How To Boost Low WiFi Signal Strength — Updated, 2025

Having low Wifi signal strength in your home or business is frustrating. This is especially true if your router or access point is in the same room as you.

The good news is there are ways to increase the range of your wireless network, as well as improve signal strength.

Provided you are not infected by a virus malware or rootkit.

If it were possible to see the signal bouncing around, many people could easily detect problems with their network. 

>>>Related Post: 4 Reasons why you should consider a Managed WiFi Solution<<<

So we must rely on simple trial and error to find the perfect location for your router and Access Points. (Aside specialist apps we use at Best Computer Repair)

You may also like our other post about resetting your network settings in windows here

WiFi Booster Tip For Low WiFi Signal Strength

Our first low WiFi signal strength booster tip is placement. Location location location.

Place your router in the centre of your home or office, in an area away from cordless phone stations and microwave ovens. 

Some types of wall construction, like concrete or metal, or electrical wiring in the wall will also cause signal loss.

Be sure your router is approximately centred and away from any of those things that can degrade the signal. 

Some people think their router needs to be right beside a computer, but this isn’t true.

It can go anywhere in the house. If it needs to connect to a broadband modem, the modem will need to go with it.

Purchase a high gain antenna.

If your router has a detachable antenna, you should be able to add a high gain antenna.

These types of antennas are more directional than your standard antenna and allow you to focus your WiFi signal toward an access point or your computer. 

You can even make these, which are generally known as “cantennas,” but you’ll probably have greater results if you get one. 

High gain antennas are a terrific way to shoot the Wi-fi signal across a residence or perhaps a yard.

Change channels on the router, change the mobile frequency on the router.

If you don’t receive the results you want by moving the router, you can test changing the channel the router uses to broadcast the signal. 

You only need to do this on the router itself, as the wireless devices should recognize the new signal automatically.

All makes and models of routers have different menus, but all you need to do is log in to your router through your web browser and look in the wireless settings.

Experiment and see if changing the channel helps.

Buy a new 802.11n router. One of the newer wireless standards is 802.11n.

It uses Multiple-Input Multiple-Output channels and has nearly double the range of a wireless-g. 

Here is an example of a Wireless N router you can buy to boost the range of your WiFi signal, search: Cisco-Linksys WRT160N Wireless-N Broadband Router

Use A WiFi Signal Extender

WiFi Boosters can improve wifi signal strength.

You can use a portable device such as an iPhone or a laptop or even an android app such as Wifi Overview 360 to walk around your location and see where the signal begins to fade.

This is where you want to put a WiFi signal extender (WiFi repeater).

The goal is to extend the range of the wireless to all areas of your home or office, but if your WiFi fails right before the bathroom door, that is fine.

Place WiFi signal extenders in areas where you see approximately forty per cent signal strength.

You do not want to place it too far away, as the repeater might not get a clean enough signal to pass along.

WiFi signal extenders plug directly into the wall and are easy to configure.

Power Cycle Your Router And Computers

Power cycling is the process of “rebooting” the router and modem.

When we power cycle a network, we generally will do all computers behind the router, as well.

This gives those devices the opportunity to clear memory and refresh IP addresses.

This is typically done when a noticeable slow-down has occurred or if you are having connectivity issues and cannot connect to the Internet.

Your modem gets an IP address from your ISP, the router gets this IP from the modem, and then your router provides imitation internal IP addresses to the PC’s behind it. 

That is called NAT translation. Renewing these IP addresses once in a while can help your network run faster, even better, this process only requires a few minutes.

To begin the procedure of cycling your router, modem, and PC’s, commence by shutting down all the computers in your own home. Next, turn off the router by unplugging the AC cord. You could leave all the cables attached.

Be aware: Many systems will have the modem and router or a merged modem and router in a single box. When you have another modem and router, you should shut them both down.

After that, shut down the modem and unplug it. Some newer systems, like Verizon FIOS, have a power supply data backup system that will commence complaining when you unplug it. 

Simply take the power supply out so we’re convinced everything is totally shut down.

For some providers, you are only going to have to unplug the modem.

After the modem is off for a few moments, plug it back in and hang on. The modem will most likely have all green lights when it’s fully set up. 

Plug the router back in and wait for it to power up completely.

You will notice all the green signals/lights again. A number of the signals/lights will be blinking, which is normal.

Now you can boot up the PC’s.

When the router is set up as a DHCP server, it will now provide the computer with a fresh IP address. 

You are able to confirm this happened by going to search and typing CMD in the box then Command Prompt in windows and type “ ipconfig /all. “

You should now note that your computer has an address much like 192.168.1.2.

Other Reasons For Low WiFi Signal

You will find other reasons for low WiFi signal power that repeaters and new routers just can’t fix. The issue could be with your device. 

Every wireless device you have has hardware and software that controls it. Make sure you always have the most up to date firmware and drivers.

For example, if all of your devices receive a strong signal, but one particular laptop does not, then there is an issue with this device. Seek out a BIOS update from the manufacturer, as well as obtain the very latest drivers for the WiFi card.

Usually, major brand name manufacturers will have a place to search for your make and model, and will also list all the drivers available for that model. 

Download and run the installers for the new BIOS and WiFi card on your computer just to rule these out.

>>>Related Post: 4 Reasons why you should consider a Managed WiFi Solution<<<