Technology reference article

Home Wi-Fi: Why One Router May Not Be Enough

Why building size, materials, layout and device density can make a single Wi-Fi router insufficient.

Why building size, materials, layout and device density can make a single Wi-Fi router insufficient.

Home Wi-Fi: Why One Router May Not Be Enough

A single router can provide excellent Wi-Fi in some homes and poor coverage in others.

Buildings affect radio signals

Walls, floors, ducts, appliances and building materials can all affect wireless coverage.

Location matters

A router hidden in a corner or basement may have difficulty providing useful coverage throughout a home.

Device density matters too

A home with many phones, computers, televisions, cameras and smart devices has different requirements from a home with only a few clients.

More devices are not always the answer

Adding several extenders without understanding the layout can make the network more complicated.

Design the coverage

A good solution considers where people actually use the network, how the access points connect to the network and how much capacity each area requires.

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