Question wifi calling lags w range extender

[newmarket2]

I have a netgrear n300 range extender linked to a Comcast gateway.
wifi works fine. But I have to use wifi calling in most of my house and the extender is introducing a slight lag/gap in calls
This was ok using my Samsung Galaxy s7 because the conversation during the lag was buffered.
But when using my new Google Pixel3, the conversation during the lag is lost.
I have no problems/lags when using wifi calling when connected directly to the gateway.

is there a fix for this?

 

[kanewolf]

Probably not. A WIFI extender has to receive and transmit twice as much. Since WIFI can only receive OR transmit, that means that you only have 1/2 as much time to do it. That is the design of WIFI.
Instead of a WIFI repeater, you could add a WIFI access point, connected by a wired network back to your primary router. If you can't use an ethernet cable, you could try powerline networking to connect your WIFI access point to your primary router.

 

[newmarket2]

Kanewolf, you have explained the lag/gap but not the difference between the galaxy and the pixel.
It doesn't make sense to me that the phone would be doing the buffering; so, I would assume the extender...??

 

[kanewolf]

Kanewolf, you have explained the lag/gap but not the difference between the galaxy and the pixel.
It doesn't make sense to me that the phone would be doing the buffering; so, I would assume the extender...??

Except the extender is not what changed. It was the phone that changed.

 

[newmarket2]

I could imagine a setting or mode on the extender that would work with one phone and not the other.
But, let's assume it's the phone.
Any ideas re phone settings?

 

[bill001g]

I have no idea how these phones work but the feature is a pretty standard VoIP feature called a jitter buffer. The common setting is 100ms but it can be adjusted by the end device. What it does is introduce a artificial delay of 100ms before it attempts to play the received data in the hope that delayed data will arrive. The buffer on most devices can be set longer but if you set it too long the delay can be detected by the people calling. It is similar to what it used to sound like when you made calls over satellites.

I have no idea how your devices work but it is likely there is a setting to control this.

 

[newmarket2]

Bill001g, when ou say "device" do you mean the phone or the extender?

 

[bill001g]

The phone. A extender has no concept of application. In fact the extender has no concept of even ip addresses it only works on mac addresses. It pretty much takes garbage in and sends garbage out.

 

[newmarket2]

I am unable to find a setting in the Pixel for buffering or jitter buffer.

 

[bill001g]

That could be the problem if it does not have any form of buffer.

Wifi unlike other forms of networks retransmit data that has errors. When you have a repeater you have 2 radio links that each take errors. Some applications can not tolerate delays in the data. The most common is games. VoIP devices partially mitigate the problem with a buffer.

This one of those fundamental things on how wifi works. If the hardware you have can not tollerate these radom delay spikes there is not much you can do. You can do nothing to change the way the wifi functions.

.....is there not another app you can try. The VoIP is purely a software function.

 

[newmarket2]

Gloria, sounds like a solution. But...
In Settings for the extender on the Pixel 3, I see no option to select dynamic or static.