Is the router inside a cupboard or cabinet?

Is the router on the floor?

Is the router behind a television?

Is it beside large metal objects, a radiator or a water tank?

Is it near a microwave, cordless phone or baby monitor?

Is it at one edge of the property, such as a front hallway?

Is it surrounded by thick stone or brick walls?

Is it elevated and out in the open?

Is it reasonably central to the property?

How your router is placed

Not enough answers yet

Answer a few more of these and we can tell you where the easiest improvements are. Placement is the cheapest thing to change in a home network.

Placement is rarely the whole story. If you have worked through this and the connection is still poor, the Wi-Fi optimiser and the speed test look at the other parts.

Why placement matters more than people expect

A router broadcasts in every direction at once. Anything solid in the way absorbs part of that signal, and anything metal reflects it. Put one in a cupboard in a front hallway and you can lose a large share of your coverage before it reaches a single room — while the line coming into the house is working perfectly.

It is also the only part of a home network you can improve for nothing, in about two minutes, which is why it is worth ruling out before spending money on anything else.

Why there is no score out of ten

Because nine yes/no answers cannot support one. A number would suggest we had measured your coverage, and we have not — we have asked you where the box is. So the result is a plain condition and a ranked list of changes, ordered by how much each one typically buys.

What placement cannot explain

Plenty. If your line is underperforming, your package is too small for the household, or the device itself is old, moving the router will not help. Placement is one contributor among several, and a well-placed router with a poor connection is a useful result too: it tells you to look elsewhere.