If you live in an apartment or house with concrete or brick walls, you might have noticed that your internet does not seem to be working as well as the ISP claimed it would.
While you might want to blame it on something else, concrete and brick walls are complicated to navigate.
If you do have concrete walls, you are going to be looking for the best wireless router for penetrating walls.
That way, you can still get the wireless coverage that you want without fighting concrete and brick. So what are the best routers for concrete walls? Here's all you need to know!
What's The Problem With Concrete & Brick Walls?
The issue with running Wi-Fi in a home that has walls made of brick or concrete is that you are going to run into an interrupted signal.
Due to the composition of brick and concrete, the EM waves of the Wi-Fi are often absorbed by the walls or reflected back, never letting it reach its destination.
Because of the reaction of the EM waves against the brick or concrete, your signal will slow substantially before it completely is interrupted.
Overall, it will be far less reliable than it would have been had you had wooden walls instead of concrete.
2.4 GHz vs. 5 GHz. Band For Penetrating Concrete & Brick Walls
While dual band routers are the way to go in choosing a router, if you are dealing with a brick or concrete wall, you will need to pay more attention to the bands.
Normally, people prefer the 5GHz because it is less congested than the 2.4GHz band. But 5GHz is a higher band with shorter range.
Therefore, you will want to have most of your devices stay on the 2.4GHz band which might be more congested, but it also moves, which the 5GHz frequency might not after battling to make it through the brick walls and failing.
5 Best Wireless Routers For Penetrating Concrete & Brick Walls (2022)
Device | Speed | Ports | Rating | Check Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Netgear R6900P Editor's Choice | 1900 Mbps | 4 Ports | 100% | |
2. Gryphon AC3000 High Performance | 3000 Mbps | 4 Ports | 99% | |
3. Motorola MR2600 Budget Friendly | 2600 Mbps | 4 Ports | 95% | |
4. Motorola MG7540 Modem Router | 1600 Mbps | 4 Ports | 96% | |
5. Google WiFi System Extended Coverage | 1900 Mbps | 2 Ports | 98% |
1. Netgear Nighthawk R6900P Wireless Router
Best Wireless Router For Penetrating Walls (Editor's Choice)
Our recommendation for the best wireless router for penetrating walls is the Netgear Nighthawk R6900P. Nighthawk routers are all generally very good, so it should come as no surprise that this is the best at making its way through tough spots.
Design
The design of the R6900P includes three high gain antennas. The router itself rests horizontally and cannot be propped upright. The design also includes a dual core 1GHz processor that can keep the router going for a long time. It also has 4 x 1 Gigabit Ethernet ports to allow for more direct connectivity where you need it.
Performance
The best performance piece of the R6900P is that it can support up to 30 devices simultaneously. This works really well for the average home as well as smart homes that need more wireless connectivity.
Additionally, it has Beamforming+, MU-MIMO, Dynamic QoS, and even Smart Connect. All of these features will further improve the overall performance of the router. The router also covers up to 1,800 square feet.
2. Gryphon AC3000 Mesh WiFi Router
High Performance Wireless Router For Concrete Walls
If you are looking more for a high performance router that can also penetrate walls, we suggest the Gryphon. This is a more unique router that lacks in nothing.
Design
The Gryphon has a more unique design than the average router. It is white and vertical, which will help keep the router cool while making it easier to blend in with your décor. The antennas on this high performance router are all internal, so there are no external pieces to get in the way.
Performance
The Gryphon is a powerful router. It covers up to 3,000 square feet, supplying signal as far as you need it. It also works as an expandable mesh system, so the more Gryphons you add, the further your signal will be able to go.
It comes with tri-band radio, including a 2.4 GHz band and 2 x 5 GHz bands. This will keep traffic flowing steadily on your network. It also has the MU-MIMO, which will also make it easier for more than one user to stream at the same time.
3. Motorola MR2600 Smart Wireless Router
Budget Friendly
The best router for penetrating walls that also works well on a budget is the Motorola MR2600. This is a reliable router with few bells and whistles.
Design
The design of the MR2600 is the standard, basic black router. It sits horizontally as well and has four powerful antennas to help extend the signal through walls or other obstacles. It does have a USB 3.0 port, but that is located in the front of the router, making it awkward to attempt to plug something in.
Performance
The MR2600 is a great machine, especially on a budget. It comes with Wave 2 MU-MIMO, which allows multiple devices to stream at the same time. This is great if you have any online gamers on your network or simply two people who want to stream without interruption.
The router also has implicit/explicit Beamforming, which further extends the reach of the router, reaching every point possible. It is a dual band router as well, working on both the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz channels.
4. Motorola MG7540 Modem Router
Modem Router Combo (Editor's Choice)
The best modem router combo that can go through walls is the Motorola MG7540. This is an excellent cable combo unit that has a high performance rating in addition to being easy to use.
Design
The MG7540 is a tower modem/router combo, so it will stay cooler than the horizontal routers will. All of its antennas are internal as well, so it will be much easier to hide in the décor than the more traditional combo unit designs. It comes with 4 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN ports as well, so you should be able to wire in anything that you need to.
Performance
Looking at the performance of the MG7540, you will see that it has AnyBeam Beamforming, which makes it much easier to move through walls. It is a dual band router as well, but it also works on Wi-Fi DFS, so it is less vulnerable to interference by other users on the same band.
It is dual band so will run on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz. It also runs on DFS frequencies, so you are less likely to experience congestion.
5. Google Wi-Fi System Mesh Router
Extended Coverage
If you are looking for extended coverage, you really cannot do better than the Google Wi-Fi System. There might be other mesh systems out there, but none of them are as powerful as the Google one is.
Design
It has a sleek design. They come in small, white access points that can easily be concealed anywhere you want them to be. Every point has its own LAN port in addition to being part of the mesh system. This means you can plug in any device that you need to from any of the access points.
Performance
The coverage is without a doubt the best part of the Google Wi-Fi System. One single point can cover up to 1,500 square feet. Since the system comes with three points, you get up to 4,500 square feet in coverage. Don’t forget that the coverage can also grow every time you add an additional point to your setup. There are really no dead spots when you use this router system.
Final Words
The best wireless router for penetrating concrete walls is the Netgear Nighthawk R6900P.
This is a versatile router that provides all of the supports that you would really want to get from your home router. It has a strong range and can easily get to where you need it to go, through any wall.
If you need extended coverage, the Google Wi-Fi mesh system is the best on the market, but if you need a high performance router, you should really stick with the Gryphon.
All in all, there are great routers on the market that will work with your home network perfectly.
Hey, it’s James here. I’m the founder and editor here at RiverstoneNet.com. I’m a network engineer during the day and a blogger at night. Let me know if I can help you with choosing a new modem/router or troubleshooting your Internet connection.