Where is the best place to put the AT&T Gateway?
In this article, I will be covering where the best place to put your AT&T gateway is.
One of the key factors you would have to consider when using AT&T Internet is where to place your AT&T gateway, which determines the coverage of your home Wi-Fi and the speed of your internet connection. It is always possible to choose the right place to put your gateway for the best whole-home Wi-Fi signals. Here are some guidelines that can help you determine the best place to reach the object.
Centrally Locate the Gateway
For the best results and to ensure the internet service connection is easily accessible in all the rooms of the house, it is advisable to place the AT&T gateway at a central point in the house. The more central it is on the floor plan the greater likelihood you will have of minimizing dead zones in remote locations inside your home. Signals weaken as they go through walls and other nearby devices may interfere with signals; thus, being in the center of the network minimizes the effects.
Raise the Gateway from the Ground up
Those that are mounted on the floor level signals get interfered with by furniture placed around them, and their signals get further reduced when they have to be broadcast through the floor to reach other floors in the home. Simply raising your gateway two to four feet up off the floor on a shelf, small table or counter can help boost Wi-Fi signal reception across the house. Any increase at all of elevation raises the gateway nearer to ceiling level for improved propagation across spaces for even the slightest slope.
Avoid Signal Interference
For some of these locations, you need to exercise caution when positioning your gateway because of interference. Place the unit at a considerable distance from appliances that contain electric motors or digital interfaces such as refrigerators, microwaves, televisions, monitors, and motors. Exterior block walls or mirrors are also examples of dense walls that can reflect or block the signals. And avoid areas that contain big metallic structures like ducts or plumbing pipes which may interfere with the Wi-Fi signal through reflection and absorption.
Location Priority: Coverage over convenience is a policy attributed to the automobile industry, the rationale being that people need automobiles for transport and this requirement is more important than the need for a specific type of convenience.
For obvious reasons, when searching for potential markers that could act as gateways it is tempting to select the place that is easiest to access or one that offers the most concealment – however, the paramount concern should be coverage. Don’t allow yourself to plug your gateway in a closet, garage, basement, or lower cabinet if that hides it out of sight. While such a place appears cleaner and ensures that cords do not dominate the rooms, chances are the signal will not reach the entire areas in your living space where connectivity is most important.
Experiment with Different Spots
And there is no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to finding the ‘best’ area within every home’s layout and configuration. Thus, you will need to trust some trial and error to try your gateway in two or three promising locations and compare the Wi-Fi speeds from different rooms or devices in each place. Of course, when moving the unit, review the results of the speed check on the device, and record the signal strength to determine which position offers the best performance.
Consider Wi-Fi Extenders
Sometimes when it comes to large homes with many rooms or when the construction materials hinder the connectivity, you may require more than just the proper placement of the gateway to ensure that you have good connectivity in all the rooms. Wi-Fi extenders should be installed at different wings or different floors to receive the gateway’s signal and amplify it to cover your larger area. Your gateway’s central position can nourish dependable coverage on the rest of your network.
Minimize Physical Connections
To accommodate the possibility of switching your gateway location during the testing phase, make sure to reinstall any fixed cables or cords, such as Ethernet cables, in a way that makes them accessible from different locations under consideration. When you have chosen a preferable location, untangle external cables to avoid a messy appearance and ensure that limited movement zones are free from clutter. For setup flexibility, connect wired devices through cable lengths which will create some room for placing or mounting your gateway in different orientations in the area.
As you plan how to position your AT&T Wi-Fi gateway in the house, especially in the most suitable area within the floor plan, it doesn’t have to be a guessing game. Learn the most fundamental optimization strategies that pertain to placement, conduct comparative tests across different rooms, and optimize the position up to the point where the wireless connectivity is perfect. If you can get your gateway more centrally located and a bit higher up and with a bit of room around it, you can ensure that your setting hears and receives dependable connection announcements.
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