In such cases, a cheaper and older Wi-Fi extender might cut it.īut if you’re looking to extend your current Wi-Fi coverage in a meaningful way so people on the other side of the house can game or stream demanding 4K video or such, you need a Wi-Fi extender that is at least as good as the capabilities of your router. If you just need to reach a little further than your current Wi-Fi can reach to keep a smart sprinkler controller online or ensure the smart lock on the far side of the house still has internet access, you don’t need screaming fast current-generation Wi-Fi. In some cases, bandwidth concerns are really a priority. Match or Exceed the Router’s Wi-Fi Generation Useful or not, extenders impose a burden on your network and offer slower performance than directly connecting to the main router. It’s best to use the main router anywhere that you have a strong enough signal to do so.īy only using the extender’s coverage when you’re in the previously dead-zone area, you’ll keep the performance of the whole network higher. Our advice to stay on the main ties directly into the previous advice to use different SSIDs for the router and the extender.Įven if your main router is an absolute potato (which is why you’re using the extender in the first place) it’s still likely a more capable device intended for primary use as a Wi-Fi router.
If a smart TV in a particular room frequently lost its connection to the main router because of a weak signal, now’s the perfect time to forget the old Wi-Fi network and connect it exclusively to the extender with the stronger signal. Not only does that prevent roaming issues with devices like your smartphone, it also prevents smart home devices like your smart thermostat or smart TV from jumping between the two and creating a headache for you in the process.įurther, it allows you to lock a particular device into a particular access point. If your main house Wi-Fi SSID is RadioGaGa, just make the other SSID something like RadioGaGa-Backyard. Instead, it’s much easier to set a different SSID for the extender. In our experience, especially when mixing hardware from different manufacturers, the chances of getting an actually seamless transition from your main router to the extender are low. You would want to place the extender between the router and the dead zone and not in the middle of the dead zone itself.īut at the same time, be prepared to immediately abandon the experiment. So, for example, let’s say your Wi-Fi router is located in your living room and, by the time you get to the kitchen and patio on the opposite side of the house, the signal is very weak to non-existent. The ideal location is roughly halfway between the router and the location you’re attempting to extend the Wi-Fi to reach. If you place them too far apart, the extender will struggle (or outright fail) to communicate with the router and you’ll have a terrible time. If you place it too close, you’ll end up in a situation where the two Wi-Fi devices are blasting the same general area with their individual signals. The physical proximity of the Wi-Fi extender to the main Wi-Fi router has an enormous impact on the overall experience. If you only follow a single tip in this entire list, be sure to follow this one. $39.99 Place the Extender at the Half-Way Point