Bad WiFi in certain rooms almost always comes down to where the router sits, not to your broadband subscription. Concrete, tile and underfloor heating block the signal effectively. A lot of it you can fix yourself, and installation carried out in the home is RUT-eligible.
Why is WiFi bad in some rooms?
| Cause | What happens |
|---|---|
| The router is in the wrong place | The signal does not reach through the home |
| Concrete walls and floor slabs | Heavily weaken the signal |
| Tile and underfloor heating | Metal mesh in walls and floors blocks it |
| The router is inside a cupboard | The signal is weakened right at the source |
| Neighbours' networks | Interference, especially in apartment buildings |
| An old router | Cannot handle many devices at once |
Swedish housing makes this worse than you might expect. Apartment buildings are largely concrete, bathrooms are fully tiled, and underfloor heating with a metal mesh underneath is common in newer builds. All three are close to worst case for a wireless signal.
What you can try yourself first
- Move the router. It should sit centrally, in the open and preferably high up, not at the far end of a hallway, not in a cupboard and not behind the TV. This solves more problems than anything else.
- Restart the router. Leave it switched off for half a minute.
- Keep distance from interference: the microwave, cordless phones, large metal surfaces.
- Update the router's firmware, if it does not do so automatically.
- Connect to the right band. 5 GHz is faster but has shorter range; 2.4 GHz travels further but is slower and more prone to interference.
Is it the WiFi or the broadband?
This is worth establishing before you buy anything.
Connect a computer with a network cable directly to the router and measure the speed. Then compare that with the same measurement over WiFi in the room where it is bad.
- High speed on cable, low over WiFi → the problem is the WiFi, and more bandwidth will not help
- Low speed even on cable → the problem is the subscription or the provider
A lot of people upgrade their broadband unnecessarily when the problem was the router's placement all along.
Mesh or repeater?
| Mesh | Repeater | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Several units form one network | Amplifies the existing signal |
| Network name | One, devices switch automatically | Usually a separate one |
| Speed | Largely maintained | Often halved |
| Price | Higher | Lower |
| Suits | Houses and larger apartments | A single weak room |
Mesh is the better solution in most cases: you keep one network name and devices switch automatically as you move through the home.
A repeater can be enough if it is only one room, and it is cheaper. The drawback is that the speed is often halved and you may have to switch networks manually.
When do you need a network cable?
Cable is always the fastest and most stable option. It is worth the effort when:
- You have a home office and video calls that cannot stutter
- You stream TV at high resolution
- You game and need low latency
- Concrete walls mean WiFi never gets truly good
- You want to place a mesh unit on the upper floor and feed it by cable
Running cable in an existing home usually needs a technician, especially through floor slabs. A common compromise is a cable to a mesh unit at the far end of the home, which then broadcasts WiFi locally.
Smart-home devices
Smart lights, thermostats, cameras and speakers usually connect over 2.4 GHz, not 5 GHz. If your router uses one shared name for both bands, devices can sometimes struggle to connect.
A technician can separate the bands or set up a dedicated network for smart devices, which is also better from a security point of view: those devices then do not sit on the same network as your computers and phones.
Note what the deduction covers here. Work on the network itself is RUT-eligible; work on the smart devices is not. Skatteverket specifically excludes household equipment controlled through IT solutions, such as alarms, surveillance cameras, remote-controlled heat pumps, robot vacuums and robot mowers. Ask the company to itemise the two parts separately on the invoice.
Security
- Change the router's admin password from the factory setting
- Use WPA3, or at minimum WPA2, as the encryption
- Set your own WiFi password rather than the one printed on the underside of the router
- Turn on a guest network for visitors, so they do not end up on your main network
- Keep the router's firmware updated
A router still running factory-default passwords is one of the most common weak points in a home network.
RUT deduction
Installing and configuring a network in the home is RUT-eligible: 50 percent off the labour cost (Skatteverket).
The router, mesh units and cable are materials and do not qualify. Neither do smart-home devices, alarms or cameras, even though they sit on the same network.
The deduction only covers work carried out in your home, so remote help earns nothing. See computer help cost.
Common questions
Why is WiFi bad in some rooms?
Usually the router's placement. Concrete walls, tile, underfloor heating and appliances block the signal.
What can I try myself first?
Move the router to a central, open spot, preferably high up and not in a cupboard, and restart it.
Mesh or repeater?
Mesh is usually better, with one network name and automatic switching. A repeater is cheaper but often halves the speed.
When do I need a network cable?
For a home office, TV streaming and gaming, and when concrete walls mean WiFi never gets good.
Is the problem the router or my broadband?
Measure on a cable directly into the router and compare with WiFi. High on cable but low wireless means the WiFi is the problem.
Does network help qualify for RUT?
Yes, 50 percent off the labour cost (Skatteverket). The equipment does not qualify.
Related guides: what home computer help covers, computer help cost and setting up a new computer. Back to Web & IT.