6 top tips for extending your WiFi signal all around your home
Simple steps to stretch your WiFi range, improve your signal and get a seamless connection in every corner of your home.
By Alex Fletcher
Last updated: April 2026
Reading time: 5 mins
It can be incredibly frustrating if your WiFi signal isn’t up to scratch all the way around your home.
If you have patchy reception in the kitchen or signal dropping in the bedroom, don’t despair. There are several tips, tricks and EE products that can help create a more seamless home WiFi experience.
What’s the difference between broadband and WiFi?
Getting a powerful and reliable connection all around the home needs a fast broadband connection and strong reliable WiFi. It’s much easier to solve any problems, when you understand the difference between the two.
You can get different types of broadband from EE, part fibre and Full Fibre. And you can get different broadband speeds, depending on where you live.
Your broadband speed is what gets sent to your EE Smart Hub. If you can’t get your phone, TV or laptop online, the problem is probably with the broadband or your hub.
How is WiFi different to broadband?
Your Smart Hub uses WiFi to connect devices around your home.
If you want to get the very fastest speeds, you can connect your laptop to a Smart Hub using an ethernet cable.
If you’re not using a cable, then you will need strong and reliable WiFi to get online.
It is the WiFi that needs improving if you've got areas of the home with a weak signal, or if your connection slows down when your home is at its busiest.
If your laptop works fine in the living room, but you lose signal in the upstairs bedroom, it’s the WiFi that needs tweaking rather than the broadband speed.
5 top tips for improving your WiFi signal
If you’ve established that the problem is with your WiFi rather than the broadband, here are some ways to make sure you get a stronger signal around the home
Tip 1: The placement of your Smart Hub
When you’re first setting up your Smart Hub, it’s important to consider its position in the home and how you store it.
The best location for the hub will be the most central area of the house. It means there will be less distance for the WiFi to travel to reach each corner of the home.
It might not always be possible to choose the room your hub is located, but you can usually decide how to store it.
Make sure your hub isn't hidden away. If it's in a cupboard, on the floor, or behind thick walls, it's harder for the WiFi to reach your devices.
Also avoid placing the hub near windows, microwaves, baby monitors or behind a TV, as they can all weaken your signal.
Tip 2: Get a WiFi Extender
Is your hub in a good position?
Is your broadband fast and reliable with an ethernet cable or when you stand close to the hub?
Are you struggling for a steady signal the further you move away from the hub?
If the answer to these questions is ‘yes’, then it’s a good idea to get a WiFi Extender.
You’re most likely to need a WiFi Extender if you live in a particularly large property or an older building with thick walls, which make it difficult for the WiFi signal to stretch into every room.
A WiFi Extender is included in some EE broadband plans, and can be added as an extra.
Our WiFi Extender is mesh kit, which extends the WiFi range around your home when placed halfway between your router and areas with poor signal.
Tip 3: Get your WiFi Extender in the right spot
If you plug in your WiFi Extender right next to your hub, you won’t get much benefit from the kit.
Similarly, if your put the extender in the furthest room away the hub, you’re not going to get the best results.
The ideal spot for your WiFi Extender is halfway between your hub and the spot in your house with the worst signal.
Other places not to plug in the extender include:
- near electronic devices with signals like microwaves, TVs and baby monitors.
- near shiny or metallic surface.
- near windows or fishtanks.
- inside a cupboard or closet.
Tip 4: More extenders doesn’t mean a better signal
In the majority of cases only one extender is required to stretch the WiFi signal around a property.
And actually having more than one extender can have a negative impact on your WiFi. Too many extenders can cause an overlap of signals and slow everything down.
Tip 5: Download the EE app
Before setting up you Smart Hub and WiFi extender, download the EE app.
The app will give you step-by-step guidance for getting your kit set up correctly. You can also run a speed test in the app to make sure your broadband is working as it should.
Tip 6: Add WiFi Optimiser if you have a busy household
If the WiFi works fine during the daytime, but you have problems when the kids come home from school and everyone is online at the same time, WiFi Optimiser can prioritise your connection.
Ideal for gamers, streamers and working from home, WiFi Optimiser is included in EE’s Standard, Premium and Ultimate broadband plans.
Just go to WiFi Controls in the EE app and you’ll find WiFi Optimiser. It lets you prioritise a WiFi connection, so you can get a smoother Zoom or Microsoft Teams call or cut the annoying lag on a computer game.
It works by giving your app or game its own traffic lane, which gets you a smoother connection, without slowing anyone else down.
