When we are going to buy a Wi-Fi router, we want it to be fast, have several Ethernet ports and even Multigigabit ports, and a very complete firmware to configure the different parameters of the equipment. However, what is most valued in a router is both the wireless coverage that it is capable of providing throughout our house, as well as the real speed that the different WiFi clients connected to it will achieve. Today in this article we are going to explain what the coverage and range of a router depend on, and we will see which router models have better coverage.
Factors influencing coverage and how to improve it
The WiFi coverage of any router indoors depends on many factors, especially in domestic environments where we have dozens of WiFi networks around us creating interference. For this reason it is very difficult to be able to “guarantee” whether WiFi coverage will reach us or not, unless we test the coverage in the same place, so the possible simulators that we use will only be able to give us a slight idea of how coverage would remain.
The main factors that influence the coverage that the router is capable of providing are:
- Distance from router to WiFi clients .
- Physical obstacles of any kind , thick doors, walls, mirrors, glass, etc. Depending on the type of material, we will have a greater attenuation of the signal or less. For this reason it is essential to avoid obstacles whenever possible.
- WiFi signal emission power (EIRP or also known as Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power). In this case, due to legislation issues, we have a different limit for countries and also for WiFi frequency bands. In principle, it is not possible to increase the transmission power of the router for legal reasons, although it is possible to change it in certain circumstances, choosing the profiles of other countries and even modifying the firmware.
- Type of antenna : currently home routers have omnidirectional antennas, that is, they provide coverage in all directions of the horizontal plane (360º), however, depending on the gain we will have a greater vertical angle.
- Antenna gain . The less gain we have, the more coverage we will provide in the vertical plane. As we increase the gain of the antenna, the vertical coverage will decrease. In domestic environments, it is common to find equipment that has a gain of approximately 4dBi to 7dBi.
Next, we are going to make a series of recommendations to improve the coverage of the router at home.
- Distance of the WiFi router with the ground . It is recommended to locate the router at a distance of 1 meter above the ground, to be able to broadcast correctly in all directions and that the signal does not fade quickly.
- Place it in a central place in the house . It is essential to place it in a central place in the house, otherwise it may not reach all the rooms, and you will have to buy repeaters and even WiFi Mesh systems .
- If you have external antennas , place them in different positions and not just vertical. This allows us to provide more homogeneous coverage if we have several flats (duplexes or chalets). In the case of having internal antennas, you cannot do this, but internally they are already placed in an optimal position.
Now that you know what factors influence the coverage that a router is capable of providing, and the recommendations to improve coverage at home, let’s see which home routers have the best WiFi coverage.
Which home router has the best WiFi coverage?
As we have said before, the WiFi coverage in a router depends on the type of antenna it has and the antenna gain , because the Wi-Fi emission power is exactly the same for all routers due to limitations by law. In this way, a WiFi router cannot broadcast with more power than what is established by law in each country. The EIRP power is the one that is regulated, the EIRP is calculated with the following formula: EIRP= emission power + antenna gain – signal losses in cables and connectors.
What we can do is choose models that have high-gain external antennas in order to reach further in the horizontal plane, although sacrificing the coverage that we can achieve vertically. In this way, what we have to do is look for WiFi routers that have high-gain antennas in order to provide the best possible wireless coverage. We must also take into account the number of antennas for each frequency band, there are currently routers that have up to 4 antennas for each band, and with Beamforming technology to focus the signal on wireless clients.
For example, a really good model that meets all these characteristics and that we have verified that it works really well, is the ASUS RT-AX89X. Even with two floors above it, we have achieved great performance in both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. This model is one of the best you can buy.
Another very good WiFi model that has a great range is the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX6000, a top-of-the-range router that has also been able to provide us with wireless coverage everywhere in the house at great speed.
Of course, there are many other models that also provide great coverage and speed, today all the high-end models are quite equal in this aspect, since they all comply with the latest wireless standards and incorporate the latest technologies such as Beamforming , MIMO, MU-MIMO and also OFDMA. The most important thing is that it meets the requirements that we have indicated above. In this article you can find dozens of analyzes of routers under the same conditions, so that you can compare the speed of one against the other.
Another aspect that you can also value is that the antennas are external and removable, in this way, you can change the antennas that come from the factory for others with higher gain, with this you will get a greater horizontal range, so it can also be a good option. .
