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Should there be a minimum distance between the router & modem ?

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Subzero89

Occasional Visitor
I'm rearranging my PC area and was wondering if it's okay that the router and modem be side by side. Is there a rule of thumb about there should be a minimum distance between the devices ?

Thanks
 
should be ok - give both enough free space to breath so things don't overheat...

If the router is your WiFi, be mindful to position things not to adversely impact the radios..
 
The radios you mean the routers antennas ? Well I was just going to put the modem right beside router. Their not touching but its close.
 
My modem is about 15 inches from my router and I have never had one issue been this way for years.
 
wireless devices can be side by side as long as their frequencies dont overlap. So if your modem is a mobile/wifi modem if it runs at a different frequency (like the Gs or mobile networks) than you can have them side by side as some wifi routers accept usb mobile modems as an internet source and run fine with them plugged into the router's usb port. For wiring no there is nothing to worry about even for DSL because the wifi strength isnt enough to effect it (not to mention a good modem would have shielding for the analog parts just has a good soundcard does). power lines affect analog much more than wifi and analog data communications arent strong enough to affect wifi.

What you want to avoid is placing a metal device blocking the antennas as that affects signal in the blocked direction to some extent. So just dont cover your antennas with the modem, you can stack them though.
 
wireless devices can be side by side as long as their frequencies dont overlap

It's the near-field stuff - Cable modems, along with DSL modems deal with RF before puking out TCP/IP bits - and it's the RF intermodulation artifacts that suggest a modest spacing between a modem and a Router/AP...
 
It's the near-field stuff - Cable modems, along with DSL modems deal with RF before puking out TCP/IP bits - and it's the RF intermodulation artifacts that suggest a modest spacing between a modem and a Router/AP...
Shielding, good soundcards have shielding because they tend to be placed next to 200W GPUs and the entire emf of a gaming desktop is way more than a modem/router. My desktop has 2 GPUs, dedicated NICs and soundcard but i dont get any sound distortion because the soundcard is shielded by a cover and around the chips itself. So if the modem isnt shielded than wifi might effect it but considering the power of wifi and the amount of watts consumed by the modem and the emf generated by it, it is more likely that wifi (max of 0.5W for consumer) will be affected by the modem being around rather than vice versa. Even the max of 1.5W for wifi is still less than a few watts used by the modem.
 
I'd keep the router 2+ feet away from any electronics - especially PC monitors - they are noise emitters. FCC regulations on unintentional radiation are not stringent enough for wireless receivers that work down into the -90 dBm or more.
 

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