What decides where a mesh point goes
- The main point stays with the internet line. It connects to the modem, so its spot is usually fixed. If you can choose, put it near the middle of the home rather than at one end.
- Satellites go between the main point and the weak area, not into it. A satellite that talks to the main point over Wi-Fi can only pass on the signal it gets. Put it in a dead zone and it has a weak link and little to share. A common rule of thumb is a spot where the main point's signal is still about -65 dBm or better, usually one or two rooms away.
- Walls cost more than distance. A brick or concrete wall can take as much signal as several metres of open space, and 5 GHz loses more at each wall than 2.4 GHz. A doorway or a stairwell is often a better path than the shortest one.
- Height and surroundings matter. Shelves and table tops work better than the floor. Keep points out of cupboards and away from mirrors, aquariums, microwaves and large metal objects.
- A cable beats any position. If a satellite can connect by Ethernet, its position only has to suit the rooms around it, because the link back no longer depends on the signal.
1. Add your floor plan and set the scale
Upload a photo or screenshot of your plan, or sketch the rooms in the app if you have none. Then set the scale: click both ends of something whose length you know, like a wall or a doorway, and type its length. The prediction needs real distances, so the predicted view stays off until the scale is set.
2. Draw the main walls
Trace the walls over your image, or draw them on the sketch, and pick a type for each: light (plasterboard, wood, glass), brick or concrete. The prediction subtracts a typical loss for every wall the signal crosses, so the walls are what make it more than a circle around each point. You don't need every wall; the thick ones between rooms matter most.
3. Mark the main point first
Choose Router or Mesh point and click its spot on the plan. Switch the map to Predicted under the plan. With only the main point placed, the map shows how far its signal reaches by itself. Move the pointer over the rooms where you are thinking of putting satellites: the app shows the estimated signal under the pointer. Spots around -65 dBm or better are good candidates for a satellite that connects over Wi-Fi.
4. Add the satellites and drag them
Add a mesh point for each satellite and drag them around while watching the map. The prediction follows each point as you drag it, so you can compare positions in seconds. Look for the weakest place you care about, such as a home office, the bedroom furthest away or the garden room, and move the points until it reaches your target.
The predicted map shows the coverage each point gives out. It doesn't check the link between the points, which is why step 3 comes first.
5. Check the result against a target
For video calls, aim for -67 dBm or better in the rooms where people make them; for browsing and streaming, about -70 dBm is usually fine. The dBm guide has the full scale. Over the predicted map, the app shows how much of the home inside your walls reaches -67 dBm and marks the weakest spot, so you can compare positions at a glance. Switch the band between 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz under Advanced, Predicted coverage: 5 GHz is faster but fades sooner behind walls, and 6 GHz, used by Wi-Fi 6E and 7 mesh systems, fades sooner still.
Treat the result as a plan, not a promise. A prediction from distance and walls is typically within 8 to 10 dB of a real reading. It can't know about furniture, a neighbour's network on the same channel, or a wall that is thicker than it looks.
Homes on several floors
With Pro, add each floor as its own plan and place the points on the floor where they stand. The app predicts each floor on its own, so a point upstairs doesn't count towards the floor below. As a starting point, plan one point per floor, placed close to the stairs or above each other, because floors usually block more than walls.
After installing: measure
Once the points are in, walk around and take readings to see what the network really does. That's the most reliable check, and How to make a WiFi heatmap shows how. If a room still comes out weak, move the nearest point a little towards it and measure again.
For when a prediction is enough and when to measure, see predictive vs measured heatmaps.
What is free and what is Pro
Marking your router and mesh points, setting the scale, drawing walls, dragging points in the predicted view and exporting the predicted map as a PNG with a watermark are free, with no account. Pro adds these for planning:
- Points marked as planned, for equipment you haven't bought or installed yet.
- Clean exports without the watermark, and the predicted map in a PDF report.
- Adjusting the prediction to your real readings, with how close it is shown.
- Several floors in one project.
