THE way you position your Wi-Fi router’s antennas can have a big impact on internet speed.
Perfect positioning depends on how many antennas are on your devices and the layout of your home.
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NO ANTENNAS
If you can’t see any antennas on your router, that means they’re inside the device.
You won’t be able to change their position so just make sure your router is in the best place to serve your gadgets.
Generally, it should be high up and central in the home, away from metal objects.
TWO ANTENNAS
A lot of routers just have two antennas.
You shouldn’t be positioning all the antennas in the same position, according to CNET.
Making them perpendicular to one another is recommended.
That means you put one horizontal and the other vertical.
Having antennas in different positions is especially recommended if you want your Wi-Fi to reach more than one floor.
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THREE ANTENNAS
According to the tech publication Lifewire, routers with three antennas should be positioned at a certain angle.
It says: “Middle straight up and the sides ones at a 45-degree angle.”
FOUR ANTENNAS
The same outlet has slightly different advice if you have a router with four antennas.
It says to keep “two straight up and two at 45-degree angles in opposite directions.”
CONSIDER YOUR DEVICES AND SURROUNDINGS
Don’t forget to consider your devices when it comes to Wi-Fi router antenna placement.
A vertical antenna will send a horizontal wave of signal.
That’s said to be more useful in a single-story home.
A horizontal antenna is said to send signals that travel upwards.
That’s more useful in multi-story homes.
A former Apple engineer and creator of iStumbler WiF-i previously revealed what he thinks is the correct antenna position for Engadget.
He said: “Place your router using the recommended orientation — don’t place it on its side if it only has feet for a horizontal position.
“Also, point your antennas straight up, flat out, or both if you have two antennas on the router.”
The experts also said you should arrange the antennas to match the position of the antenna in your most used devices.
Most antennas that pick up WiFi are embedded within devices so you may need to look up the position.
For example, antennas on Apple MacBooks are embedded horizontally.
