If you have arrived at this blog post then we are pretty sure that you are having WiFi coverage issues at your place, it may be due to old WiFi hardware or its poor antenna reach.
We also agree that slow Internet speeds can ruin your day. Tired of seeing that loading circle on your screen? Well, no need to worry we have got you covered in this article.
Not getting too technical, in most cases, the basic problem is that local ISPs (internet service providers) sell us cheap Wi-Fi routers of inferior quality. The signal is too weak to pass through brick walls without significant speed loss. Also, these routers can’t cope up with large numbers of devices or heavy usage.
As a result, you are left with poor Wi-Fi and dreaded ‘Wi-Fi blind spots’ in your own home. But that whole nightmare will come to an end in no time just by plugging in Wi-Fi Extender into any socket of your house where you face such WiFi low-speed issues.
What is a WiFi Extender?
A WiFi repeater or WiFi extender is used to increase the coverage area of your current WiFi network. It works by receiving your existing WiFi signal, amplifying it, and then transmitting the boosted signal. With a WiFi repeater you’ll effectively double the coverage area of your WiFi network reaching far corners of your home or office, different floors, or maybe extend coverage to your yard.
Like WiFi routers, there are lots of WiFi extenders available out there in the market, so the real question here is, how to the choose best bang for your buck?
How to Choose the Best WiFi Extender?
Choosing the right WiFi extender can be a headache if you don’t know all the technical aspects related to it. Here are few basic points you should consider in a WiFi Extender before buying.
Price Range
In India, you can get a WiFi extender for the price as low as Rs 800 to as high as Rs 15,000 depending upon the features it provides. You should select a price segment that suits economical to you and then select the best WiFi extender to fit your needs under that segment.
If you are low on budget, you can get your hands-on cheaper ones available in the market. They may not be the best but could certainly fulfill your basic requirements. Here are a few of the best cheap WiFi Extenders: D-Link, Mercurys, Tp-Link, etc. While if budget is not the issue then you can definitely go for a premium one. For example, Google, Netgear, Linksys, Devolo are some of the best available WiFi extenders in the market right now.
Frequency Boost and Range
One of the main points when buying the right WiFi extender is what frequency does it provide? Or in other words, how many GHz does the WiFi extender comes with, is it 2.5GHz or 5GHz? Generally, as we go up with the price range, mostly all the WiFi Extenders provide both those frequency bands.
The other factor is for what range does that WiFi extender provide a stable and speedy connection. This range differs depending upon the price segment, you can expect a range from 120 sq. ft and it goes up to 1,500 sq. ft.
Device Connectivity
Most of the WiFi extender have a cap limit on how many devices it can connect at a time and does it provide connectivity to any type of device like smart TV, washing machine, etc. or does it connects only with smartphones and computers.
This limit is of 6 devices or 20 devices or so, while there are many WiFi extenders that don’t have any such limit and connects with any type of device.
Parental control
Well as it says, parental control comes with various features like restrictions on certain types of media contents, remote access for switch on/off and specific timings for usage, guest logins. So WiFi extender with parental control is more preferred.
Speed Limit
You can choose a WiFi extender depending upon your requirements, you can get one with a speed limit of 300Mbps, 500Mbps, 1000Mbps and so goes on with the increase in price.
USB or Direct Connect
There are many types through which WiFi extender connects to its power source like does it connects via a USB charger or is it like plug and play type. The ones with direct connections are preferred as they are compact and light in weight.
Ethernet Port
WiFi Extenders come with or without an ethernet port. Wifi Extenders with Ethernet port are preferred over 100% wireless ones as they give high-speed connection via Lan cable to your device. As said WiFi extender with an ethernet port is preferred over a wireless one.
Number of Antenna
WiFi extenders have a various number of antennas depending upon price. Generally, as the number of antennas increases then the range of WiFi extender also increases so it is preferred to have one with more antenna.
Antennas on the WiFi extender are either internal or external. Generally, WiFi extenders with more antennas are preferred.
Now as you have gone through all the key points about WiFi extenders, we can safely say that you can easily pick the best WiFi Extender depending on your requirements. After setting up a WiFi Extender you will overcome your issues of slow speed and get high-speed internet in all corners of your home. Happy Surfing.
See Related: How to Convert Jio Fiber Router into an Extender
Really helpful
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