Wi-Fi that’s fine in one room and dies in another is almost always a coverage problem, not a speed problem – and there’s a two-minute test that proves it.
The two-minute test
- Stand next to the router and run fast.com. Note the number.
- Walk to the problem room and run it again.
- If the second number is less than 10% of the first, you have a coverage gap. If both numbers are low, the connection itself is the problem – that’s a conversation with your provider, or see Wi-Fi connected but no internet.
Why that room?
Wi-Fi hates thick brick and stone walls, foil-backed insulation, metal shelving, fish tanks, and the microwave sitting between the router and the sofa. Distance matters less than what’s in the way. Moving the router even a metre – off the floor, out of the cupboard, away from the TV – sometimes fixes a marginal room on its own.
The three real fixes
- Mesh Wi-Fi: two or three nodes that hand your device over as you move. The right answer for most homes and small offices – avoid cheap “repeaters”, which halve your speed.
- Powerline adapters: run the signal over your electrical wiring to a plug in the dead room. Hit and miss on older wiring, brilliant when it works.
- A wired access point: one network cable to the far end of the building, an access point on it. The gold standard – it’s what we install in offices and schools where Wi-Fi has to just work.
Not sure which fits your building? Send us the fast.com numbers from both spots via a ticket and we’ll recommend one – or for business premises, ask about a proper Wi-Fi survey and we’ll map the coverage room by room.