Suggestions for a Wi-Fi Repeater

• 

  bdl on 26/01/2021 - 23:29

  +2

  Repeaters suck.

  What's your budget? Can you afford to go to mesh or EOP?

• 

  whitelie on 26/01/2021 - 23:35

  +4

  Repeaters are terrible as it won't have a dedicated backhaul so will essentially halve the speed.

  Go mesh if you can, worst case use a powerline based extender rather than wifi repeater.

  • 

    Big Lez on 27/01/2021 - 09:42

    I could consider a mesh system, but didn't initially see the value of it because I thought I'd only need one node as opposed to the double or triple packs seen from retailers.

    Not sure what you mean by dedicated backhaul though. Do you have a link that could explain it further?

    I'd like to try keep this upgrade at about $100. Not sure if the mesh systems under this price range perform as well becy I've seen some go for $600.

    • 

      avoidfullprice on 27/01/2021 - 10:36

      Dedicated backhual could mean connecting your wifi extender to your main router by a physical ethernet cable, possibly and preferably behind the wall.

      Unsure how much you understand wifi repeater, but if you use the wifi itself to extend range, you will half the data capacity and double the latency. Your repeater doesn't talk to your computer while listening to router at the same time.

      Additionally, the data capacity depends on your main router and your device (e.g. laptop, phone) wifi technology. What model is your router? Which device you need extending the range to?

      This extender supports up to 867 Mbps on 5GHz, so this is maximum single way speed on 80Mhz bandwidth with short guard interval and two antenna. You need to check your router and your device to see if they support this mode. For example, my phone supports 433Mbps because it has one antenna. If these mean nothing to you, be prepared the real life result might not live up to your expectation. Then the range, walls inbetween etc will reduce data rate further because of signal attenuation.

      In short, this product is as good as your house layout gonna be.

    • 

      whitelie on 27/01/2021 - 11:35

      Think of it like a walkie talkie, it can't send and receive at the same time. It will use some of its speed to communicate back to the router.

      What are you going to run off it? If it's something that is regularly moving in the house (phones, tablets etc) then also remember that the repeater will have its own network ID and the device won't seemlessly switch between them, unlike a mesh system. If it's a PC or TV etc then get a powerline extender.

• 

  Jolakot on 27/01/2021 - 00:17

  Can recommend the TP-Link N300, easy to setup and does what it's meant to without issues.

  A mesh setup would be better, but an extender will do the job fine if you're just trying to get wifi to a PC or TV across the house.

• 

  buggy86 on 28/01/2021 - 23:04

  I've been using the Ubiquiti mesh router

  https://store.amplifi.com/products/amplifi-mesh-wi-fi-system

  it works well and hasn't failed me yet. one in garage and one in the main hallways seems to cover my entire place