Wireless Extender Reducing Speed

[ArchitSahu]

Hey guys,
So I pay for 1 GBPS internet connection, for both up and down. I have 3 rooms in my house, and the middle room has the router and modem, and the two adjacent rooms do not have. I bought a wireless extender and plugged it in into one of the adjacent rooms. Mind you, these adjacent rooms are extremely close by and there is only one wall in between.

The extender in question is a TP Link WPA4220. I bought it maybe between 2014-2015. AFter plugging in the extender, I tested the speed and it came out to 1 MBPS. That's a 999 MBPS difference.

Could somebody help me understand why this happens? BTW the model is fit for 300 MBPS only, but still should it not give more than 150 atleast?

 

[ian.broxmeyer]

Is your computer then connected wirelessly to the extender? That would drastically reduce speeds.

 

[Solandri]

First of all, forget the idea of getting 1 Gbps over WiFi. With most 802.11ac implementations, you'll be getting about 300-400 Mbps real-world transfer speeds. You don't even have that - it's a 300 Mbps 802.11n extender, meaning your realistic top speed is going to be closer to 100-150 Mbps. There's a new 802.11 spec coming down the pipeline which should be able to hit 1 Gbps real-world speeds, but I don't expect to see devices based on it until late this year or next year at earliest. For the time being, if you want to use the full 1 Gbps you're paying for, you're going to have to use Gigabit Ethernet.

Second, that model is a powerline WiFi extender. The quality of service it'll give you depends on both how crowded your WiFi network is, AND how fast the powerline connection over your home's electrical wiring is. So you're going to have to eliminate the WiFi link to figure out what's going on. Plug a device into the powerline extender's ethernet port and measure what speeds you get that way. The port is only 100 Mbps so that's the max you'll get.

If you only get 1 Mbps when plugged directly into the extender, then your problem is the powerline portion. Try moving it to a different outlet or a different room.

If you get close to 100 Mbps when plugged directly into the extender, then your problem is your WiFi network. Either there's too much interference (try a different channel), or because the extender doesn't have antennas its range is too short for whatever device you're trying to connect to it with.

 

[ArchitSahu]

Is your computer then connected wirelessly to the extender? That would drastically reduce speeds.

I tested the speed using my Mac as my PC was undergoing an upgrade. The Mac (laptop) was connected wirelessly but the extender was less than a meter away. So it would still affect?

 

[ArchitSahu]

First of all, forget the idea of getting 1 Gbps over WiFi. With most 802.11ac implementations, you'll be getting about 300-400 Mbps real-world transfer speeds. You don't even have that - it's a 300 Mbps 802.11n extender, meaning your realistic top speed is going to be closer to 100-150 Mbps. There's a new 802.11 spec coming down the pipeline which should be able to hit 1 Gbps real-world speeds, but I don't expect to see devices based on it until late this year or next year at earliest. For the time being, if you want to use the full 1 Gbps you're paying for, you're going to have to use Gigabit Ethernet.

Second, that model is a powerline WiFi extender. The quality of service it'll give you depends on both how crowded your WiFi network is, AND how fast the powerline connection over your home's electrical wiring is. So you're going to have to eliminate the WiFi link to figure out what's going on. Plug a device into the powerline extender's ethernet port and measure what speeds you get that way. The port is only 100 Mbps so that's the max you'll get.

If you only get 1 Mbps when plugged directly into the extender, then your problem is the powerline portion. Try moving it to a different outlet or a different room.

If you get close to 100 Mbps when plugged directly into the extender, then your problem is your WiFi network. Either there's too much interference (try a different channel), or because the extender doesn't have antennas its range is too short for whatever device you're trying to connect to it with.

Oh okay. I get it. The speed I got was when wirelessly connected. But I assume with an ethernet port connection, it would be faster. As such, if I were to get a new extender, which would you recommend to maximise my current speeds?