- Broadband provider Virgin Media has issued advice to British users of its hub
- The company warns against placing a router in direct sunlight
- This may cause the router to overheat and perform poorly – or ‘grind to stop’ even – and there are other placement problems that also need to consider
You may never have ever thought much about the location of your Wi-Fi router, but it is important when summer knocks on the door and some countries experience their first taste of a heat wave.
The independent report, which caused by the unusually hot April temperatures in the UK, has broadband provider Virgin Media provided a warning that it is really not a good idea to get your router placed in direct sunlight when the weather gets hot. (Or at any time for that matter).
Virgin Media issued a statement to say: “Although we are testing our [broadband] Hubs carefully at a variety of temperatures, they are better off light sunlight, like your phone or laptop. If the hub gets too hot, it can slow your connection or even grind up completely. “
This emphasizes the point that your router is like any other piece of hardware – it warms up when used and has ventilation openings and needs to stay cool. Put the unit in bright sunlight in a baking of hot space, and the results may not be beautiful as Virgin Media suggests.
Similarly, the statement advises that you should not stick your router in a closet where it can again get too hot due to a lack of ventilation in the heat. Not to mention the fact that placing it in a closed space nevertheless disturbs the Wi-Fi signal.
Other location advice to avoid interference with Wi-Fi includes: “Keep the hub at least 1 m away from wireless phones or baby screens and, as far as possible, from major obstacles such as cabinets and fish tanks.”
Analysis: Tricks to make your router fast (or at least a little faster)
Isn’t that all quite alarmist? No, with a word if your router gets too hot, the performance will actually be reduced. (And it is not without regard to the fact that damage can also be caused in the case of extreme heat conditions – something we become more used to seeing these days).
Granted, this is not the first time Virgin Media has run this advice, and in fact the company seems to throw this out annually (prior to the summer in the UK). But this is the first time I’ve seen it, and the given advice is good, plus more wide, we should all think a little more about the location of our router.
Do not put it in the sun, certainly or in a closet or in your TV cabinet for all the hot-related reasons listed above. Similarly, do not push the router under your desk – try to have it up reasonably high, not near the floor and with as few obstacles as possible around the device. Any obstacles near the router will only reduce the Wi-Fi signal as secure as overheating will.
If you are in the mood to improve your Wi-Fi in general, you may want to review our full guide on how to increase your Wi-Fi signal strength, which includes positioning advice, as well as technical adjustments you can use (such as changing Wi-Fi channels). It may be worth considering a Wi-Fi extender in some scenarios (such as getting a better signal in your garden for the summer, maybe).
