Wi-Fi Extender? What to buy?

[invincible1914]

Thanks man. How is this different than the one I found, it looks like this is a router and an extender bundled? I can't keep up with tech anymore.

It'll primarily just be used for smart tv's and laptops. Basically what I'm trying to do is have one set up for my main house and my guest house. I hate my cable company(long story) so I don't want to have another monthly bill from them and have to pick up another modem and router. On top of that my old modem and nighthawk used to cover both houses but for whatever reason no longer will.

Sorry for the late reply... I typed this up earlier today but had to do something... I'm just now posting it

I guess the best way to explain the difference is that your connected devices will "see" the Orbi as one connection while it will see the router as two connections. With the Orbi (which isnt really a mesh router) you will never see where one device hands the connection over to the other one. It's similar to how a hospital or a library does it's wifi. I also like that it's modular, meaning that you can add more satellites for more coverage

 

[Yoda]

Someone link some amazon links.. i am in the market for these shyts.

 

[Dat Migo]

Don't do Wifi Extenders. Your internet on your phone is gonna drop when you switch from one access point to another. Plus if you don't have it spaced out enough you're going to have issues. You want a good mesh router. That will solve all your problems. Now if you don't mind spending some money.... Netgear Orbi will have your whole setup covered. I have this


NETGEAR Orbi Ultra-Performance Whole Home Mesh WiFi System - WiFi router and single satellite extender with speeds up to 3Gbps over 5,000 sq. feet, AC3000 (RBK50)

The whole house upstairs and downstairs is completely covered. Inside I'm at 5 bars everywhere except the corner of the master bathroom then goto 4 bars .

And it can handle hundreds of devices. When family come to stay over... I don't miss a beat.

Edit: I can't post an Amazon link either. I just copied the name of the listing and put in there.

A lot of people on Amazon were saying there was firmware issues. I assume they fixed it by now?

 

[Rice N Beans]

At my mother's place I gave up with consumer all in one devices and split the load. I have a TP-Link Access Point for the wireless and an APU4C2 for the routing and switching.

It's overkill but I don't have to mess with her connectivity until she goes over 500mbps, and the whole 4 bedroom apartment gets very good signal through thick walls.

 

[invincible1914]

A lot of people on Amazon were saying there was firmware issues. I assume they fixed it by now?

Yeah I haven’t noticed anything. Mine run smooth. That might be an older issue

 

[jebuz]

Google Mesh

most wifi extenders are straight

 

[Pressure]

A lot of the concerns here can be handled by QoS

 

[GoldenGlove]

Do these even work?

When I had issues in my crib, I just bought a better router and haven't had issues since. I can drive around the corner from my crib damn near and I'll still be on my connection.