Router in a cabinet: how much Wi-Fi you lose, and how to hide it
Routers aren't pretty, so they end up in the TV unit or a cupboard. Sometimes that costs almost nothing; sometimes it's the whole reason the bedroom is weak. A quick test tells you which.
In short
- A thin wooden door costs little on its own: NIST measured about 3 dB for 38 mm of solid wood. Metal fronts, metal backs and coated glass cost far more.
- What usually hurts is what comes with the cabinet: the router sits low, against a wall, next to the TV and other electronics.
- Test it: take a reading in your worst room, open the door or put the router on top, wait a minute, read again in the same spot.
- To hide it without losing coverage: open shelf or top of the unit, or keep the provider's box hidden and put your own router or access point in the open on a cable.
On this page
Routers come with blinking lights and a tangle of cables, so it's natural to hide them inside the TV unit, a sideboard or a cupboard in the hall. Whether that matters depends on two things: what the cabinet is made of, and what it does to the router's position.
What the cabinet itself costs
The door is rarely the main problem. In NIST's laboratory measurements, 38 mm of solid wood cost about 3 dB at Wi-Fi frequencies, and plain 6 mm glass about 1 dB. A typical cabinet door is thinner than that, so on its own it takes a modest share of the signal.
Some materials are very different. Metal reflects Wi-Fi: a metal cabinet, a metal back panel or metal mesh doors block most of the signal in their direction. Glass with a metal frame or a tinted or mirrored coating behaves more like metal than like glass, because the coating is a thin metal layer.
What comes with the cabinet
The bigger losses usually come from where the cabinet puts the router.
It's low. Most TV units and sideboards keep the router below knee height, where its signal runs straight into sofas, beds and people.
It's against a wall. The back of the cabinet is the wall of the room, so a large part of the signal goes into it.
It's surrounded by electronics. The TV, a console, a soundbar and their power supplies are full of metal, and a TV screen right next to the router blocks everything behind it.
It gets warm. Electronics in a closed box run hotter. Most routers cope, but an overheating router can become unstable, so leave space around the vents.
Find out whether it matters in your home
You don't need to guess.
- Go to the room with the worst Wi-Fi and take a signal reading where you use it. Wi-Fi not reaching one room explains how on iPhone, Mac and Android.
- Open the cabinet door, or put the router on top of the cabinet, and wait a minute.
- Take the reading again, in exactly the same spot.
If the far room improves by several dB, the cabinet was part of the problem. If nothing changes, the router can stay hidden and the weak room has another cause, usually distance or a wall.
Ways to hide the router without losing coverage
On top instead of inside. The top of a bookcase or a tall cabinet keeps the router out of sight lines from the sofa while putting it high and in the open.
An open shelf. A shelf without doors, at table height or above, keeps things tidy and the signal free. A wooden or fabric box with open sides works too, as long as it isn't metal.
Hide the box, not the Wi-Fi. If the provider's box has to stay in the cabinet, connect a router or access point of your own to it with an Ethernet cable, put that somewhere better, and turn off the Wi-Fi on the hidden box. Some mesh systems use units designed to sit in plain view.
Wall-mount it. Many routers have mounting holes on the back. High on a wall, near the middle of the home, is one of the best positions there is, and it keeps the router off every surface.
For choosing the spot itself, see where to put the router.