Wifi extender speed?

[suzydaniel265]

I want to buy a wifi extender, and my real internet speed is about 100 mbps. My router have a good range in 2.4 Ghz, but not doing well in 5 Ghz. Will I get that speed through my wifi extender? Or I should invest in mesh system later? I think mesh network will be overkill for my place.

 

[Klueless]

I want to buy a wifi extender, and my real internet speed is about 100 mbps. My router have a good range in 2.4 Ghz, but not doing well in 5 Ghz. Will I get that speed through my wifi extender? Or I should invest in mesh system later? I think mesh network will be overkill for my place.

If you can run cable a wired access point would be best. If your house isn't ancient like mine you might be able to get away with a genuine make believe wired access point over a powerline device.

If you do go with a range extender you will want a dual band (pretty much the standard now-a-days). Take a look at the Netgear range extenders with "fastlane" (but there are definitely others that do the same thing). In your case you will want to configure the 2.4 GHz radio (longer range) to be the back-haul (air-wire) to the router and you will use the 5 GHz radio to serve your clients in the problem area.

You have just built a low end mesh system. It will not be as fast as a mesh system because they use tri-band such that they can dedicate a 5 GHz radio (faster) to the backhaul(s).

You won't get 100 Mbps but 60 or 70 is realistic. Caveat! This assumes all your clients are 5 GHz. If not you will have to flip it or maybe try a Linksys range extender with "cross connect".

Worst case you could try a "normal" config for a range extender but you might not be happy with the speed (or range).

I think one of the advantages of a true mesh system is if you aren't getting the range you need you simply add another node to pass the baton if you will.

 

[suzydaniel265]

I'm now interested in the powerline/wifi extender adapter kit. I have do some research and find AV2000 type can achieve 100 mbps. Will it behave more like wifi extender or wired access point? I have tried the Linksys wifi adapter, and it keeps saying the range is too close to the router; and when I did the extending network, the speed is much worse than before (20 mbps vs 30 mbps).

 

[Klueless]

Will it behave more like wifi extender or wired access point?

They behave like a wired access point.

Powerlines provide genuine make-believe Ethernet between two points over your home power lines. You then connect your router to one box with an Ethernet cable. Then down the hall you plug an Access Point (AP) into the other box.

tried the Linksys wifi adapter

Not familiar with it. Isn't it just a dongle to add wireless capability to a PC?

when I did the extending network, the speed is much worse

Meaning you've already tried a range extender?

• Placement is tricky. You kind of want it on the edge of where things are still good but you don't want to place it where things are already bad.
• You want to make sure it uses a different channel than your router uses.
• Sounds like you might be running in half-duplex. If the extender is using the same radio to talk with both the router and the client that is half-duplex. Your device sends to the range extender. Then the radio "shuts down" while it sends your stuff to the router. You can't talk to range extender while it's talking to the router so your speed is "halved". That's why I mentioned the dual band configuration where clients talk to one radio and the router talks to the other radio. What range extender do you have and how is it configured? What router are you using?

 

[suzydaniel265]

Thanks for helping my situation. I'm using TP-Link AC1200 RE355 wifi extender, I have tried the set up you suggested, as 2.4 ghz for air backhaul, and 5 ghz to "serve the clients". I got about 40 mbps now (using speed-of-me website). I'm now looking for a powerline to give it a try.

 

[pege63]

You only get 50% from a wifi extender, try to set as a AP mode instead if you can. Use a powerline from you Router to the place where you want your AP, put the second powerline there, use a cable from powerline to your AP, to get full speed from the powerline if have to be on the same fase on the fuse switch.

 

[Klueless]

Thanks for helping my situation. I'm using TP-Link AC1200 RE355 wifi extender, I have tried the set up you suggested, as 2.4 ghz for air backhaul, and 5 ghz to "serve the clients". I got about 40 mbps now (using speed-of-me website). I'm now looking for a powerline to give it a try.

Sorry it didn't work out : -(

Would love to hear how the powerline works out for you. We're upgrading our 5 Mbps Internet for my grandson later this week. As part of that we bought a new router that I hope will reach his room (upstairs and far corner from the router). If not I would love to try a powerline from the router to his room but am doubtful if it will work due to age of house and wiring : -(

PS Great tip that speed of me website. I had never tried it before, I like it!

 

[Klueless]

You only get 50% from a wifi extender

Absolutely a great rule of thumb for those old single band WiFi extenders but one can do better with the dual band extenders.

We had to connect two buildings together. We had window to window line of site between the two buildings. Put the router in one window and a laptop in the other window. We ran some benchmarks between the laptop and router using 5 GHz. 56 Mbps.

We then hung the range extender in the same window and connected it to the router at 5 MHz. We connected the same laptop to the range extender at 2.4 GHz and ran some benchmarks. 93 Mbps!

Added bonus. When the boss comes in he always parks his damn truck between the two windows completely blocking the router so now we know when the network gets slow that break time is over!

 

[Despacitomiko]

A lot of people told me that an extender just makes thing worse, and it's not suggested, an AP is preferred. I wonder why they say that...

 

[Klueless]

A lot of people told me that an extender just makes thing worse, and it's not suggested, an AP is preferred. I wonder why they say that...

A wired access point is preferred. Faster, more stable, etc.

But, done right, range extenders can work and can work well.

Running cable isn't always easy and and hiring it out isn't always cheap. A range extender can be a handy and affordable alternative.

Many range extenders can also be configured as a wired access point so you could start as a range extender until you have the time and energy for a complex cabling job.