You might not have considered it, but the material that the walls of your home are made out of can affect the type of wireless coverage that you can get.
If you are living in a place with thicker brick or concrete walls, you need to make sure that you have the best wireless router for penetrating walls.
But what kind of router do you need in order to successfully make it through concrete or brick walls?
It comes down to looking at the bandwidth, signal strength, and the range of your router. This is what we suggest that you consider.
What's The Problem With Concrete & Brick Walls?
The material of your walls can interrupt your wireless signal. This is because the signal from the wireless router (the electromagnetic waves) has to travel through the material to reach the destination.
Depending on the material it is traveling through, they can pass right through, be absorbed into, and sometimes even reflect back off walls.
Brick and concrete both partially absorb the wireless signal, making it harder to travel to its destination within interference.
It will cause a decrease in the overall range and slow it down. For these reasons, you need to pay attention to the type of router that you are using.
2.4 GHz vs. 5 GHz. Band For Penetrating Concrete & Brick Walls
A common point of wisdom when it comes to routers is that the 5 GHz band is ideal since it travels shorter distances and is less congested as a result.
However, if you have brick or concrete walls, you will want to use both bands well.
The 2.4 GHz band travels better through denser surfaces. For your network, it means that the devices that are furthest from the router should be on the 2.4 GHz band and those closest should be on the 5 GHz band, which is not necessarily what you would do under different conditions.
5 Best Wireless Routers For Penetrating Concrete & Brick Walls (2022)
Device | Speeds | Ports | Rating | Check Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Netgear R7000 Editor's Choice | 1900 Mbps | 4 Ports | 100% | |
2. Linksys EA9500 High Performance | 5400 Mbps | 8 Ports | 99% | |
3. TP-Link Archer A7 Budget Friendly | 1750 Mbps | 4 Ports | 96% | |
4. Motorola MG7550 Modem Router Combo | 1900 Mbps | 4 Ports | 97% | |
5. Gryphon AC3000 Extended Coverage | 3000 Mbps | 4 Ports | 98% |
1. Netgear Nighthawk R7000 Router
Best Wireless Router For Penetrating Walls
Our choice for the best wireless router for penetrating walls is the Netgear Nighthawk R7000.
Between its powerful processor and ability to handle multiple devices, it has everything that most networks need to operate well.
Design
The Nighthawk R7000 is a horizontal router with three high-gain antennas that can be pointed toward places in your house that have a lot of wireless devices. The design itself is a little bit cumbersome, but it looks like the average router.
The R7000 has a USB 3.0 port and 4 x 1 Gigabit Ethernet ports to hardwire in your devices. This router works OpenVPN Connect App, which allows you to have access to the network remotely, though not all of the settings can be adjusted through the app.
Performance
The R7000 allows up to 30 devices connected simultaneously, so it really can manage a heavy workload without much difficulty.
The R7000 also has a 1 GHz dual-core processor that should offer enough power to reach all of your devices, regardless of the material of walls that the signal will be traveling through.
Looking at the router’s performance, the R7000 has a dynamic QoS, so you can prioritize which devices should get the best bandwidth, ensuring that the devices that cannot afford to have buffering or signal loss will have a reliable connection. The Beamforming+ feature also boosts the power to your antennas.
2. Linksys EA9500 Max-Stream WiFi Router
High Performance Wireless Router For Concrete Walls
The best high performance router that can travel through walls is the Linksys EA9500 router. This router is made to give you the best performance possible.
Design
The design of the Linksys EA9500 is bulky and awkward. There are 4 antennas in total and they can be pointed whatever direction you would like, but they do stick up awkwardly, making the design a bit of an eyesore. The antennas do serve a purpose of pushing through concrete or brick walls easily.
You do get 4 x1Gigabit Ethernet ports, so you can wire in any devices that really need a direct connection. There is also a USB 3.0 if you needed one.
Performance
Since this is a tri-band router, you can reach speeds up to 2.2 Gbps. You will also find that it has MU-MIMO technology on board as well as 4K HD streaming, which will make streaming or gaming on this router incredibly easy.
The Linksys EA9500 router also has Airtime Fairness, which will ensure an equitable distribution of WiFi to different devices. This can help reduce lag overall.
This router supports over 20 wired devices connected at the same time, which is perfect for the average modern home. It also can cover up to 2,000 square feet in range, using its high gain antennas.
3. TP-Link Archer A7 Wireless Router
Budget Friendly
Budget-friendly routers can also be capable of easily slipping through dense walls. We suggest the TP-Link Archer A7 if you are looking for a router that is easier on the wallet.
Design
The Archer A7 has a typical, horizontal router design with three high performance antennas to give your signal an added boost.
The antennas are what help ensure that the signal will make it through brick or concrete.
You will also find that this router comes 4 x 1 Gigabit ports to wire in any devices that you needed to. Thankfully, this router is also easy to set up, but does have a history of crashing that you need to keep in mind.
Performance
The performance of this router is not hindered because of its price. In fact, it can reach up to 2500 square feet in range, which is larger than the average home network would be.
The speeds for this router reach up to 1750 Mbps, providing 3X faster Wi-Fi than other traditional routers do. It is dual band router as well, where the 2.4 GHz band gives you 450 Mbps while the 5 GHz provides 1,300 Mbps.
The router also has QoS bandwidth prioritization, giving your devices all of the bandwidth they need to have a steady connection. It also offers 4K HD streaming capabilities, which is great for online streaming of any kind.
4. Motorola MG7550 Modem Router
Modem Router Combo
There are also modem/router combo devices that have signals that travel through walls. If this is what you are looking for, we suggest the Motorola MG7550.
Design
To begin with, the MG7550 has a tower design, which can be a big space saver as well as helping keep your modem and cool. The longevity of tower designs is also typically greater since the components are kept in better shape.
The MG7550 has 4 x 1 Gigabit Ethernet so that you can plug in any device that cannot risk being kicked off your WiFi as well as any device that you would like to be accessed from any device within the network.
Performance
Looking at the device’s performance, the MG7550 comes with a Motorola Power Boost feature with the MG7550.
This increases the overall coverage of the network and with speeds up to 650 Mbps, you should have enough power to effortlessly maintain signal throughout your network.
The router within the MG7550 is dual-band. It runs both the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz bands, allowing you to choose which band you would like to use for which device.
You can decide which devices should be on which band in order to get the most out of your coverage. Remember when it comes to wall penetration, the 2.4 GHz travels farther than the 5 GHz, though it is more congested.
5. Gryphon AC3000 Mesh WiFi Router
Extended Coverage
Finally, some networks need more coverage, despite the materials that the walls are made from. If this sounds like your situation, we suggest the Gryphon AC3000.
This is a newer router that as a more unique design and set up.
Design
Traditionally, routers come with a black casing and sit horizontally, but this one is tall and white, making it easier to blend in with your home.
The router has six high-powered internal antennas that should be able to reach anywhere within your network.
The Gryphon router has an easy smartphone app that filters content, sets screen allowed time, and even allows you to set times of day that it will be available to get onto. It does not allow you to block specific access, however, so keep that in mind.
Performance
The coverage of the Gryphon reaches up to 3,000 square feet, but this also works like a mesh system. That means that you can add extra points to further increase the size of your coverage if you needed to.
The more Gryphons you have, the further your coverage will able to go.
The throughput for the Gryphon router is up to 3Gbps, utilizing its simultaneous tri-band radios. It also uses 4x4 MU-MIMO technology as well as antenna Beamforming, which improves the overall coverage.
That means it can handle more than one device streaming at the same time.
Where To Place Your Router If You Have Concrete Or Brick Walls?
If you have brick or concrete walls, it is important to have a good location for your router.
Brick and concrete are much better at absorbing WiFi signals than wood is. Ideally, your router should be placed in a centralized location, free from the walls.
This will give the signal an opportunity to travel inspite of the walls. Putting your router next to concrete directly may impair the signal.
If you have a multi-story home, you should try to keep your router in the most central location, including the most central floor in order to get the best signal output possible.
Final Words
The best wireless router for penetrating concrete walls is the Netgear Nighthawk R7000.
The Nighthawk line is known for its signal strength as well as its range, both of which you need in order to effectively get a wireless signal through a brick or concrete wall.
Likewise, if you need a router with extended range, like the Gryphon AC3000, or a combo unit, like the Motorola MG7550, you will still need to think about whether the router is dual-band, and whether it has enough force to pass through the walls without losing the signal.
You cannot simply buy just any router when you are working with thick walls. It takes good research and knowledge of your network first.