My WiFi is absolutely terrible in my bedroom.
On my phone it’s just slow, but on the Xbox it’s almost unusable sometimes. Games take forever to download, and online multiplayer is pretty much a gamble.
The router is in the living room, on the other side of the house. Can’t really move it much because that’s where the internet comes in.
I know Ethernet is probably the best answer, but the rooms are pretty far apart and I’d rather not run a cable through the whole place.
Would a more powerful router help? Or maybe a WiFi extender?
I’m not very knowledgeable about this stuff, so any advice is appreciated.
Ethernet. Seriously. If gaming is your main concern, that’s what I’d do.
@cunning_beaver Any idea how much it would cost to run a cable that far? It’s not exactly close to the living room.
Depends on whether you do it yourself or hire someone. The cable itself usually isn’t the expensive part. Installation can be. You might be able to run it along the baseboards without opening walls.
@cunning_beaver You saying Ethernet like Net_Warrior hasn’t already mentioned not wanting to run a cable. A good mesh system could work if there’s a decent spot for the second node. Not everyone wants a cable running through their hallway.
@Apex_Mind Net_Warrior asked for the best way to improve gaming. Ethernet is still the best answer.
I’d check how bad the signal actually is in different parts of the house. NetSpot has an Inspector mode that shows signal strength in dBm, along with the bands and channels nearby networks use. You can check the living room, hallway, and bedroom to see where reception starts dropping. If the signal is already weak halfway down the hall, spending more on another router in the same location might not solve much.
@tech_guru23 Would I need to do that on the Xbox?
No, a Windows laptop would work. You can also use NetSpot on Android. Just remember the Xbox might receive a slightly different signal than the device you’re measuring with. The point is to understand the general coverage, not get an exact measurement of the Xbox’s antenna.
I’d also check whether your router is sitting inside a cabinet or behind the TV. Sometimes moving it a couple of feet into the open helps more than people expect.