Older Brick Homes and WiFi: Why the Walls Are Working Against You

Older homes in this part of Sydney are solid. Thick walls, proper masonry, built to last. They are also, from a WiFi point of view, close to worst case.

If you have moved from a newer build into an older home and your WiFi suddenly stopped working properly, nothing is broken. The building changed.

Why brick is such a problem

WiFi travels as a radio signal, and dense materials absorb it.

Plasterboard costs you very little signal. Timber, glass and standard doors are manageable. Brick is where it gets serious, because the material is dense and the signal has to pass through the full thickness of it.

One brick wall between the router and your device makes a noticeable difference. Two or three and you are into dead zone territory.

Double brick is a different level again

A double brick wall is two separate masonry leaves with a cavity between them. The signal has to pass through brick, then air, then brick again, and it loses strength at every transition.

Plenty of older eastern suburbs homes have double brick externally and solid brick internally. That combination is why so many people in these homes find the WiFi is fine in the front room and hopeless three rooms back, even though the house is not especially large.

It is genuinely one of the most common problems we get called about, and it has almost nothing to do with the internet plan people are paying for.

The other culprits in an older home

Brick is the main one, but older homes usually come with a few extras:

• Tiled bathrooms and wet areas. Tile over cement sheet over masonry is a very effective signal blocker, and bathrooms are often right in the middle of the floor plan.
• Original fireplaces and chimneys. A masonry chimney breast running through the centre of the house is a solid column the signal has to go around.
• Foil-backed insulation. Common in later renovations and effectively a reflective barrier.
• Metal lath and render. Found in some older wall and ceiling finishes, and it behaves like a screen.
• The router’s location. In older homes the connection point is frequently in the worst possible spot, because it was installed for a telephone line decades ago.

None of these are faults. They are just building materials doing what building materials do.

What does not work

Buying a more powerful router. Transmit power is regulated, so there is a ceiling on how hard any consumer router can push. A better router improves how it handles many devices at once. It does not punch through masonry.

Plug-in extenders in the far room. They rebroadcast whatever they receive, and in the far room of a brick home they are receiving very little.

Moving the router to the middle of the house. Helps a bit, but in a solidly built home the signal still has to cross the same walls. You end up with moderate coverage everywhere instead of good coverage somewhere.

What does work in an older home

The answer in a brick home is almost always the same: stop trying to push one signal through the walls, and instead put signal sources on both sides of them.

That means running cable to one or two additional access points, positioned so that each one covers a zone without needing to fight through masonry. Every access point starts with a full strength wired connection, so what it broadcasts is strong even if it does not travel far.

Cable can usually be run through the roof space and dropped down into the right rooms, or run externally in conduit and brought back in. Older homes take a bit more planning than new builds, but it is very rarely impossible.

The result is coverage designed around the actual building rather than in spite of it. See network and data cabling for how that work is done, or dead zone fixes if it is one specific area giving you grief.

For larger or more complex older homes, whole-home WiFi can provide a properly planned network with multiple access points rather than relying on one router to cover the entire property.

Cabling connected to the telecommunications network is carried out under our ACRS Master Cabler registration A036841.

Written by Yariv, Owner and Lead Installer at AVsion. 14 years installing AV, WiFi and security systems across Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

Frequently asked questions

Why is WiFi so bad in double brick homes?

A double brick wall is two masonry leaves with a cavity between them, so the signal passes through brick, air and brick again, losing strength at each stage. Many older homes also have solid brick internal walls, tiled wet areas and masonry chimneys. Stack a few of those between the router and your device and very little signal arrives. It is one of the most common WiFi problems in older housing and it has nothing to do with your internet plan.

Will a stronger router fix WiFi in a brick house?

Not really. Transmit power for consumer routers is regulated, so there is a hard ceiling on how much signal any of them can push out. A better router will handle a larger number of connected devices more gracefully, which is worth having, but it cannot force a signal through masonry. The reliable answer in a brick home is additional access points positioned on the far side of the walls.

Can WiFi cabling be installed in an older home?

Almost always. Cable is typically run through roof spaces and dropped into the rooms that need coverage, or run externally in conduit and brought back inside. Older homes need more planning than new builds because of construction and access, but it is rarely impossible. We walk the property first and explain exactly what is realistic before any work begins.

Do tiles and mirrors really affect WiFi?

Yes. Tiled bathrooms combine tile, cement sheet and often masonry, which together block signal very effectively, and bathrooms are frequently in the middle of the floor plan. Large mirrors and foil-backed insulation reflect signal rather than letting it pass. None of these are faults, but they explain why coverage in an older home can be so uneven from room to room.

Is it worth renovating around the WiFi?

If you are renovating anyway, it is the ideal time to run network cabling, because the walls are already open and the cost of running cable is at its lowest. Deciding where access points and hardwired points should sit before the walls close up saves considerable disruption later. If you are not renovating, cabling can still usually be run through roof and floor spaces with minimal disturbance.

Does the age of the home affect what internet plan I should be on?

The plan and the coverage are separate issues. A faster plan will not help if the signal cannot reach the far end of the house, so it is worth fixing coverage first and then deciding whether the plan is genuinely the limitation. As an internet plan reseller we can arrange an NBN or internet plan if that turns out to be the constraint, but coverage is usually the thing to sort out first.