Where should I position my wireless router?

To work, your wireless router needs to be placed within reach of:

1. A power socket.
2. Your cable modem (for fibre optic broadband customers) or your main telephone socket (for National broadband customers).

Note: if you use the new Virgin Media Hub or Super Hub – our combined modem and wireless routers for cable customers – your positioning options are limited by the location of the coaxial cable that comes into your home. Try to move possible sources of interference away from the Hub/Super Hub rather than moving the Hub/Super Hub itself.

Got National broadband? It's important to connect to the main telephone socket (usually the one closest to your front door) instead of any other extension sockets in the house. This will give you the best broadband speed possible in your home.

What affects wireless broadband performance?

• The position of the wireless router and its antenna (if it has one – some modern wireless routers and the Virgin Media Hub do not have an external antenna)
• The thickness and composition of any walls between the router and your computer(s)
• Other electrical equipment, e.g. mobile phones, fax machines and microwaves, close to the router
• Other wireless networks nearby, particularly those that use the same or a similar channel to that of your wireless router.

The strength of the wireless signal is usually at its weakest on the edge of the range of the router. In a nutshell, the further away your computer is from the router, the weaker the wireless signal is likely to be.

Getting the best wireless performance

For the best wireless performance, make sure that there’s enough space around the wireless router and that it’s not too close to other electrical devices. And try to keep your computer and other wireless devices as close to the wireless router as you can.

You could even experiment with different positions, to find the best place to keep your wireless router. Remember to keep the wireless router in a dry, well ventilated place to stop it from overheating.

The strength and range of the wireless signal will be improved by using wireless 'N' technology instead of wireless 'G' version. To use wireless ‘N’ your computer, wireless card/adapter and wireless router need to compatible with the wireless 'N' standard. For more information, please see the Related Articles section.