A wired question.

[Krofter]

I have  laptop and there is WiFi in my home. I don't know if this is a valid doubt or not, but :-
Which type of connection id better?

Laptop directly connecting to WiFi?
or
Laptop connected (using cable) to a WiFi Repeater (which is connected to the WiFi mentioned above)?
Is there a difference at all? Or am i just wasting the money for the repeater? If there is a difference, which is better and why?

[Moonzy]

i tend to just use wifi if it's stable enough

the only reason people dont like wifi is mostly due to the instability of it

but i've been using it for years and never had any issues with it, mainly because my wifi hub is only one wall away

[HawkJ]

Hey, 

 

Well, there is definitely a difference. Especially when it comes to WiFi, there are many variables that make up that difference. Signal strength, 2.4/5/6, Electrical Interferences, Other APs running on the same channel etc. 

 

It all depends. Keep in mind a repeater does help extend the signal but it also adds another hop. And moreover, the signal between the repeater and the main AP is also another thing to watch out for.
 

To best utilize the repeater setup, it’s best to use the below setups

 

1. Main AP ——5Ghz(Good/Excellent signal)—— Repeater——5Ghz—— Devices

2. Main AP ——Wired——Repeater——5Ghz——Devices

 

5Ghz is really sensitive to signal strength and the speed decreases drastically as you add more walls or thickness. 

[Jae Tee]

This to me is a case of trial and error. Try out your opinions, take some tests, and be mindful that sometimes less latency is better than higher speeds. 

[Krofter]

3 hours ago, Moonzy said:

i tend to just use wifi if it's stable enough

the only reason people dont like wifi is mostly due to the instability of it

but i've been using it for years and never had any issues with it, mainly because my wifi hub is only one wall away

Mine too, but when i do speed test over wifi vs speed test in cable, there is a noticeable difference.

[Krofter]

3 hours ago, HawkJ said:

Hey, 

 

Well, there is definitely a difference. Especially when it comes to WiFi, there are many variables that make up that difference. Signal strength, 2.4/5/6, Electrical Interferences, Other APs running on the same channel etc. 

 

It all depends. Keep in mind a repeater does help extend the signal but it also adds another hop. And moreover, the signal between the repeater and the main AP is also another thing to watch out for.
 

To best utilize the repeater setup, it’s best to use the below setups

 

1. Main AP ——5Ghz(Good/Excellent signal)—— Repeater——5Ghz—— Devices

2. Main AP ——Wired——Repeater——5Ghz——Devices

 

5Ghz is really sensitive to signal strength and the speed decreases drastically as you add more walls or thickness. 

But i am connected wired to the repeater, cuz i dont have the length to connect wired to the main router, but the signal of main router is getting here. That's the reason behind this question. Should i connect to main router wirelessly, or keep using wired to the repeater.

[Krofter]

2 hours ago, Jae Tee said:

This to me is a case of trial and error. Try out your opinions, take some tests, and be mindful that sometimes less latency is better than higher speeds. 

How to measure wifi latency? 

[Moonzy]

8 minutes ago, Krofter said:

Mine too, but when i do speed test over wifi vs speed test in cable, there is a noticeable difference.

what are the speeds like?

[Moonzy]

4 minutes ago, Krofter said:

How to measure wifi latency? 

u can do a ping test to your router with command prompt

[HawkJ]

9 minutes ago, Krofter said:

But i am connected wired to the repeater, cuz i dont have the length to connect wired to the main router, but the signal of main router is getting here. That's the reason behind this question. Should i connect to main router wirelessly, or keep using wired to the repeater.

If the signal between the main AP and the repeater is really good and on 5GHz then the current setup is good. You could just run a normal speed test using Speedtest.net and see the difference between both. 

[Jae Tee]

8 hours ago, Krofter said:

How to measure wifi latency? 

Do a simple google speed test, or something like ookla. It measures latency in ms.

[Krofter]

19 hours ago, Moonzy said:

what are the speeds like?

HI, sorry for being late

These are the speeds.
1. With LAN cable to my repeater.(image 1)

2. With WiFi to my original router (image 2)

P.S. : When my lap heats up, especially during gaming, the WiFi signal gets far worse than this.!! And if you see closely, you ca see that WiFi takes too much time to settle at high speeds, while the LAN connection gets up to the speed very quickly.
 

[Moonzy]

2 hours ago, Krofter said:

With WiFi to my original router (image 2)

if u move closer to the router (like 3-5 meters away with 0-1 walls in between), does the speed improve?

 

it seems like something is wrong

1) your laptop is not powerful enough to transmit the returning signal

2) your laptop's antenna isnt plugged in right

[Krofter]

6 hours ago, Moonzy said:

if u move closer to the router (like 3-5 meters away with 0-1 walls in between), does the speed improve?

 

it seems like something is wrong

1) your laptop is not powerful enough to transmit the returning signal

2) your laptop's antenna isnt plugged in right

i am literally 1 wall and about 4m away from it. But in mobile, i am getting way better signal, still less than LAN, but better than this test image.

[Moonzy]

2 minutes ago, Krofter said:

i am literally 1 wall and about 4m away from it. But in mobile, i am getting way better signal, still less than LAN, but better than this test image.

hmm...

On 7/19/2020 at 12:24 PM, HawkJ said:

Main AP ——5Ghz(Good/Excellent signal)—— Repeater——5Ghz—— Devices

this should be better, make sure the repeater is between u and the main AP

[Krofter]

23 hours ago, Moonzy said:

hmm...

this should be better, make sure the repeater is between u and the main AP

It is. I am not using the wifi of the repeater. At this point, i am using my repeater as a giant wifi card

[Moonzy]

3 minutes ago, Krofter said:

It is. I am not using the wifi of the repeater. At this point, i am using my repeater as a giant wifi card

you could try using wifi, it should be that much different from connecting it with a cable

personally prefer if my laptop have less cables attached, especially if u move it a lot

 

hows the speed on the setup tho, with repeater

 

part of me suspects that something is wrong with your upload speed, might be loose antenna

[Krofter]

3 hours ago, Moonzy said:

you could try using wifi, it should be that much different from connecting it with a cable

personally prefer if my laptop have less cables attached, especially if u move it a lot

 

hows the speed on the setup tho, with repeater

 

part of me suspects that something is wrong with your upload speed, might be loose antenna

I think so too. But i am finding the LAN connection to repeater far more faster than direct WiFi to either the repeater or the main router.

I am not moving the lap much so, that's not an issue

Especially when i game, sometimes the WiFi randomly disconnects (heating problem?)

Laptop-------(cable)------repeater : : : : : : : main router-------(cable)-------modem.

This is my connection now 

[Moonzy]

28 minutes ago, Krofter said:

sometimes the WiFi randomly disconnects

sounds like a hardware problem, is the laptop still under warranty?

[Krofter]

9 hours ago, Moonzy said:

sounds like a hardware problem, is the laptop still under warranty?

I am afraid not.

[Moonzy]

2 hours ago, Krofter said:

I am afraid not.

are you comfortable with opening up your laptop?

could give the wireless card a look

[Krofter]

On 7/22/2020 at 11:23 AM, Moonzy said:

are you comfortable with opening up your laptop?

could give the wireless card a look

hmm..........not a bad option..........