Most houses have a room the Wi-Fi avoids. For some people it’s the bedroom over the garage. For others it’s the new extension, or the loft conversion two floors up from the router. And another extender from the shop often doesn’t make much difference.
Finding out why the signal stops
We don’t recommend anything until we’ve looked at what’s going on. We’ll check where the router is, how the signal changes from room to room, and whether nearby networks are competing with yours. It usually comes down to one of these:
- The building. Brick, block, stone and foil-backed plasterboard all soak up Wi-Fi. Extensions and loft conversions often come off worst because of the foil in their insulation.
- Where the router is. It tends to end up wherever the broadband line comes in, which could be a corner of the house or the inside of a cupboard.
- Going through floors. A signal travelling diagonally through a floor has much more material to get through than you’d expect.
- Old equipment. A router from years ago may struggle with the number of devices most homes have now.
How we can fix it
Sometimes you won’t need to buy much at all. Getting the router out of a cupboard can make a clear difference, so we’ll check the simple things first.
If that isn’t enough, the most reliable fix is a cable to a second access point, as long as there’s a tidy route for it. That part of the house then gets a full-speed connection of its own.
Where cable won’t work, there’s mesh Wi-Fi. Several units work together as one network, and your phone switches between them as you walk around. They can link to each other wirelessly, but they need placing carefully. Put one in the wrong spot and it’s got the same weakness as a plug-in extender. There’s more about this on our page on router upgrades, mesh and hard-wired.
What you should notice afterwards
You’ll have one Wi-Fi name for the whole house, and your devices will pick the strongest connection as you move around. We test in the rooms that were giving you trouble, so you can see the difference while we’re still there.
Small offices get dead spots too
The same goes for a back office, stock room or upstairs meeting room. We can come in once you’ve closed for the day.
Is the room you’re trying to reach across the garden? Then you’ll want our page on Wi-Fi for outbuildings. Otherwise, send us an enquiry and tell us which rooms are causing the problem.