

Smart home devices require a connection to your network, but they don’t use up a lot of bandwidth.

If you have smart home devices that have trouble connecting to your network, this extender can help with that as well.
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It can provide a maximum of 1,000 square feet of coverage, and it can handle about enough bandwidth to stream in 4K, video chat, and download big files on a couple of devices at once without a lot of slowdowns. The ideal scenario for this extender is expanding a spotty wireless network into a guest room or home office where you expect to connect only a few devices at a time. It doesn’t have the range or speed offered by many of the other extenders on this list, but it’s a great option if you just need a little extra range to connect a handful of wireless devices. If you’re on a budget, the Netgear EX3700 is worth a look. Netgear EX3700 Wi-Fi Range Extender (AC750) Review Wireless Spec: Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) | Security: WPA2 | Standard/Speed: AC2200 | Bands: Dual-band | MU-MIMO: Yes | Beamforming: No | Wired Ports: 1 The Nighthawk X4 includes an Ethernet port that allows you to use a network cable to connect a smart TV, game console, or anything else requiring a wired connection. If you have any devices that don’t have Wi-Fi, this extender has you covered there as well. It doesn’t have an outlet pass-through, so it does take up one outlet, but it leaves the other free. It's designed to plug directly into a wall socket, and it supports a WPS push-button setup, which makes it really easy to set up and use. Realistically, your internet connection won't be this fast, but if you pay extra for a super fast connection, it's worth bearing in mind this unit will support it. The AC2200 part of the name means it can deliver 2.2Gbps of bandwidth at once ( we've got an explanation of what that actually means here), which is enough to stream Netflix in 4K, video chat on FaceTime, and maintain a competitive edge in online games, on several devices all at once. It’s also able to handle a lot of devices at once. This extender has a range of up to 2,000 square feet, which makes it great for extending a network to a different floor or the distant corners of a large home. This is our favorite Wi-Fi extender because it provides excellent performance and coverage for a decent price, and it isn’t too difficult to set up. If you’re happy with the overall performance of your router and just want better Wi-Fi coverage, the Netgear Nighthawk X4 will get the job done.

Thankfully, there are some solutions, and most modern routers tend to use a specific band and frequency for something called "backchanneling." This backchannel is specifically dedicated to transmitting the internet between router and repeater and often tries not to use the same frequency as your regular Wi-Fi connection.Netgear Nighthawk X4 Wi-Fi Mesh Extender Review This tends to muddy the water a bit since there are two competing bands on the same frequency. That's unfortunately due to how the technology works, which is that it uses a similar Wi-Fi frequency to transmit your data as it does to provide you with a connection. Of course, there is a downside in that you'll likely see a decrease in overall bandwidth, as well as some increased latency. Since you don't have to rely on a cable to run your internet, there's a lot more freedom of where you can put it. You could even put your Wi-Fi extender in another building entirely if you can run a cable-for example, running a cable from your home to a detached building across a yard.Ī Wi-Fi repeater is essentially the same thing as a Wi-Fi extender. But, instead of using a cable connected to your router, it connects using a Wi-Fi band instead. Either way, using a physical cable to extend your Wi-Fi means that you will get almost the same quality of internet regardless of how far away the extender is.

Powerline is a bit more of a mixed bag since it varies greatly on the quality of the electrical cabling that you have in your home. The main advantage is that using an Ethernet or coaxial cable doesn't slow down your internet speed or add latency into the mix. Powerline networking tends to have different standards and names based on the manufacturer.Īt this point, you might be thinking: "What's the point of a Wi-Fi router if I have to use a cable anyway?" This can either be achieved through a coaxial cable, an ethernet cable, or even Powerline networking. Much like the name implies, a Wi-Fi extender increases the range of your Wi-Fi but does so through a particular way: a cable.
