Why hiding your Wi‑Fi router behind the TV makes streaming worse – and the bookshelf trick broadband engineers suggest

Friday night, takeaway on the coffee table, the opening credits finally roll - and then the spinning wheel appears. The dialogue stutters, the picture drops to a mush of squares, and someone mutters, “The Wi‑Fi’s rubbish again.” We jab at the remote, blame the streaming app, curse the broadband provider, and forget the small plastic box quietly suffocating behind the TV.

Ours was wedged on the floor at the back of the media unit, hemmed in by a soundbar, games console, smart speaker and a thicket of cables. It had seemed neat at the time: no blinking lights, no clutter, one less ugly gadget on show. A visiting engineer took one look, unplugged a single cable, and moved the router onto an open shelf of the bookcase by the sofa.

Same room, same equipment, same broadband line. Yet the stream snapped into sharpness and stayed there. My phone’s speed test went from a sulky 18Mbps to a steady 120. No new kit, no app, no magic. Just a change of shelf.

We’ve all had that moment when a “mystery Wi‑Fi problem” turns out to be something you can literally pick up and move. Hiding the router behind the TV doesn’t just look tidy; it quietly makes everything worse.

The big shiny obstacle between you and your Wi‑Fi

A broadband engineer once described modern TVs as “beautiful, flat signal blockers”. They’re packed with metal, glass, circuit boards and a panel that might as well be a shield. Add a cabinet, consoles, set‑top boxes and a tangle of power bricks, and you’ve built a little radio dead zone on purpose.

Wi‑Fi is just radio at higher frequencies. Those waves are excellent at carrying lots of data but terrible at sneaking past obstacles. Dense materials - metal, brick, concrete, even a big TV screen - reflect and absorb them. Cables and electronics add electrical noise on top. Your router is trying to shout from under the stage while the show’s already started.

Hide it behind the telly and you hit three problems at once:

• It’s low down, usually near the floor, so the signal has to fight through furniture and people.
• It’s boxed in by wood, glass or MDF that muffle higher‑frequency 5GHz signals.
• It’s surrounded by other electronics that create interference, especially when everything powers up for a film night.

Your router is a tiny radio station; you’ve put it in a cupboard behind a metal billboard.

That’s why the apps buffer in the lounge while the Wi‑Fi in the hallway mysteriously feels fine.

The bookshelf sweet spot broadband engineers swear by

When engineers walk into living rooms across the UK, they see the same scene on repeat: router hidden behind a TV, or jammed on the carpet next to a multi‑plug. The quickest win they know is also the least glamorous – lifting it up and letting it breathe.

A simple, open bookshelf does three things routers love:

• Raises the router to roughly chest height, which gives its signal a clearer line over chairs, tables and radiators.
• Moves it away from the TV’s metal, glass and power bricks.
• Spreads it more centrally across the home, instead of confining it to a corner.

Books themselves aren’t perfect for radio waves, but they’re far better than a TV backplate or a closed cupboard. They break up reflections without fully smothering the signal. Place the router towards the front edge of a shelf, not buried behind hardbacks and photo frames.

The basic “bookshelf trick” many engineers suggest looks like this:

1. Find a shelf somewhere near the middle of your home, or at least not in a far corner.
2. Aim for head or chest height when you’re standing.
3. Stand the router upright with its vents clear and lights visible.
4. Keep at least a hand’s width away from big metal objects (speakers, radiators, PC cases).
5. Let the cables drop down the back so the box itself stays in free air.

Let’s be honest: nobody actually wants their router to be a centrepiece. But tucked neatly on a shelf, it can disappear visually while still doing its job.

“I can’t sell you a magic router,” one engineer told me. “But I can move the one you’ve got 1.5 metres up and into the open, and it’ll feel like a new connection.”

How to move it without ruining the room

The worry, of course, is cables. Fibre boxes and master phone sockets often sit low on the wall, right where the TV lives. It’s tempting to keep everything crammed in that corner so you don’t see wires looping round the skirting board.

There’s a quieter compromise: keep the wall box where it is, move the router, and let a single cable do the travelling.

• Use a slightly longer Ethernet cable between the wall socket/fibre ONT and the router.
• Run it along the skirting board or under a rug, then up the back of the bookcase.
• Fix it in place with small adhesive clips or cable trunking so you forget it exists.
• Once the router’s on a shelf, keep power leads short and tidy so they don’t form a coil behind it.

If your home is large or very solid‑walled, adding a mesh Wi‑Fi system or a second access point can help. But even then, those mesh nodes want shelf space, not cupboard exile.

Think of Wi‑Fi gear like houseplants: it prefers light, air and the middle of the room, not the darkest corner behind the telly.

A few quick do’s and don’ts:

• Do lift the router off the floor and into the open.
• Do keep it roughly central if you can, not buried at one end of the house.
• Don’t balance it on the radiator or window sill.
• Don’t sandwich it between the TV and a games console “just for now”.

Common placement mistakes (and the easy fixes)

Most Wi‑Fi misery comes from a handful of repeat offences. They’re all tidy‑looking. They’re all bad for signal.

• Inside a cupboard or TV unit
  Looks neat, but wood and doors block and reflect high‑frequency signals. If a door has to stay, leave it open when you’re streaming.

• On the floor behind a sofa
  Cushions, people and the sofa frame act like a wall. Lift it onto the nearest side table or – again – the bookcase.

• Next to the microwave or cordless phone base
  Both spew out radio noise in similar frequency bands. Keep your router a couple of metres away from kitchen kit if at all possible.

• Right up against a fish tank or thick wall
  Water and brick both sap Wi‑Fi strength. Slide the router even 30–50cm away and it’ll breathe easier.

Antenna angle matters less than you think, but if your router has adjustable “ears”, point a couple straight up and a couple angled outwards. That spreads coverage horizontally and vertically through floors.

Key point	Detail	Why it matters
Height over hiding	Shelf‑height, in the open, beats floor‑level behind TV	Fewer obstacles, better coverage, less interference
Distance from clutter	Keep away from big metal, water and electronics	Cleaner signal means fewer drops and retries
One long cable is fine	Run Ethernet to where Wi‑Fi works best	Lets you keep sockets tidy and signal strong

Why this tiny tweak makes streaming feel calmer

The night we moved our router to the bookshelf, the difference felt almost rude. Episodes played back‑to‑back without that little spin of doubt. Music in the kitchen stopped cutting out when someone opened the fridge. Video calls in the bedroom lost their robotic stutter.

Nothing about the broadband package changed. The speed coming into the house was the same. What changed was how easily that speed could escape the knot of wires behind the TV.

Small fixes feel bigger when they turn a daily irritation into something you stop noticing. You don’t think “the Wi‑Fi is great tonight”; you just watch the film.

Share the bookshelf trick with the friend who’s forever restarting their router, the neighbour who works from a chilly back room, or the parent who blames every pause on the streaming app. Sometimes the biggest upgrade is a 30‑second lift onto a different shelf.

FAQ:

• Does it really matter if the router is behind the TV if my speed test is fine? Speed tests taken close to the router can look good even when devices in other rooms struggle. If streaming or calls drop out, moving the router into the open often helps more than chasing a few extra Mbps.
• Is a mesh system better than moving the router? Mesh can help in bigger or awkward homes, but even mesh units need decent placement. Try the bookshelf move first; if blackspots remain, then consider mesh.
• Can I put the router on top of the TV? Not ideal. Heat from the TV isn’t great for electronics, and you’re still sitting right on a big slab of signal‑blocking material. A nearby shelf or bracket is kinder.
• What if my only phone socket is by the TV? Use a longer Ethernet cable from the socket to a better spot, or ask your provider about moving the master socket professionally. Avoid trailing phone extension leads; they can add noise.
• Does orientation of the router matter? A little. Keep it upright as designed, with vents clear. If it has antennas, point some up and some out. Placement (height and openness) matters far more than perfect antenna choreography.