Recommendations on Network Extenders/Access points?

[Percival2644]

So my house has 1 router, and everyone uses it, of course. I'm a huge gamer so I want the best wifi connection as possible, but that isn't possible sadly. I do have a small Netgear extender, but it is not as impactful as I thought it was, and "boosts" my wifi speeds up by very very tiny amounts. Also, our modem/router is in our basement, and I am on the second floor, or third floor if you count the basement. I've been doing some research and found that Access points might be the way to go, but I can't find any that work with what I want. Also, I know Wifi mesh extenders are a option, but I've seen the reviews and they last for about a week or so before dropping speeds, etc. Please recommend Access points or other extender types that are VERY WIRELESS, meaning I don't have to wire it to my router or modem, and that it has very good speeds and travels far.

Thank you!

[Senzelian]

Any wireless solution will suck over multiple floors.

Access points also require cables.

You can use "powerline" and run the signal over your electrical network, but the quality of the signal heavily depends on the wiring within your house.

 

I really suggest you run a cable, even if it's just to the first floor where you then install an access point.

[BecauseRussia]

The thing about wireless is that it is far from perfect and there can be any number of things that can be done to improve your experience.

 

First I would download a WiFi scanner app and see look and see what WiFi channels are being used around you. When you check to what channels are around you, run the scan in the room your gaming PC is in. Do this for the 2.4 and 5Ghz channels. For the 2.4 you want to be on channels 1, 6 or 11 as they do not share bandwidth with other channels. Depending on your environment this may be impossible, just get on the won that has the weakest signal strength. For the 5 just get it on an unused channel.

 

Secondly, you can try moving other devices to a different frequency. So for example move all devices other than your PC to the 2.4Ghz channel and then put your PC on the 5Ghz channel. This way it is not fighting other devices for airtime.

 

Third I would make sure that your router says that it was designed for your size home. Netgear routers tend to have a page that says what size home they are designed for. If your router is not strong enough to broadcast the signal to your room this could be causing you issues. IF your router is not strong enough for your house then you could either by a new router that is rated for your size home or you could get a standalone AP.

 

If you want a standalone AP I would go for one of the Ubiquity LR series models. Tom Lawrence has great videos on how to get started with Unifi.

 

 

[Falcon1986]

11 minutes ago, BecauseRussia said:

Third I would make sure that your router says that it was designed for your size home. Netgear routers tend to have a page that says what size home they are designed for. If your router is not strong enough to broadcast the signal to your room this could be causing you issues. IF your router is not strong enough for your house then you could either by a new router that is rated for your size home or you could get a standalone AP.

Hmmm... I agreed with what you said before but relying on what the box advertises is not a good idea. That’s just playing into the hands of the advertising.

 

No home is set up the same. My 2000sqft home might all be on 1 level; someone else’s might be divided into 2 levels with lots of walls and at least 1 floor. See the difference?

 

@Percival2644- At the end of the day, WiFi doesn’t broadcast well in the vertical direction. Having any wireless source all the way in the basement of a multi-level home is guaranteed to give you poor wireless performance. No wireless extender or range booster will help you out of that (they’re trash anyway!) and, while powerline might be a better alternative, that should be a last resort as electrical circuits can be very unreliable.

 

You can’t set up a wireless access point without a wired uplink to the primary router. It’s just how they’re designed. You can set up a wireless bridge, but again, that is going to use a wireless signal which we already established doesn’t do well in the vertical direction. As @Senzelian explained, you should ideally run ethernet from the basement router up to each level that you want to place an AP in if you can’t move the router.

 

If you can’t run ethernet and you have existing coaxial cable runs, consider MoCA.

[Percival2644]

18 minutes ago, Falcon1986 said:

Hmmm... I agreed with what you said before but relying on what the box advertises is not a good idea. That’s just playing into the hands of the advertising.

 

No home is set up the same. My 2000sqft home might all be on 1 level; someone else’s might be divided into 2 levels with lots of walls and at least 1 floor. See the difference?

 

@Percival2644- At the end of the day, WiFi doesn’t broadcast well in the vertical direction. Having any wireless source all the way in the basement of a multi-level home is guaranteed to give you poor wireless performance. No wireless extender or range booster will help you out of that (they’re trash anyway!) and, while powerline might be a better alternative, that should be a last resort as electrical circuits can be very unreliable.

 

You can’t set up a wireless access point without a wired uplink to the primary router. It’s just how they’re designed. You can set up a wireless bridge, but again, that is going to use a wireless signal which we already established doesn’t do well in the vertical direction. As @Senzelian explained, you should ideally run ethernet from the basement router up to each level that you want to place an AP in if you can’t move the router.

 

If you can’t run ethernet and you have existing coaxial cable runs, consider MoCA.

I can agree with both statements, but sadly I can't hard wire it as it is not possible with me right now, and I don't have any Coaxial cables either, but could I use a put a second router in my upstairs room and go off that wifi, and if so how and will it require anything (Hardwiring, etc.)? Also is having 2 routers a go idea or will that not benefit me what so ever?

[Falcon1986]

30 minutes ago, Percival2644 said:

could I use a put a second router in my upstairs room and go off that wifi, and if so how and will it require anything (Hardwiring, etc.)?

No. Whether it’s another wireless router or an AP, both will still need some form of wired uplink. Furthermore, you wouldn’t be using the wireless router in it’s stock router mode as you already have a device doing this in the basement.

 

What I mentioned before with a wireless bridge works similar to a range extender, so relies on a good WiFi signal in order to broadcast a good WiFi signal. Not all wireless routers have this feature. If 2 levels above the basement your WiFi is weak for the client, it will also be the same situation for a wireless bridge setup, not to mention even slower due to how it operates.

 

30 minutes ago, Percival2644 said:

Also is having 2 routers a go idea or will that not benefit me what so ever?

You’re going to run into NAT and DHCP problems if you have more than 1 router on the same LAN. What you need is either a dedicated wireless access point, which lacks router functionality (like a simple switch) but is directly linked to a primary router and allows wireless clients to access the network, or to convert an existing wireless router to a wireless access point. Unfortunately, if you can’t even wire in an AP, you can’t use an AP.

 

At this point you’re likely running out of options. If you absolutely can’t run ethernet, try looking into a mesh system. While a mesh is not as robust as a properly laid out AP network, it might at least improve what you already have. But that isn’t a promise. You’ll need quite a few mesh satellites to cover a large house, especially one with multiple levels. Unfortunately, you won’t know exactly how many you need until you start installing them.

[Percival2644]

32 minutes ago, Falcon1986 said:

No. Whether it’s another wireless router or an AP, both will still need some form of wired uplink. Furthermore, you wouldn’t be using the wireless router in it’s stock router mode as you already have a device doing this in the basement.

 

What I mentioned before with a wireless bridge works similar to a range extender, so relies on a good WiFi signal in order to broadcast a good WiFi signal. Not all wireless routers have this feature. If 2 levels above the basement your WiFi is weak for the client, it will also be the same situation for a wireless bridge setup, not to mention even slower due to how it operates.

 

You’re going to run into NAT and DHCP problems if you have more than 1 router on the same LAN. What you need is either a dedicated wireless access point, which lacks router functionality (like a simple switch) but is directly linked to a primary router and allows wireless clients to access the network, or to convert an existing wireless router to a wireless access point. Unfortunately, if you can’t even wire in an AP, you can’t use an AP.

 

At this point you’re likely running out of options. If you absolutely can’t run ethernet, try looking into a mesh system. While a mesh is not as robust as a properly laid out AP network, it might at least improve what you already have. But that isn’t a promise. You’ll need quite a few mesh satellites to cover a large house, especially one with multiple levels. Unfortunately, you won’t know exactly how many you need until you start installing them.

I see, thank you for this information. But even with mesh systems, The wifi will not be at it's maxed, all because of me being upstairs while the router is in the basement, correct? I wouldn't call the wifi good up where I am, but it is OK and I am able to game on it, so I think based on your info is a should just not spend time and money on stuff like this and put it somewhere else. Thank you very much!

[trag1c]

I have a fairly big home that is like 2300-2400 square feet for upper two floors that both have like 9ft ceilings as well as a developed basement. I was in a similar boat where running a cable wasn't practical. I ended up using slightly older wireless AC ASUS routers/switch that I had to act in wireless bridge mode with very positive results. It will never be as good as a wired access point but it is decent. So my setup is essentially a wireless router on each floor setup as a wireless bridge/extender.