Wireless Range Extender

gman

gman

Suspended / Banned
Messages
11,100
Name
Graham
Edit My Images
Yes
Can anyone recommend a wireless range extender which picks up the current network by CAT6 rather than the wireless signal?

My router is a BT Hub and I'm using the BT 11ac 750 range extender which picks up the wireless signal from my hub and extends it, but even though I've got the extender next to the rear dining room window the signal isn't great outside, even about 5 metres away with line of sight it seems to get considerably weaker.

I'm wondering if window reflection be causing this much of a problem or is the range extender not one which is capable of receiving and transmitting at the same time so it's halving my speeds - but then that should effect the actual signal quality right? The signal quality from my hub to the extender is sitting bang on the Good Range indicator.

I can fairly easily run a CAT6 cable from the hub to the extender location, would this make a difference rather than using the wifi signal as a source?
 
Last edited:
What you're after is called a 'wireless access point'. Many wireless range extenders can be switched to access point mode but you do have to read the small print to be certain. It would certainly make a difference as the wireless signal at the extender isn't being shared between the router and the end device.
I've had good results with a Netgear EX6150 and TP-Link RE640 in access point mode.
 
I've got the BT "Flex"extender . Just did a test and that worked well over at least 15meters into the garden. That's through 1 stud and 1 brick wall. Not exactly the same device as yours but it may be of some help . Just checked the BT instructions for this extender, what are the range status lights telling you . If you are getting " Good Range" then I can't see any point in running an Ethernet cable. I've tried to find any reference to range, or even reviews for this model, but the only one I can find is the 1200, which seemed to work well up to 20meters
 
I have the TP-Link one connected to my VM Router that creates a separate Wireless network in another room, mainly for my Samsung TV which uses PLEX and works a lot better with its own dedicated network. a bit more
 
Or, if you have an old BT hub lying around, it can be easily repurposed as a AP.
 
Cheers all, the wireless speed is pretty much halved using the extender so I'll look at some asacce points!
 
gman said:
Cheers all, the wireless speed is pretty much halved using the extender so I'll look at some asacce points!
Click to expand...

that's the side effect of extenders as they use the same wireless frequency to relay to the upstream router so generally they will reduce the true available bandwidth.
hence why APs connected back to your router on cat5 are full fat
 
Can the extender not use the 5Ghz to receive from hub and then transmit with the 2.4Ghz?
 
Some of them can be configured to do that but not all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top