in a centralized spot in their homes.
2. Select a Central Spot (2nd Story)
In order to have WiFi in every room in your 2-story house, it’s necessary for the router to be on the upper floor.
In addition, the spot should be centralized, if possible, next to the inner walls and as close as possible to the floor.
However, there are a couple of general rules to follow when positioning the router:
- Do not cover the router with anything on top
- Do not position the router under a shelf
- Keep the router away from the computer/monitor
- Don’t install electronic devices near the router
- Always straighten up the router antennas
- Regularly clean dust from the vent openings
Important – Router on the Ground?
For better and faster WiFi on the first floor, the router must be kept as close to the ground as possible, but mind that this means more dust.
If the vents on your router are on the bottom, use any other flat surface but carpet, to position your router and prevent active overheating.
3. Connect your Router’s Wires
The ordinary router/modem comes with the general power cable and a data cable which can be optical, coax, or Ethernet, based on your supplier.
You need to ensure that the data cable is connected as well as the power cable on the new device’s spot and that the router is working.
Wired Workstation?
Most people prefer their main workstation to be connected via Ethernet cable to avoid all of the issues surrounding the wireless network.
For this purpose, you need an Ethernet cable long enough to connect any computer or laptop directly with the router for a more resilient internet.
Tip: You can use a WiFi adapter (dongle) to connect any computer or laptop to the WiFi.
4. Download a WiFi Analyzer App
When the WiFi router is positioned on the new spot (on the 2nd story), download a WiFi Analyzer app on your smartphone to test.
Such an application will allow you to check the WiFi consistency while moving around the house to find the sweet spots as well as the dead zones.
- Top recommendation: WiFi Analyzer – WiFiSweetSpots!
The WiFi analyzer available for both iOS and Android, will show how fast the wireless network is when you’re moving from one room to another.
Hence, this is the best possible way to identify whether the WiFi is stable and consistent in the rooms where the network will be used the most.
5. Test the Router’s WiFi Strength
The WiFi Analyzer requires your smartphone to be connected to the WiFi of the relocated router with the mobile data disabled.
Then when you enter the app, you will see the current speed of the WiFi in Mbps so here’s what you should be aware of:
- 0 Mbps indicates that the WiFi is unusable
- 5 Mbps and below means the WiFi strength is weak
- 5 Mbps+ means the WiFi strength is good
- 10 Mbps+ means the WiFi strength is strong
- 50 Mbps+ means the WiFi strength is excellent
Tip: Measure the WiFi speed at the locations where there will be many devices.
How to Deal with Dead WiFi Zones in a 2-Story House?
The solution is to install a WiFi Extender.
In fact, you install as many extenders as you can, considering the low price they come with, compared to the solution they offer.
These devices are simple, they plug into a power outlet next to the router and after their setup is complete (via phone app), they can be brought to another power outlet.
This way you can install a WiFi extender in every room on your 2-story home and have reliable WiFi everywhere.
2-Story House with a Basement?
The best place to put router in 2 story house with basement is in the middle. That would mean, setting up the router on the first floor (in a central spot), somewhere in the middle-room height.
That would be the best possible position if you want to have WiFi even down in the basement.
However, you can see the WiFi Analyzer to test and reposition the router accordingly, especially when the WiFi has to be consistent even down in the basement.
Reminder: Don’t forget that you can plug and install a WiFi extender everywhere with an available power outlet, even in the basement.
WiFi Interference & Frequency?
You should know that a wireless network is an object of interference and you could be experiencing a dead zone in your home due to various reasons.
Some of these objects include microwaves, Bluetooth receivers, and other WiFi devices.
The best way to deal with interference is to ensure that the devices used for streaming, downloading, or gaming through WiFi are in the same room as the router.
This way most sources of interference will be eliminated due to the short proximity and no issues are expected.
WiFi Frequency Matters!
If your router has two WiFi’s, you should know that one of them is 2.4 GHz and the other is 5 GHz frequency.
The main difference is the speed, where the higher frequency broadband will perform better with a major downside – distance.
The 2.4 GHz (up to 600 Mpbs) WiFi works well even in distant rooms from the WiFi router, while the 5 GHz WiFi might start to drop and disconnect.
This is why based on your device’s location, connect them to the appropriate WiFi frequency of your router for best optimization and speed.
Tip: Power cycle your WiFi router once a week to refresh all services for better performance!
Quick Recap:
The best place to put the router in 2 story house is on the upper floor, in a centralized spot, if possible, close to the ground.
In addition, it’s important not to cover the router with anything and straighten the router antennas to cover as much area as possible.
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Finn Wheatley holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from UCL, London. He helped small data science consultancy firms, helping large corporations to grow their data capabilities, deploy advanced machine learning-based analytics and troubleshoot tech-related issues. Check out more about him here.