Wi-Fi not reaching every room?

What is a Wi-Fi dead spot?

A Wi-Fi dead spot is an area of your home where the wireless connection becomes too weak or unreliable to work properly. You may still see a Wi-Fi symbol on your device, but websites load slowly, streaming buffers, calls freeze or the connection drops out completely.

Dead spots often appear in bedrooms, home offices, upstairs rooms, garages, outdoor areas or parts of the home that are separated from the main router by distance and building materials.

Why is my Wi-Fi signal weak in some rooms?

Distance from the router

Wi-Fi signal becomes weaker as it travels. A router can provide excellent performance nearby but struggle to maintain the same connection at the opposite end of a home.

Walls, floors and building materials

Wireless signals have to pass through the building. Multiple walls, floors and dense materials between the router and your device can significantly reduce useful Wi-Fi coverage.

The router is in the wrong place

Internet connections are not always installed where a Wi-Fi router would ideally be positioned. A router in a cupboard, garage, corner or at one end of the house may leave other areas poorly covered.

Interference and neighbouring Wi-Fi

Other wireless networks and sources of radio interference can affect performance. A signal can look reasonably strong while still delivering an unstable or poor-quality connection.

Your home's shape and size

A larger, long, multi-storey or unusually shaped home may simply be difficult to cover properly from one Wi-Fi location.

Do I need a Wi-Fi booster or extender?

Maybe, but don't assume that an extender is automatically the right solution. Extenders can be useful in some situations, but their performance depends on where they are placed and the quality of the connection they receive themselves.

Putting an extender directly inside a dead spot doesn't create a good connection if the extender is also receiving a poor signal. The right solution depends on the home, existing equipment and whether suitable cabling is available.

Would a mesh Wi-Fi system fix the dead spot?

Mesh Wi-Fi can improve coverage in the right home, but it isn't automatically necessary whenever one room has weak Wi-Fi. Router placement, existing equipment and the way mesh units connect to each other all matter.

In some homes the existing router can be retained. In others, repositioning equipment, using wired connections or adding properly located Wi-Fi equipment may be more appropriate.

Is it actually slow Wi-Fi rather than a dead spot?

Coverage problems don't always result in a complete loss of signal. Sometimes the Wi-Fi remains connected but becomes much slower as you move through the home.

See why Wi-Fi can become slow in different parts of your home.

Does the connection keep dropping out?

Weak coverage can also cause an unstable connection rather than consistently slow performance.

See why Wi-Fi can keep dropping out if disconnections are the main symptom.

Could it actually be the NBN?

If performance is poor even when you're beside the main Wi-Fi router, the problem may not simply be coverage. Your internet service, modem, router or another upstream issue may need investigation.

See how to tell whether slow NBN is actually a home Wi-Fi problem.

How AllDigital checks Wi-Fi coverage

The free AllDigital Wi-Fi Check compares performance near your main Wi-Fi equipment with performance where you're actually having trouble.

It also looks at your existing equipment and home setup so the next step can be based on the problem you actually have rather than simply recommending another Wi-Fi product.