Placing Wi-Fi Router Vertically to get better signals in my room (An Experiment)

[Kyle Crane]

So i have TP-Link Archer C6 which I'm using with a 200Mbps LCO connection
TP-Link Archer C6 supports like Speeds Up to 867 Mbps/5 GHz + 400Mbps/2.4 GHz
which we all know is theoretical and real life speeds are a lot slower even if you have a 1gbps connection. On 5ghz, you would probably max out by 500mbps on a very short distance, and it keeps getting slower as you move away

moving on, I live in Mumbai, and I'm currently on a small rented 1bhk flat which looks like this (ik it's a small house pls don't judge)

below is a rough home layout and where the Wi-Fi router is. It's currently placed on Top of a Double Door refrigerator and right next to it is a wooden cupboard which a big suitcase on top of it

even tho the House the small, the 5ghz signal struggles to reach my bedroom properly

This is how my Wi-Fi Router was kept for the last 4 months

so i was thinking if i could put the router Vertically and if that would help the signals just like this
for example:

or mount it on the wall behind the refrigerator (at an appropriate height) but mounting was not an option for me, because the landlord is strict about drilling any holes to the wall
for example:

so now I'm left with figuring out a way to make the router stand vertically and without a 3D printer or something to print a DIY stand

but thankfully I found an old iPad stand lying around which I didn't use for like 4 years and that came in handy
and TA DA it actually works just fine ,without the router falling off (even when closing and opening the fridge)

But the question remains, did it help fix the Wi-Fi signal issues?

Test 1 : Router kept on its Default position
Location 1 : i.e. on the corner of my bed ,Device is iPhone 11

Test 1 : Router kept on its Default position
Location 2 : Phone kept on my PC

The vertical router DIY

Here are the test results from it
Test 2 : Router kept on a Vertical stand
Location 1 : i.e. on the corner of my bed, Device is iPhone 11

Test 2 : Router kept on a Vertical Stand
Location 2 i.e. Phone kept on my PC

After running 10 tests, the average shows that download speeds remain pretty much the same, but it's the upload speed which is improved


Altough I did try placing the router facing my room without the stand and that gave interesting results

Test 3 : Router kept on default position but facing my room
Location 1 : i.e. on the corner of my bed, Device is iPhone 11

Test 3 : Router kept on default position but facing my room
Location 2 i.e. Phone kept on my PC

Placing the router facing my room did help the upload speeds on my bed, but it didn't perform that well in front of my PC
For now, I'm confused weather doing this would actually help me achieve 200mbps upload at both the locations

Overall ,The early impression of vertically placing the router and facing my bedroom did help quite a bid but then if i face the router to my room it gives even better signals on my bed

For now, I would keep trying to find a way where i can maximize coverage without the need of additional hardware

Notes
1. I can't move the router anywhere (the fiber cable is short)
2. I can't upgrade to a higher end router (I'd rather put money on getting a 300Mbps plan instead)
3. I'm a noob when compared to all the folks here, if my testing method looks weird and unprofessional I'm sorry about that

 

[Lolita_Magnum]

Per your tests, I think the speeds look pretty good for almost any use cases.
You have a 200Mb circuit, and you get approx. 180Mb so what is the problem here?
Also, you mentioned that you need better signals, but your tests are unrelated to that. I believe there is an called Airport utility on IOS to measure Wi-Fi signal in RSSI.

Meanwhile, some other things that I could think of are:

• Maybe lay an ethernet cable to your room, and an additional A6 to act as AP?
• Or use a range extender? Based on the distance and if it's WIFI5, it may work?

 

[Kyle Crane]

so the thing is ,i make video calls from my bed since it's next to the window (natural light source)
and my stream doesn't perform as expected ,it might be blurry ,laggy etc.

Even tho 720p or 1080p video calls don't take a lot of bandwidth ,hence to counter this I wanted a full 200mbps DN/UP on my bed

and also i feel like i want to make the most of the router i have ,to use it to its full potential

 

[Lolita_Magnum]

1080p videos calls? What app is that? How are you measuring the blurring and laggy part?
Even teams have a 10Mb max bandwidth requirement for the best performance in all use cases, so if you are really having issues then the problem might be something else.

 

[Kyle Crane]

FaceTime does support 1080p video calls

And the blurry part ,it usually occurs with practo video consultation
It might be there poor servers

But Facetime suffers with that weird lag too

Hmmm
Maybe Bufferbloat?

I always get a score of A and caution sign on Video calls

Well i dont wanna spend money on a router tbh ,id rather pay for a higher end plan

 

[Lolita_Magnum]

Well facetime is like 5-6Mbps max, so I'd say that you are looking in the wrong direction.

 

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[Kyle Crane]

Hmm

Although what do you think
Does placing the router like that vertically

Help?

 

[Lolita_Magnum]

Would depend on the actual radio strength than the speedtests. (e.g. apps mentioned above like Airport utility)

 

[Kyle Crane]

 

[Lolita_Magnum]

So, theoretically aluminium absorbs the waves and not bounces it back. So, it's essentially useless.