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Wi-Fi signals go down as well as up, so if you put it on the floor, a proportion of the signal will traverse down. Thus, you must avoid putting it on the floor. It is better to put the router higher up (on a shelf/mounted on a wall) to get better coverage. So, if you own a multi-storey home it is advisable to place the router higher up near the roof for coverage across both floors.

Antenna Position is Critical:

For a better horizontal reach, position your router's antenna slightly upwards or sideways for vertical reach. One common thing to remember is to not put the antenna in the direction of a wall or other obstacle and do not position the antenna at 90 degrees. The recommended angle is between 45 to 60 degrees. If your router has 2 or 3 antennas you can point each of those in a different direction and angle to evenly spread the range across your home.

Understanding the Technology:

As you may be aware, Wi-Fi routers deliver wireless internet to devices using radio waves and manage the network traffic. This is just like tuning into your favourite FM radio station, where you cannot connect if the radio signal is weak because you are out of range. Simply put, the farther your devices are from the router, the weaker the signal strength will be and thus the network speed will be slower. A typical 3.5 inch brick wall, 2 inches of marble and a 1.75 inch solid wood door will all attenuate a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi signal by 50 percent. So, obstacles around your house can lead to 75 percent reduction in signal strength within a close proximity of 100 meters. Understandably, this is why you get zero signal strength in the room farthest away from the router.