Wi Fi Range Extenders. What do I need to know?

[the skipper]

We've got four smart TV's in the house. They are all Vizios, less than two years old, and have the same interface and apps. Three show five bars and work great. The fourth is a little farther away from the router and shows three bars. Also, some of the smart functions tend to take a bit more time to load and sometimes simply freeze.

I'm hoping a range extender will alleviate this. I do see some of these re dirt cheap and that always gives me cause for concern. What can you tech whizzes tell em to help make the right decision, or if it'll help at all?

Thanks in advance.

 

[E-Stat]

The bummer about extenders is they create a new network name. Usually appended with a character or two. Devices must then be mated with the appropriate extender.

I share a similar situation and went with three access points instead which use the same network name just as you'd find at a hotel. One serves as master and others configured as repeaters using same MAC address. Devices then are able to roam. While your TVs won't be moving about, mobile devices benefit.

 

[MKG]

WiFi extenders are no good. It’s a repeater and you lose half of your bandwidth. Go with a mesh network system, two or three or more nodes depending on your needs. Same network name and no speed loss. The linksys velop is what I set up at my work (brick and plaster walls aren’t good for WiFi). Not super cheap- the three pack on sale is usually around $300.

 

[KrisM]

This topic is so hit/miss.

4 1/2 years ago I switched up my internet/TV and the router I got was fine except for the range. It was horrid.
I picked up one of those Netgear AC-outlet jobs, and it worked great for a couple of years, and then got really flaky out of the blue. My (un-educated) guess was some crowding on the 2.4 band in my 'hood.

Back in the fall I switched up the internet/TV gear again, and they also provided an extender. It works WAY better than the Netgear did. But, it is connected via CAT5, so it's not a completely wifi solution.

What's weird is that it doesn't have that new network name issue going on. As long as I stay on my main network it nabs the signal from either the main router or the extender, and does it at 2.4g or 5g as the device(s) see fit.
I also decided to set up a 'guest' network, and for the life of me(and tech support) it doesn't work that way on that access point. Guests have to choose between 2.4g and 5g. I think it also pops up as an access point on the main router plus the extender, too.

Wifi stuff can be voodoo.

 

[DaveVoorhis]

Pure wireless extenders can work if you can put them in exactly the right sweet spot to get a full strength signal from the primary access point whilst extending the access area sufficiently to give the TV (or whatever) a full strength signal from the extender.

I'm rarely lucky enough to be able to plug a wireless extender in at that place. I usually wind up with a weak primary signal to the extender and a strong extender signal to the device, or a strong primary signal to the extender and a weak extender signal to the device.

Best is multiple ethernet-wired access points, i.e., ethernet in and a wifi access point out.

 

[the skipper]

I may have found a simple solution/workaround to my situation. What brought this issue to light is that when using the Hulu app on my main Vizio TV (to stream the Highlander TV series, in another thread), it would freeze up, hang, and eventually stop. This would happen repeatedly.

I found that this was not a problem when streaming Hulu on my Sony UBP-X800 4k Blu-Ray player so, rather than go through contortions to use Hulu app in the Vizio app, I'll just use the Sony unit for Hulu. When the kids and grand-kids come over they don;t have any problem connecting with the existing network so I really do't want to rock that boat. It's not what I would prefer but it's simple, cheap, and something I can live with.

Thanks for then input guys. I knew I could count on you for great advice.

 

[restorer-john]

The bummer about extenders is they create a new network name.

This is true. I gave up on them for my friends. I always end up setting up their networks as they all buy silly little repeaters only to end up calling me when they don't work as expected...

The appended or 2.4/5 network names end up confusing both the occupants and particularly the WiFi stacks in the various iterations of Windows and Apple devices.You are forever playing with 'auto connect when in range' and 'forget this SSID' as people accidentally connect to a guest/repeater network, enter their normal password and then get no connection and think the internet is down etc.

The easiest way is a high powered, centrally placed router with detachable antennas that can be upgraded to larger antennas and carefully spaced.

One access point, two bands and a separate guest network isolated from network assets and LAN connected computers. I know houses are getting bigger, but you can cover a solid masonry 900sqm home with one decent router mounted high up.

 

[mjw21a]

WiFi extenders are no good. It’s a repeater and you lose half of your bandwidth. Go with a mesh network system, two or three or more nodes depending on your needs. Same network name and no speed loss. The linksys velop is what I set up at my work (brick and plaster walls aren’t good for WiFi). Not super cheap- the three pack on sale is usually around $300.

Aye, Google Wi-Fi is a good option. Not too pricey. I've three scattered around the house

 

[EngineerNate]

I'm a fan of the Netgear, Eero, and Ubiquiti mesh setups if you need that kind of range. Read some reviews on the three and make a choice.