Why You Should Mount a Wi-Fi Router on the Ceiling (and How to Do It)
The best router placement tip is the one we all ignore: Place your router in the middle of the room for the best Wi-Fi. Don’t hide your router or place it near a wall. However, this is impractical since the outlets are located in the walls, and since people have moved to mesh networking , this means more routers scattered throughout the house and more devices to hide. I’ve tried to treat these “Wi-Fi pucks” (what I call my Nest routers) like sculpture worthy of shelf space, but I don’t like it. Once I started adding Google Mini-style hubs to each room, things became chaotic, with wires hanging off the shelves in every room and the two tiny pieces of technology usually getting in the way.
To solve this problem I started mounting hubs and routers to the ceiling and it works fantastic. Given the number of accessories that support this idea, I’m clearly not the only one. Ceiling placement solves many problems: Routers can be placed in the center of the room, away from the wall, without cord hassles, and they don’t take up space on a rack or shelf. I hardly notice them there, which makes sense – after all, how often do you notice your smoke detector? This is such a good idea that some brands like Eero, which previously required a vertical router layout, are now designing routers for wall and ceiling mounting.
Tools to help you secure devices to the ceiling:
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Cord Cover to keep cords organized and hidden ($9.99).
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Ceiling mount for older Google Wi-Fi routers ($12.99).
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Set of three ceiling cord winder mounts for new Google Wi-Fi routers ($23.99).
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Eero Ceiling Mesh Router ($299.99)
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TP Link Ceiling Mesh Router ($136.78)
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TP Link Mesh Wi-Fi Router Three Pack ($299.99).
How to fix a Wi-Fi router to the ceiling
To complete this job you will need several items. First, you’ll need to find a ceiling mount for your routers or hubs unless it’s self-mountable like the Eero, and there are two places to look. Amazon offers a surprising number of options for the Google and TP Link brands, and this is the best place to look first by simply typing “[router name] ceiling mount.” Many wall mounts will also work for ceilings. A surprising place where I first found the mount a few years ago was on Etsy, where a lot of people 3D print them, so it’s worth checking out. (The router and hub mounts should be plastic, not metal, so 3D printing makes a lot of sense.) You’ll need a drill and buy a cord cover, which can usually be painted. Most routers and hubs have cords that are six to eight feet long, so you may have to buy a longer cord to last as long as you need; it’s usually just a USB-C cord.
Decide where in the room your equipment will be placed. It doesn’t have to be in the center – the further you are from the wall, the better for reception. I recommend attaching the mounts with screws instead of using glue: I’ve never found glue to be effective, even on the wall, and you don’t want the router or hub to fall to the floor. Position the hub and router so that the USB input faces the wall. Insert the cords into the cord cover and then attach it to the ceiling. Many cord covers come with twist connectors, but if they don’t, simply cut the cord cover at a forty-five-degree angle with a utility knife and press both pieces together to form an angle.
In my home, the reception has improved and the Google Mini’s responsiveness has also improved by simply mounting the devices on the ceiling. It makes my shelves look a little tidier and the project costs about fifteen dollars per room. In fact, it works so well that if I were to move, I would go to the extra step of installing the devices when installing the ceiling lights and hide the cords completely underground.