Facilitating a wifi range extender

[braccgd]

This is my first experience with needing to extend wifi range. I am seeking clarification on the faciliation of a range extender, to enable me to make a better educated purchase decision.

Thank you.

 

[vagrantsoul]

just recently had to do this, ended up cheating, but basically you connect a device as a repeater, and then connect to the secondary device... best reviewed one i've seen for not-super expensive (home use) is this: http://www.amazon.com/Securifi-Almond-Touchscreen-Wireless-Extender/dp/B0087NZ31S/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1412618245&sr=1-3&keywords=wifi+range+extender

i ran a cat 5 cable from the back of the primary router, then connected an older wifi router at the end of that, allows 2 wireless networks that don't compete with each other, just the main pipe.

 

[vagrantsoul]

note, i may have used a 'ghetto' method, but it was free with what i had laying around vs 80 bucks for a decent repeater/extender.

 

[bobsilver]

Expanding wifi range can be accomplished in a number of ways. The easiest is to use a repeater. These devices connect to an existing wireless network and broadcast a new one that is connected to your main network. The advantage of these is simplicity in setup. The downside is that they take a performance hit and usually have you broadcast an additional network. name (SSID) so to not conflict with your main. But they get the job done.

Look here for Netgear's range of models. http://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/wifi-range-extenders/ Note there are dual band N models that if you have a dual band N based router you can share the load of transmit and recieve between both bands thus really improving performance. That said if all you are doing is basic web surfing any will suffice.

The best way to extend wifi range is through Access Points which require wired connections to your network. But this again is more complex and requires a wired connection which most people do not have.

Check out the above link. It will give you a good overview of the many options available for repeaters.

Bob Silver
Netgear Network Assistant

 

[jitpublisher]

I will tell you that even the best ones you can only expect about 50% speed of your connection even at peak operating effiecency. Most of them simply are not worth the money. If you need to extend the range outside of normal WIFI, you really ought to think about running wiring to the location, unless you simply have no other choice at all.