Let's find out how to increase WiFi coverage area. WiFi network coverage area

Number of wi-fi access points, as well as users wireless internet is growing and now many of them have become increasingly concerned about issues of communication quality. One of the most critical issues— what is the coverage area of the routers and what affects this indicator.

Content:

To answer the question, you can consider one of the router communication standards - 802.11n. The maximum achieved declared transmission speed of devices of this type is from 150 Mbit to 300 Mbit per second. Accordingly, the possible coverage area for this speed is about 100 meters. The indicator can reach up to 300 meters if the space is open. For example, the range wifi router tp link in open space with these indicators is 150 meters. If the space is closed, then the range is 50 meters.

Approximately the same range of the Asus wifi router. Such figures are stated by manufacturers and are theoretical. In practice, these figures are slightly less. Effective method determining the actual coverage area - walk around the room with the connected device and monitor the presence of a signal.

The range of a wifi router can be artificially increased or decreased by several factors:

Location of the access point and router. The device emits a signal omnidirectionally, which means its waves will move in all directions equally. Based on this feature, the best option router placement - the center of the room.
Materials from which coverings and walls are made. The greatest difficulty for radio waves is passing through drywall and reinforced concrete structures.
Finding nearby devices that clog the airwaves. If, for example, there is a large radio antenna next to the router, even behind a wall, it will certainly cause interference and poor quality of the router’s operation. Televisions, microwave ovens, and devices with electric motors have an equally detrimental effect on work.
Large number of channels wireless communication. If your neighbors have Wi-Fi on the landing and on the nearest floors, the reception speed will be low. You can check the availability of connections in the settings of your device in the Wi-Fi - Connections section. If the list consists of more than 13 names, this will negatively affect the quality. The problem can only be solved with the use of equipment operating in the 5 GHz range.
Characteristics of the device itself. The range is affected by the type of antennas of the router and the power of the transmitter.

It is quite difficult to find a device for home use with fundamental differences in power from others, but antennas differ from each other in their quality. Routers from low price category work with antennas with a gain of 2dbi. This model is more suitable for a small one-room apartment. Larger areas are served by routers with powerful antennas of about 5dbi. Some devices work with only one antenna, which makes the coverage even weaker.

Advice: There are a few simple ways increase the coverage area of the router without additional equipment or changing device settings. To do this you need:

install the antennas in a vertical position;

place the router as close to the center as possible or away from interference;

replace the antenna with a more powerful one;

use a device with the new 802.11 AC$ standard;

use models that support two bands - 2.4-5 GHz.

3 routers with long Wi-Fi range

Netgear Wndr4500. The router has enormous speed, reaching 900 Mbit per second. The device is equipped with six internal antennas, allowing you to easily download megabytes of data. It uses a powerful processor with a frequency of 600 MHz. There are additional transceivers that improve signal reception.
TP-Link TL-WR2543ND. The device can operate in two frequency bands and is equipped with three antennas that can be rotated 360 degrees. The device works reliably anywhere in the apartment.
ZyXEL KeeneticGiga2. The antennas of the device receive a signal at a speed of 300 Mbit per second. Thanks to external buttons, the router can be quickly reprogrammed. The high-frequency processor (700 MHz) ensures stable signal quality from anywhere in the apartment.

How to increase wifi range in router settings

Using your own router settings, you can figure out how to increase the range of wifi. To do this, you need to select the optimal radio channel and thereby increase the coverage area. The setup process can be considered using the example of any model from the popular manufacturer D-Link - DIR-300 NRU.
Algorithm of actions:

Go to the settings section. To get to this section, you need to enter the device’s IP address in the browser line. After clicking on the address, an electronic form will appear where you need to enter your login and password. Tip: The IP address, login and password for device settings should be found on the router case.
Select the section located on the left side - Wireless Setup.
Activate Manual Wireless Connection Setup to change the Wi-Fi setup method.
IN Wireless Network Settings find the Wireless Channel line and select the channel.
Activate Save Settings to confirm the changes made.
Reboot your device and reconnect to Wi-Fi.

We increase Wi-Fi coverage using special devices

You can expand your coverage area using special, third-party devices. The choice of a specific method depends on the situation; sometimes a combination of methods is required.
What methods can be used:

Change the router antennas. The easiest way to improve signal quality. If the device has removable antennas, there is nothing simpler than simply replacing them with more powerful analogues. More directional antennas can also be used. If the antenna works in a specific direction, it will be able to transmit over an impressive distance.
Using a wireless repeater. Special devices can be connected to the network and expanded by their antennas. The repeater can be used in the room with the poorest signal.

Repeatedly I came across questions, the essence of which boiled down to whether it was possible to somehow increase the signal strength wireless network by changing the router settings. Usually those who are installing and configuring a router are interested in this. Especially when they discover that Wi-Fi is only available in certain parts of the apartment/house.
Sometimes it happens. For example, my router (model TP-Link TL-WR841N) basically supports the network, but in one of the three rooms of the apartment it is unstable. The computer and laptop somehow find it, but the phone (and I have it in a metal case) cannot do this.
You should think about the coverage area even at the stage of purchasing a router. Take into account the number of rooms in your home and the thickness of the walls.

Increase Wi-Fi Power

Unfortunately, there are no specific, special settings with which to regulate the signal strength. At least, I don't know anything about this possibility. Optimal settings on routers are installed by default.

If it so happens that you have already purchased a router and installed a router, and the signal strength is unsatisfactory or in some areas it is completely absent, you can, of course, experiment with the settings; if nothing works, you will probably have to buy an additional antenna or repeater.

As for experimenting with the settings, you can change the channel and its width. Sometimes the coverage area from such manipulation increases slightly. Changing the channel can even change the Internet speed (we talked about this in one of our previous publications).

Don't forget to save all settings and reboot your router for the changes to take effect.

Antennas and repeaters

If you do not get any positive results from changing the settings, you will have to purchase a new, more powerful one for your router. antenna. In this case, I can recommend you TL-ANT2408CL, TL-ANT2405CL. If you have a router for example Asus, then it is better to take accessories from Asus.

In very advanced situations, another option is to buy a special device called repeater. These are some kind of wireless signal amplifiers. For example TL-WA854RE.

You turn on this device in a room where your Wi-Fi signal is still there, but not very strong. And the repeater amplifies the signal, thereby increasing the range of the network. Another router can be configured as a repeater if it supports this function (WDS).
Another option is to try installing the router as close to the center of the house as possible. If possible. This will allow for a more rational division of the coverage radius.

I decided to prepare an article with tips on signal amplification Wi-Fi networks. On the Internet, there are many different articles on this topic, but in almost every article there is a lot of unnecessary information. More precisely, a lot of recommendations for some settings that have nothing to do with increasing the range of the Wi-Fi signal and cannot in any way affect the range of the network itself.

If we are talking about strengthening the Wi-Fi signal, then of course we will introduce the coverage radius of the network itself, that is, the range Wi-Fi actions. For example: we bought a router, installed it, configured it, but in the farthest rooms there is no Wi-Fi at all, or the signal level is too weak. Or, the router is installed on the ground floor (where there is a signal), and on the second floor the signal is already very weak or absent altogether. A common situation that many people face, and I’ve encountered this myself.

What determines the range of a Wi-Fi network? There are a lot of different factors: from the router itself (number and strength of antennas), from the walls in your house, from the number of neighboring Wi-Fi networks, from the location of the router, some other interference, etc. Many people ask you to recommend a router that, for example, will provide stable wifi signal for a three-room apartment, a private house, etc. In such cases, it is impossible to advise anything specific. Everyone has different conditions, different walls, etc. The only thing I can advise is to roughly focus on the area of your home. If, for example, you have a one-room apartment, then even an inexpensive router with one antenna with a power of 3 dBi will cope with its task without any problems. Well, if you have a larger house or apartment, then take a more expensive device. Although, price is not always an argument. I have an expensive one, three antennas, some kind of proprietary Asus function that increases the network coverage radius. So, under the same conditions, at the same distance, it does not show much better results than the same one. Which has internal antennas, and is several times cheaper.

How to strengthen the Wi-Fi signal in the router settings?

If you have already purchased and installed a router at home or in the office, and Wi-Fi is not available everywhere you need it, then you can try to strengthen the wireless network. We will now look at how to do this. You can strengthen the signal both using the settings in the router and using separate devices and devices.

1 Search and change the channel on the router. If your devices see many of your neighbors’ networks available for connection, then all these networks can load the channel on which your network operates, and thereby reduce the network’s range.

You can try setting some kind of static channel in the router settings, or setting it to Auto. This is where you need to experiment. If you are not too lazy, then using the inSSIDer program you can find a freer channel and set it in the settings of your router.

I won’t go into detail, I’ll just give you a link to the article. In it, I talked in detail about channels, and how to find an unloaded channel. Also, there are instructions for changing the channel on routers from different manufacturers.

2 We switch our network to 802.11N operating mode. As a rule, by default on all routers the wireless network operates in mixed mode b/g/n (11bgn mixed). If you force the router to broadcast Wi-Fi in 802.11N operating mode, this can increase not only the speed, but also the Wi-Fi coverage range (if your router has more than one antenna).

The only problem is that if you have older devices that don't support 802.11N mode, they simply won't see your network. If you don't have any older devices, then don't hesitate to switch your network to n mode. It's very easy to do. We go to the router settings, usually at the address 192.168.1.1, or 192.168.0.1 ( detailed instructions to enter settings, see ).

In settings, open the tab where you configure the wireless network. They are usually called like this: Wi-Fi, Wireless mode, Wireless network, Wireless, etc. Find the item there Wireless mode(Mode) and set it to N only. That is, the network operates only in N mode.

For example: changing the wireless network mode on an Asus router

Save the settings and reboot the router. If you have problems connecting devices, return the mixed mode back.

3 We check the transmission power in the router settings. On some routers, it is possible to set the power level of the wireless Wi-Fi network. As far as I know, the default is maximum power. But, you can check.

In Asus routers, these settings can be changed on the tab Wireless network - Professionally. At the very bottom, there is a point " Tx power control". There is a scale that can be adjusted in percentages. It looks like this:

On Tp-Link routers open a tab Wireless - Wireless Advanced. Paragraph Transmit Power allows you to adjust the signal strength. The High value means maximum power.

These settings will be more useful if you want, on the contrary, to reduce the signal strength of your Wi-Fi router.

How to increase the range of a Wi-Fi network using additional devices?

1 Installing a repeater, or setting up a second router in amplifier mode. Of all the recommendations that you will see here, or generally find on the Internet, this method is the most effective and reliable. True, you will have to spend money on a repeater.

Ordinary routers can act as a repeater. Here are the instructions for setting up ZyXEL and Asus routers in repeater mode:

If your Wi-Fi does not reach some rooms, then installing a repeater will solve this problem. And if you have a house with several floors, then you can install a router on the first floor, and a repeater on the second. Excellent and working scheme.

2 Changing the router antennas to more powerful ones. If your router has removable antennas, you can buy more powerful ones, and thereby slightly increase the coverage of your network. Why a little? Yes, because replacing antennas usually does not give a very good result. It is there, but not enough to increase the radius by several rooms. In any case, you will have to spend money on antennas. And it seems to me that this money would be much better spent on a repeater. Yes, it will cost more, but the benefits from it are much greater.

If you decide to change antennas, then take powerful ones with a gain of 8 dBi. But they are expensive, and several of these antennas will cost as much as a repeater.

I already wrote, you can see the results.

3 Buying a new router, switching to 5 GHz. You can buy a more powerful, expensive router. Better yet, a router that supports the 5 GHz band. What is the advantage of the 5 GHz range? It is practically free, now most all networks and other devices operate in the 2.4 GHz range. Less interference means more speed and greater network range.

There are places where a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network practically does not work. It glitches all the time, the connection drops, low speed etc. And all because there are a lot of different networks there. In such cases, switching to 5 GHz solves all problems.

1 Select the correct location for your router. This is actually very good and effective advice. As a rule, everyone installs routers at the entrance, or in some distant rooms. The correct location of the router will allow the signal to be distributed correctly, thereby increasing the Wi-Fi range.

Simply put, you need to install the router as close to the center of the house as possible. Yes, this does not always work out, since you need to lay a cable to the router, and pulling it to the middle of the house is not very convenient. But even minor movements of the router can increase the network level in the rooms you need. Also, you need to remember that walls are the enemy of Wi-Fi networks.

2 Homemade amplifiers for Wi-Fi antennas. You can find many instructions that show how to make amplifiers for a router. As a rule, this is ordinary foil and tin cans. It turns out that if we place a sheet of foil on one side of the antenna, the signal will bounce off it and be directed in the direction we need.

I think this is all nonsense. Firstly, a cut beer can or a piece of foil on the back of the router doesn’t look very nice, and secondly, it has practically no effect. You can check.

These are the tips. I think you have found a suitable way for yourself to increase the range of your Wi-Fi network. Share your tips in the comments!

Let's analyze the question, how to do it yourself boost router signal, and thereby increase radius of action networks and wifi range. Sooner or later it begins to bother everyone who comes into contact with the organization wireless connection in the apartment. The problem of expanding the Wi-Fi reception distance arises especially acutely when, even at the planning stage of creation, local network at home, you regretted investing in a high-quality router with a long wifi range, with a powerful transmitter and antennas. Or you haven’t thought through where to install it in your house or apartment.

Affordable ways to strengthen the signal of a wi-fi router at home

In fact, boosting the wifi signal from a router is very simple and easy. And it doesn’t matter at all which manufacturer - Zyxel Keenetic, TP-Link, Asus, D-Link and so on.

There are several of the most popular ways:

Buy a router with a more powerful built-in antenna,
Place it somewhere in the corridor in the center of the apartment,
Use one of the means of strengthening the wifi signal - a second router, external antenna, repeater.

Many people, when renovating an apartment, determine where to install the router somewhere in a special server room, or in a dressing room, or in an electrical panel. In a word, out of sight. But the configuration of the apartment layout is often such that the wireless signal from the router does not reach rooms remote from the installation site. Or the wifi range is not sufficient to get any acceptable speed on it.

Today we’ll talk about ways to strengthen the signal and increase the range of a wifi router at home. And also about the required technical specifications The main devices when organizing a wireless network are the router and the receiver, which you should pay attention to first of all when purchasing them.

Increasing the range of the wifi router and adapter signal

For stable network operation in a standard city apartment, the simplest router and the adapter built into the laptop are sufficient. However, there are many side factors due to which it is necessary to amplify the signal to increase the signal radius. I talked about the main reasons that can affect speed. Let’s not repeat ourselves, but let’s imagine that we have ideal conditions in our house for the propagation of a wireless radio signal. That is, there is no interference from neighboring routers and other active frequency emitters, such as a microwave oven. Under these conditions, the main function of signal absorption is performed by distance and obstacles on the path from the source to the receiver.

This table clearly demonstrates how much signal quality will be lost depending on the types of obstacles in its path. For example, let's take an abstract router, which in the most better conditions and without interference or obstacles it will actually distribute a signal over 100 meters. It is under such conditions that manufacturers indicate the “firing” range of their devices on beautiful boxes and in advertising brochures.

And let’s take a typical three-room apartment, where the router is installed in one room. At the same time, to the one farthest from it there is one load-bearing concrete wall and one interior wall. Accordingly, we take 10% of our 100 meters - we get 10 meters. That is, through the main wall the signal is enough for 10 meters from the router. But we also have an interior wall - so we take our 10 meters and calculate 15% of them - we get 1.5 meters. This means that even under ideal conditions, the signal from such a router is clearly not enough to cover the entire apartment. Add to this the interference from devices and other wireless networks at the same frequency, and we get a completely sad picture.

We also keep in mind that the antennas on the router are omnidirectional, that is, the signal from them goes in a circle to an equal distance.

Strengthening the wifi signal from the router using an antenna

So, we found out that for good reception, the router should be located in the center of the apartment, next to the receiving device and, if possible, away from devices that create interference. But like any electronic device, each model has its own characteristics that can affect the operation, in our case, the “firing range”. Generally, the specifications for each product will indicate what range it is designed to operate in open space under ideal conditions. But these data are just theory, but in reality they are simply unattainable.

The easiest way to determine signal quality is by the characteristics of the antenna that the devices are equipped with. One for transmitting, the other for receiving. Antennas can be either hidden, built-in, or external, screwed onto the device itself. Antenna power is measured in DBI. The higher its value, the more powerful the antenna.

Below is a sample USB adapter-receiver with an included external antenna.

If you have noticed, there are models of routers and adapters that have several antennas - two or even three. Using several pieces, you can significantly improve the quality of reception wifi adapter and increase the distance from the router. That is, a router equipped with one 8 dbi antenna will relay weaker than a model of a higher level and cost, equipped with 2 or 3 8 dbi antennas.

When choosing a receiver, also look at the values of the “Receiving mode” parameter - the higher it is, the better the reception.

However, this will not be enough if we are talking about a decent distance of up to 100-150, or even 500 meters. In this case, we will be helped to ensure the desired radius of the wifi signal, which works directed towards a specific sector.

Increasing the radius of a wi-fi signal with a second router, repeater or access point without an antenna

Another proven method for improving reception quality is to use a separate special device called a repeater. This is a signal amplifier that works on the principle of a repeater, allowing you to expand your existing network. It receives the signal and transmits it further, expanding the coverage area by 15-20 meters.
Another option is to install a more expensive one. It can be installed outdoors or indoors and provides a wifi coverage radius of up to 100 meters. Capable of providing coverage both inside the building and a small area nearby. There are also models that work narrowly to expand the zone not inside an apartment or house, but to create a fairly large distance wireless bridge between different buildings.
As an alternative, you can use . For example, if you have an additional device lying idle, then it is advisable to use it as a repeater so as not to buy new equipment. In this case, the other router must have this mode repeater in the firmware.

Adjusting the range radius of the wifi signal in the router settings

And one more little secret. The control panel of some modifications of routers has a separate adjustment for the power of wifi signal relay. By setting it to the highest, you will get the most out of your router. The minimum value will ensure high-quality reception no further than inside one room. Read about this in detail. Now I’ll quickly show you with a few examples what it looks like for different brands.

Strengthening wifi signal on a TP-Link router

To set the signal strength on the TP-Link router, you need to go to “ Additional settings» in the section on wireless mode. There are three gradations here - low, medium and high.

Asus

On Asus routers, you can adjust the power very carefully - it is called “TX Power Control” and is set manually to a numerical value not exceeding 200.

Zyxel Keenetic

For Zyxel Keenetic routers, the transmitter power settings are divided into fixed positions, but there are more of them than for TP-Link. Indicated as a percentage of the total strength of the wifi repeater. IN old version admin panel is located in the wifi network configurations.

And this is how everything looks in the new Keenetic panel - you need to go to “ Home network»

Tenda

These are the main ones effective ways improvements WiFi signal and, as a result, expanding the wireless network reception area. Many craftsmen manage to amplify a router using an ordinary foil can that is placed on the antenna. However, I am still a fan of more traditional ways. As practice has shown, the best results are achieved when a combination of several techniques is used. That is, the choice of devices with best characteristics antennas plus their favorable location, planned at the stage of renovation of the premises. Try, experiment, and you will succeed!

Many users are interested in the question: over what distance is the wireless network signal transmitted and what is the zone? WiFi actions on your home router.
For example, let's consider the most common wireless communication standard used on most modern routers - 802.11n or the so-called Wireless N150 or N300. Here 150 and 300 are the theoretically maximum achievable data transfer speed, which your adapter will never develop =). For this standard, the following coverage area was announced: up to 100 meters indoors and up to 300 meters outdoors. In this case, the range will be 50 and 150 meters, respectively. Unfortunately, this is also not real numbers and, as practice has shown, in real life they are much less. Then the question arises - how to determine the coverage area?
The only sure way is to just pick up a laptop, tablet or smartphone and walk around the apartment, house or area and empirically find the boundaries of the signal coverage area.

What affects Wi-Fi coverage?!

1 - location of the router or access point

Yes, it is the location of the transmitting device in the apartment that is largely responsible for the coverage area of the wireless network. Do not forget that its radiation is omnidirectional, which means the signal propagates equally in all directions and is shaped like a circle. That is why you need to locate the access point approximately in the center of your home.

If you place the router in the farthest room, do not be surprised that the signal will be cut off, at best, somewhere in the middle of the apartment.

2 - materials from which walls and ceilings are made

Radio waves really do not like reinforced concrete structures, expanded clay and drywall. More than once I have encountered the fact that in an apartment finished with plasterboard, the Wi-Fi coverage radius is much smaller.

Here is a table with WiFi signal attenuation in various finishing materials and decorative elements:

Material	Change in signal level, dB
Material	2.4 GHz	5GHz
Plexiglas 7.1 mm	-0,36	-0,93
Plexiglas 2.5 mm	-0,01	-0,2
Blinds closed	-0,002	0,002
Blinds open	0,01	0,03
Red brick dry	-4,44	-14,62
Red brick wet	-4,51	-14,6
Carpet	-0,03	-0,01
Carpet from the inside out	-0,04	-0,03
Ceiling tiles	-0,09	-0,18
Textile	0,02	0,01
Fiberglass	-0,02	-0,03
Glass	-0,5	-1,69
Drywall 12.8 mm	-0,49	-0,52
Drywall 9 mm	-0,51	-0,85
Linoleum	-0,02	-0,13
Linoleum from the inside out	-0,02	-0,12
Spruce boards	-2,79	-6,13
Chipboard	-1,65	-1,95
Plywood	-1,91	-1,83
Plaster	-14,86	-13,24
Plaster on the reverse side	-14,58	-13,91
Tile	-2,22	-1,42
Ruberoid	-0,1	-0,13
Dry cinder block	-6,71	-10,33
Cinder block wet	-7,35	-12,38
Metal grate	-20,99	-13,17
Wire mesh	-1,21	-0,34

3 - presence of devices that create interference

Once, a friend of mine suffered for a long time and could not understand why there was very poor reception in one of the rooms, even if the router was installed in it, while in other rooms everything worked perfectly. As it turned out, the source of the problems was a neighbor, a radio amateur, who had stretched a radio antenna along the entire wall, which was causing strong interference.

Microwaves, electric motors, large diagonal TVs hanging on half the wall, etc. can also have a strong influence.

4—neighbors have wireless networks

If you have in the list when connecting to your home Wi-Fi available networks This is roughly the picture:

Don't be surprised by the low speed or poor reception. The fact is that WiFi uses only 11 to 13 radio channels, depending on the country. If at least half of them are already occupied by “neighbors,” then they will already interfere with each other and create interference. But this is a common sight in apartment buildings. In this case, there is only one way out - switching to equipment operating in the 5 GHz range.

5 - characteristics of the equipment used

Yes, your Wi-Fi coverage area also largely depends on your router. Specifically, it depends on the power of the transmitter and the antennas used. And if all home devices are approximately equal in power, then with antennas everything is much more interesting. The simplest and cheapest models like D-Link DIR-300 or DIR-615 use the weakest antennas with a gain of 2dBi. It makes no difference whether they are external or internal - the quality of signal transmission will still not be very good. As practice shows, such a router can more or less normally cover a one-room apartment. For larger areas, it is better to buy routers with antennas of at least 5dBi.

It is also worth taking into account that if the router is labeled Wireless N150, then it uses one antenna and its signal coverage will be worse than that of the Wireless N300 - it already has 2 antennas operating in MIMO mode.

How to increase the coverage area of your WiFi network

There are several ways to help improve the quality of work and expand the coverage range of your wireless network. The use of one or the other of them strictly depends on the situation. In some cases, you will have to combine several methods.

— Using more powerful or directional antennas
If the antennas on your home router are removable, then replacing weak 2-3dBi antennas with more powerful 5-8dBi ones can significantly improve the quality and expand the signal coverage in some cases by as much as 1.5-2 times. And with the help of directional antennas, you can transmit a signal over longer distances in a certain direction.

— Installing a wireless repeater. If special devices are WiFi repeaters or repeaters that connect to an existing network and expand it through the use of their antennas. If there is poor reception in one of the rooms in the apartment, put a repeater there and forget about the problem!

By the way, many modern routers support WDS technology, which means they can also be used as repeaters if necessary.

— Transition to the 5 GHz band.

As I noted above, this solution will be optimal for those who suffer from many neighbors’ Wi-Fi. Replacing equipment with new equipment operating at the 5GHz frequency usually completely solves such problems. Firstly, few people use it yet, and secondly, there are significantly more radio channels available for work.

There is another way to expand the WiFi coverage radius when you need this network to be accessible within 100-150 meters, but it is not possible to install a directional antenna. In this case, you can simply forward to the desired point twisted pair and connect another router with the same SSID network name and password.