Where you put the router and how you set it up decide both speed and security. What to check when the signal is weak, and the settings worth changing.
Your home has one internet line, and the router shares it among all your devices. The modem your provider installed and the router may be separate boxes, or a single unit that does both. When home Wi-Fi feels slow, the cause usually falls into one of three places: the speed of the line itself, the router's performance and settings, or the wireless signal between the router and your device. Work out which one it is before spending money in the wrong place.
A wireless signal weakens sharply as it passes through walls, especially concrete and metal, and through anything full of water. Tuck the router into a shoe cabinet, inside a TV unit or on the floor in a corner, and even the next room may struggle. If you can, put it near the middle of the home on an open shelf above floor level. On models with antennas, angling them in different directions usually spreads coverage more evenly. Avoid placing it right next to appliances that use the same band, such as a microwave.
Most current routers run two frequency bands at once. 2.4GHz travels further and gets through walls relatively well, but it is slower and picks up more interference from neighbouring routers and household appliances. 5GHz is faster and less crowded, but distance and walls hurt it more. In the same room as the router or close by, 5GHz is usually the better choice; in a distant room where the signal barely reaches, 2.4GHz may be steadier. Some routers combine both bands under one name and switch automatically, while others show them as separate networks.
A router has two passwords: the one devices use to join the Wi-Fi, and the admin password for its settings page. If the admin password is still the factory default or the value printed on the label, anyone connected to your Wi-Fi can change the settings. The address of the settings page and the initial login are usually on the sticker underneath the router or in the manual. Log in and check the following.
One-touch connection features are convenient, but the PIN-based version has known weaknesses, so it is safer to switch it off if you don't use it. A separate guest network lets visitors, and smart devices such as bulbs and plugs, sit on a different network from your computers. On the other hand, hiding the network name or filtering devices by hardware address is easy to get around and adds little real protection, so don't rely on them and leave the password weak. If you never manage the router from outside the home, switch remote management off as well.
Start by plugging a computer straight into the router with a network cable and running a speed test. If it is slow even over the cable, the line or the provider is the likely cause; if the cable is fast and only wireless is slow, the problem is the signal or the router's position. Routers left on for a long time sometimes slow down, and simply unplugging one, waiting a moment and switching it back on often helps. Check the connected-devices list in the settings for anything you don't recognise. Changing the Wi-Fi password disconnects every device at once.
In a large home or one with many walls, moving the router only goes so far if a particular room keeps dropping out. A range extender, which picks up the signal and rebroadcasts it, is cheap, but speeds beyond the extender usually fall. Mesh systems, where several units act as one network, give more even coverage in large homes at a higher cost. If there is network cabling in the walls, a second access point in that room is the most stable fix of all. Before buying anything, confirm that the signal really is weak and the line itself isn't slow.
Once installed, a router often goes untouched for years, while security updates pile up and the number of connected devices grows. Running through the points below whenever you move house, switch provider or replace the router heads off most problems before they start. Precautions for Wi-Fi away from home are covered separately in the public Wi-Fi guide.
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