The best wireless range extender is your solution to a poor internet connection. Whether you're looking to boost your wifi, expand its reach or both, a range extender paired with your existing wireless router is an effective way to achieve these goals using a single product.
Getting consistent WiFi reception in every part of your home can be a challenge. If you’re having trouble picking up internet in some rooms, you may wish to consider a WiFi extender. It’s quite common to get a robust WiFi signal of 100 Mpbs on your PC or mobile device when you are in close proximity to your base WiFi router. It’s also common to get a far weaker signal in rooms on other floors of the home — an upstairs bedroom or office, for example.
Thick walls can block signals and neighbors with their own home networking setups can cause interference with your WiFi signal. Prior to choosing a WiFi range extender, it’s important to establish proper “benchmarks” for your home WiFi throughput. Basically, this means identifying the areas in your home where WiFi signals are weakest. We recommend this series of steps: Step one Download an app to your mobile device for portable testing. Ookla and Speed Test are two of the more popular WiFi speed testers, and both are available for IOS and Android for a minimal cost (or free).
Step two Run a throughput test in the general area of your wireless router and note the results. Step three Visit the spot (or spots) in your home where WiFi reception is slower. There is no hard and fast rule, but if your tests in areas away from your router are less than half of your base signal, it’s time to consider a range extender. Step four Purchase and install your WiFi extender.
(See “How to Set Up Your Extender” for more details.) Buyer note: not all range extenders are built equally. Many promise the ability to extend a signal up to 10,000 square feet, while others have the ability to take signals from multiple bands of the router and combine them to create a more powerful repeated signal. Step five Retest your throughput speed in the area that previously experienced less-than-optimal WiFi. If you don’t see a significant boost, it’s possible you may need a different range extender. It is best to select the same brand for your WiFi extender as your router. This generally ensures that the products have the same chipset and software. You may be attracted to an extender that offers simple setup.
That’s fine, but bear in mind that more advanced models that provide throughput on multiple bands require a more complex setup, with separate bands needing individual setups. For maximum throughput, select a model that supports both the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. Older models with only 2.4 GHz offer little more than 50% of the router’s signals, while extenders that also support the newer 5 GHz band provide stronger signals to weaker zones.
The reason for this has to do with the need for the extender to simultaneously communicate with the base router and the client device. With one band, the network must perform both functions, but with two separate bands, one can talk to the router while the other services the targeted deficient zone. In some cases, a standard WiFi range extender will not bring new bandwidth life to spotty areas of reception. If a building’s architecture prohibits central location of the extender, for example, you could run into this problem.
In such scenarios, an AC- or powerline-based WiFi extender should be considered. Generally, AC-based extenders cost slightly more than their non-AC counterparts.
As more companies enter the market, however, prices continue to drop. Powerline solutions come in pairs, with a base unit that plugs into an outlet near the router and a second unit that sits in an area with poor bandwidth throughput. The unit close to the router plugs directly into the router via Ethernet cable; the signal travels through the home’s electrical circuitry to the extender. By and large, this method can provide the best throughput to weak or dead bandwidth zones. However, the AC-based solution has its drawbacks:.
The powerline approach is only as good as the home’s electricity circuitry. In older homes where the wiring has not been updated, an AC extender is likely the wrong choice for extending WiFi signals.
If you live in a home where a number of surge protectors are in place, these pieces of hardware often weaken any signal in its path. First, unbox your extender. If your device has remote antennas, raise them to a fully vertical position. Plug it into an electrical outlet in the same room as your home wireless router.
Find the WPS (WiFi Protected Setup) button on your router. If your router does not have a WPS button, the manufacturer will provide additional instructions which include how to connect an Ethernet cable from your router to your WiFi extender. Press the WPS button on your range extender. Then, press the EPS button on your router. The WPS button on your range extender will turn a solid green when a connection between the devices is established. If your router supports the 5 GHz band, repeat the WPS process for both devices.
Unplug your WiFi range extender and select a location about halfway between your weak signal area and router. The extender must be in the range of your router to ensure a strong signal. Plug your extender into an outlet and wait for the LED light to turn green.
(For most range extenders, there will be a signal light that indicates the extender is within range of the router. Ensure your indicator light says your extender is within the proper range of the router.).
Connect your client device (a laptop, for example) to the extender. You should find a network name which is the same as your established SSID (Service Set Identifier) but with a suffix EXT. The password, or “key,” will be the same as your existing network password.
At this point, test the throughput from the extender with a mobile device app to ensure it provides adequate throughput. If the range extender does not offer the desired results, it is possible you may need to look at other solutions, such as an AC or powerline WiFi range extender.
How We Chose the Best WiFi Extender Dual-band Dual-band WiFi extenders are able to catch the signal from the router and broadcast it with minimal interference. This is because they use one band to intercept the signal from the router and a separate one to permeate it throughout the house. Single-band extenders attempt to do all this on one band, which can result in weak signal strength and interference from other devices operating and transmitting on a similar frequency. AC devices Extenders are categorized by alphanumeric labels called protocols which help signify the device’s capabilities.
For example, an extender with a protocol of “802.11ac” is an AC device. As it stands, AC is one of the best protocol for routers and extenders according to the.
We narrowed our focus to WiFi extenders using this protocol since your everyday devices - smartphones, computers, gaming consoles - all use AC protocols. MU-MIMO MU-MIMO is short for Multiple User, Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output. Believe it or not, routers and extenders don’t necessarily stream to multiple devices simultaneously. Rather, they switch among various devices in use, so fast you usually don’t notice. However, if you are using four or five WiFi-enabled devices simultaneously, an extender will make them share the same stream which can slow the internet down.
This is not the case with MU-MIMO extenders, which can separate bandwidths into up to four streams, transmitting to multiple devices simultaneously. The customers There are so many factors that can affect how well a WiFi extender performs, there was just no way we were going to be able to account for all possible living situations. In addition to our own testing, we scoured Amazon for products with the highest success rate. In order to ensure that these devices were likely to have been used in a number of different home environments, we only considered products with at least 100 reviews.
By the end of it all, we had looked at more than 60,00 reviews, but that wasn’t all. We employed a website called, which analyzes Amazon reviews, in order to help find genuine reviews from the fakes. Why we chose it Speed The Netgear Nighthawk X4 has one of the fastest link rates we could find among all the extenders we reviewed, reaching a combined speed of 2,200 Mbps for both 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz. That’s more than enough for most people when it comes to home use and especially great for homes with many devices. If you rely on your internet for competitive gaming or streaming lots of video, that speed makes the Nighthawk X4 the best WiFi extender for the money. MU-MIMO Bolstered by MU-MIMO technology, the X4 is capable of handling more WiFi-enabled devices than any other extender lacking this technology. This is especially important for larger households where everyone is using the internet simultaneously.
With the X4, it doesn’t matter if everyone is watching Netflix, streaming music on Spotify, downloading files for work, or all of the above. The X4 can communicate with all of these devices without bringing your internet speed to a crawl. Simple and self-contained The X4 is one of the easiest WiFi extenders to operate. It’s a plug-in device that’s about as wide as the U.S. Dollar bill, and a little bit taller. There are no external antennas to configure in order to get the most optimal signal and broadcast. It’s very easy to determine if you’ve positioned the device in the best spot with a user-friendly, color-coded display.
The X4’s glowing green, amber, or red light is a clear indicator of the connection quality — just set it up somewhere with a green light to get the best connection. Additionally, the X4 has lights to indicate whether the extender needs to be moved closer to the router to improve performance. Image: Netgear Points to consider Price The X4 has features such as MU-MIMO and beamforming, which improve performance in device-heavy locations but add to the cost of the extender. Users who live alone or usually only have one or two devices connected might not get enough value out of the X4 to justify the extra cost. No adjustable antennas While the lack of external antennas makes the X4 one of the easiest WiFi extenders to set up, it also limits the adjustability.
Without the external antennas to configure your signal strength, you may find yourself constricted to fewer places where the X4 can be placed to truly give you the best service. Why we chose it Affordable For most people with Internet Plans that trend toward 100 Mbps, the Netgear Essentials is more than enough. And, without all of those extra features, it is easily the best inexpensive WiFi extender when compared to the X4.
Just bear in mind that the Essentials is more affordable because it lacks the beamforming and MU-MIMO features that come standard with the X4. However, if you want to save $100 and don’t think you’ll need these features, then the Essentials might be a good fit. Image: Netgear Easy to install With the Essentials, it’s as easy and plug-and-play. It plugs into your power outlet so there’s no need to clear a place on the shelf for it. In fact, the Essentials is only a little bit larger than a credit card, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding a place for it. The external antennas are a nice touch allowing for a little extra configuration when you’re trying to get the most out of your signal.
User-friendly Like the X4, the Essentials sports an intuitive and easy-to-read display. One light changes color to demonstrate the connection strength to the router, and another symbolizes the strength going to your computer or WiFi device. You’ll be able to tell at a glance if you’re in a good signal area, or if your WiFi troubles have to do with the router or the extender. Points to consider No MU-MIMO The absence of MU-MIMO technology means that you’ll have a difficult time if there are multiple internet users in your home all using devices at the same time.
Of course, if you live alone or have a smaller family, you might not need to worry about multiple users. However, if you have a larger family of avid Netflix-watchers and gamers, you might need something capable of handling multiple devices simultaneously. No beamforming While it’s one of the cheaper extenders we could get our hands on, part of the reason is the lack of features such as beamforming.
Beamforming is the ability for two devices (e.g. Your computer and your router) to focus the data transmitted into directed beams, instead of simply broadcasting signal in every direction. It can improve your network range, and streaming quality by optimizing the signal on a case-by-case basis.
How to Find the Right WiFi Extender for You Evaluate your living situation Do you live alone? Are there more people in your home using the internet than just you? Are there any brick or stone impediments between the floors and rooms?
The answers to each of these questions will affect your WiFi signal. Even the strongest WiFi extender can have trouble sending signal through a thick wall. And, if you know there will be a lot of people streaming and browsing simultaneously, look for a WiFi extender using MU-MIMO technology. Shop by features, not price The best WiFi extender for the money will be the one that fits the needs of your home: If you have a plethora of internet-connected devices, bargain shopping for WiFi extenders might not result in noticeably higher speeds. However, for users who live alone or without a lot of simultaneous internet usage, the Netgear Essentials Edition is easily the best inexpensive WiFi extender, at less than $50. Scour reviews If you’re reading this, then you’re well on your way to finding the strongest WiFi extender for your needs. Just like us, you’ve probably discovered that there are over a hundred different kinds.
Only by scouring the reviews were we able to get such a wide variety of feedback from an even more varied audience. We can’t stress enough just how important it is to read the reviews when looking for the best WiFi extender for your home. WiFi Extender FAQ What is the best WiFi extender for gaming? If you’re looking for the best WiFi extender for gaming, you’ll need an extender that can handle a great deal of online activity without slowing down, like the Nighthawk X4. You don’t want your gaming activities to monopolize the internet service, especially if you aren’t the only person living in your home. Is a WiFi extender right for me? WiFi extenders are best for people who already have a, but have a small area in their home where the reception is weak, inconsistent, or nonexistent.
Powerline adapters are another option. Both the receiving adapter plugs and the broadcasting adapter plugs work together in order to transmit the WiFi signal from the router, through the electrical cabling already in your home. What is the best spot for the WiFi extender? You’ll want to find an area with strong signal coming from the router.
This is usually about halfway between the router and the area of the house you’re having trouble getting WiFi in. Our top picks are two of the easiest WiFi extenders to set up, coming equipped with easy-to-read displays indicating the signal strength.
What is the best WiFi extender for a home business? If you are working out of the home, you will need to take into account any other Internet-users you might be living with. The aforementioned X4 is the best WiFi extender for the money you’ll pay and it comes with a bunch of features to help make your internet service more reliable. After all, the last thing you need is a network crash during an important Skype call.
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