How to Hide Your Broadband Router Without Ruining Your Wi-Fi

Most people want the broadband router out of sight: off the floor, out from behind the sofa, under the desk or in a cupboard. The catch is that a router is a radio. Where you hide it decides how good your Wi-Fi is, and some of the most popular hiding places are the worst ones. Here's where you can put it, where you shouldn't, and how to fix it there neatly.

The short version

  • Best: on a wall, about head height, out in the open, as central to the house as your phone line or fibre point allows.
  • Fine: under a wooden desk, towards the front edge, with nothing metal around it.
  • Avoid: inside a cupboard, under a metal desk, behind the TV, on the floor, or next to a fish tank or radiator.
  • Most home routers are 25–50mm thick, which suits our 17–54mm adjustable brackets. They clamp the router to a wall or the underside of a desk without drilling the router.

Short on time? Measure how thick your box is, rubber feet included, and pick the set:

Adjustable wall brackets for boxes 17 to 54mm thick

Adjustable brackets, 17–54mm

View the 17–54mm set
Large adjustable wall brackets for boxes 22 to 87mm thick

Large adjustable brackets, 22–87mm

View the 22–87mm set

Why hiding places ruin Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi gets through air and plasterboard easily. It struggles with brick and water, and it is mostly stopped by metal. That rules out:

  • Metal desks and filing cabinets. A router under a steel desk is broadcasting into a steel box.
  • Behind the TV. A big screen is a large metal-backed panel, sitting right in the path to the rest of the room.
  • Cupboards. The door and the clutter cost signal, and the router has nowhere to shed heat.
  • The floor. The signal goes out sideways and a little downward. On the floor, half of it goes into the floor and the furniture around it.
  • Fish tanks, radiators and mirrors. Water absorbs Wi-Fi, and large metal surfaces reflect it away.

Moving the router off the floor and up a wall is one of the few free fixes that often makes a real difference. We can't promise it will on every house, because walls, distance and neighbours' networks all play a part. It's still the first thing to try before buying a mesh system.

Under a desk: when it works

Hiding a broadband router under a desk is a reasonable compromise if the desk is wood or chipboard and the router sits near the front edge, where it isn't boxed in by drawers or a computer case. Under there, it's off the floor and out of sight, and the cables run straight down to the socket.

If your desk is metal, or the router ends up behind a tower PC, put it on the wall instead.

Mounting it on the wall

  1. Mount it the right way up. If your router normally stands upright on a base, mount it upright, the same way it was designed to stand. The aerials inside are laid out for that orientation.
  2. Measure its thickness, the body only, without the stand. Our size guide explains how. For example, a BT Smart Hub 2 is 30mm.
  3. Leave the important bits reachable. You'll want to see the status light, get at the reset pinhole and the WPS button, and unplug cables now and then. The brackets grip the edges, so the front and the port panel stay clear.
  4. Fit two brackets under the bottom edge and one over the top, then tighten the thumbscrews by hand until the router sits snug against the wall.
  5. Keep the vents clear. Routers run warm all day. Leave a gap around the vented sides and don't wedge it against a shelf.
Set of three adjustable 3D-printed plastic wall brackets with spacers, screws and wall plugs, holding a CCTV recorder

Mars Outpost · 3 identical brackets

Adjustable Wall Brackets – 17–54mm

For boxes 17 to 54mm thick: most 1U CCTV recorders, routers, switches, mini PCs and set-top boxes. 3D-printed PETG plastic, with spacers, screws and wall plugs in the set.

View the 17–54mm set

What about Virgin Media and Sky hubs?

Several current hubs are designed to stand upright on a foot or stand. With those, measure the main body with the stand removed. Many are slim enough for the standard set. If yours is deeper than 54mm, the 22–87mm set takes it. Check before you order, because the shapes change with every new hub generation.

If it really must be hidden

Sometimes the router has to live somewhere bad, like a cupboard under the stairs or the back of a garage. Then the better answer is to stop relying on that router for Wi-Fi. Run a network cable from it to a mesh unit or access point that sits out in the open. The router can hide wherever you like, and the Wi-Fi comes from the device that can be heard.

Set of three large adjustable 3D-printed plastic wall brackets holding a deep CCTV recorder

Mars Outpost · 3 identical brackets

Large Adjustable Wall Brackets – 22–87mm

For deeper boxes, 22 to 87mm thick: multi-drive NVRs, chunkier routers and anything the standard set can't reach around. Same PETG plastic, same complete fixing kit.

View the 22–87mm set

Frequently asked questions

Will wall-mounting my router improve my Wi-Fi?

Often, if it moves the router off the floor, out of a cupboard or away from metal. If it's already high up and in the open, wall-mounting mostly makes it tidier.

Do I need to drill holes in the router?

No. The brackets clamp around the case and the router stays untouched. That matters if it belongs to your provider and has to go back one day.

Are the brackets metal?

No, they're 3D-printed in PETG plastic. That suits a router: there's no metal around the case, and they hold a box this light easily.

Related guides

Brackets for routers, recorders and network kit are in For Security & Data Systems. UK orders are 3D-printed and dispatched from our family workshop in Bristol.

BT, Virgin Media and Sky are trademarks of their respective owners. Mars Outpost is not affiliated with any of them.

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