Every household seems to have one — a specific device that always struggles with WiFi, sitting in the exact same spot where a phone or laptop connects perfectly fine. It’s tempting to blame the router, but the more common explanation is usually sitting inside the struggling device itself.
Not All Antennas Are Created Equal
Smart TVs, printers, smart speakers, and older tablets frequently ship with smaller, cheaper WiFi antennas than phones and laptops, simply because manufacturers cut costs on components that aren’t the device’s main selling point. A phone’s WiFi chip is a core part of its usability and gets real engineering investment; a smart plug’s WiFi chip is an afterthought, built to the minimum specification that technically works.
Chipset Generation Matters More Than People Realize
An older device might only support older WiFi standards — WiFi 4 or WiFi 5 — even while sitting on a network broadcasting WiFi 6 or WiFi 6E. That device isn’t broken; it’s simply incapable of taking advantage of the newer, more efficient standard your router offers, and it will always perform worse than newer devices on the same network, in the same spot, regardless of anything you do to your router.
What Actually Helps a Consistently Weak Device
For a specific device that’s chronically weak, moving it physically closer to the router or a mesh node makes a bigger difference than any router-side setting change, precisely because the device’s own hardware is the limiting factor, not the network’s broadcast strength. For devices that support it, connecting via Ethernet instead of WiFi entirely sidesteps a weak wireless chipset altogether — smart TVs in particular often have an Ethernet port that goes completely unused.
Test the specific device’s actual speed with our free speed test to confirm whether it’s really underperforming compared to other devices on the same network.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does one specific device always have weaker WiFi than others nearby?
It’s usually the device’s own hardware, not your network. Smart TVs, printers, and smart home gadgets often ship with smaller, cheaper WiFi antennas and older chipsets than phones and laptops, which get real engineering investment in their wireless components.
What actually helps a chronically weak device?
Moving it physically closer to the router or a mesh node, or switching to a wired Ethernet connection where the device supports it, both directly address the hardware limitation in a way router settings alone can’t.