Home Wi-Fi that drops out: the usual causes

First, work out what's actually failing

Broadband and Wi-Fi are different things, and the fix is different too.

• Does it fail on every device, or just one? One device means the device, not the network
• Does it fail everywhere, or only in certain rooms? Room-specific means Wi-Fi coverage
• Plug a computer into the router with a cable and test — if that's rock solid, your broadband is fine and it's a Wi-Fi problem
• Check your provider's status page before anything else if it's failing everywhere at once

Where the router sits matters more than people expect

Wi-Fi is radio, and it's blocked by the ordinary contents of a house.

• Get it out in the open — not in a cupboard, behind the TV, or on the floor
• Central and reasonably high is best; signal spreads outwards and downwards
• Thick stone walls, foil-backed plasterboard, mirrors and underfloor heating all block it badly
• Keep it away from microwaves, cordless phone bases and baby monitors
• Fish tanks are a genuine culprit — water absorbs the signal

The two bands, and why it matters

Your router broadcasts on 2.4GHz and 5GHz. The 5GHz band is much faster but travels a shorter distance and copes badly with walls; 2.4GHz reaches further but is slower and shares space with every neighbour's network.

Phones usually choose sensibly. If a device in a far room keeps dropping, it may be clinging to 5GHz — some routers let you split the names so you can pick manually. Evening slowdowns are often 2.4GHz congestion, especially in flats.

Boosters, extenders and mesh

A cheap extender rebroadcasts an already-weak signal and typically halves the speed. It can help one awkward corner and often disappoints elsewhere.

A mesh system — two or three units working as one network, handing devices between them — is the proper answer for a house where coverage is poor in several places. Better still, where you can run a cable to the far end, a second access point on the end of it beats any wireless solution.

Powerline adapters, which carry the network over the mains wiring, are a decent middle ground in older houses, though performance depends heavily on the wiring.

The unglamorous checks

Before buying anything: restart the router properly (off for 30 seconds), make sure its firmware is up to date, and consider its age. A router more than five or six years old is often the whole problem, and providers will usually replace one on request.

If your broadband itself keeps dropping — the internet light changing, not just Wi-Fi — that's a line fault to raise with your provider, and it's worth logging the times it happens before you ring.