Wifi extender is slower than router

[rkunati]

Hello,

 

I got an old wifi extender from my family made by TP Link (RE315). The set up went fine, but the speeds are really slow. With just the router, my download speeds are 260 Mbps, however with the extender, my speeds are 10 Mbps. I was wondering if I am doing something wrong. Because I don't get why my speeds are so much slower with an extender.

 

With my Extender:

 

With my router:

[Blue4130]

6 minutes ago, rkunati said:

Hello,

 

I got an old wifi extender from my family made by TP Link (RE315). The set up went fine, but the speeds are really slow. With just the router, my download speeds are 260 Mbps, however with the extender, my speeds are 10 Mbps. I was wondering if I am doing something wrong. Because I don't get why my speeds are so much slower with an extender.

 

With my Extender:

 

 

With my router:

 

Do you have it hardwired into the router or are you using it wirelessly connected to the router? If you are using it wirelessly, than all it will do is take an already weak signal and make extend further. If you want it to transmit a decent signal, you need to use it in wired mode.

[Bdavis]

Is your extender wired or wireless? What speed is your extender rated for?

 

If it's a wireless extender it usually you sacrifice speed for distance as it's taking your routers WiFi signal and then rebroadcasting it.

 

If the repeater is old it might not support modern wifi standards and would be limited in it's speed capability.

[saintlouisbagels]

Extenders can only ever be half the speed of the router in an ideal world. In practice it is far slower depending on the distance from the source and the distance of the device you're aiming for.

 

Ideally, you want to connect the extender to the router, and then bring it as close as you can to the receiving devices.

[rkunati]

10 hours ago, Blue4130 said:

Do you have it hardwired into the router or are you using it wirelessly connected to the router? If you are using it wirelessly, than all it will do is take an already weak signal and make extend further. If you want it to transmit a decent signal, you need to use it in wired mode.

I am using it wirelessly as I have no ethernet ports on the second level of the house.

[rkunati]

10 hours ago, Bdavis said:

Is your extender wired or wireless? What speed is your extender rated for?

 

If it's a wireless extender it usually you sacrifice speed for distance as it's taking your routers WiFi signal and then rebroadcasting it.

 

If the repeater is old it might not support modern wifi standards and would be limited in it's speed capability.

The extender is wireless, and it is rated for 2.4 GHz (300 Mbps) and 5 GHz (867 Mbps).

[rkunati]

10 hours ago, saintlouisbagels said:

Extenders can only ever be half the speed of the router in an ideal world. In practice it is far slower depending on the distance from the source and the distance of the device you're aiming for.

 

Ideally, you want to connect the extender to the router, and then bring it as close as you can to the receiving devices.

Is there such a thing as wifi amplifiers then? Would something like a single booster work?

[saintlouisbagels]

2 hours ago, rkunati said:

Is there such a thing as wifi amplifiers then? Would something like a single booster work?

2 hours ago, rkunati said:

I am using it wirelessly as I have no ethernet ports on the second level of the house.

Is the router you're using from the service provider, or is it your personal device?

If it's the service provider's router, then you should buy your own router.

https://www.rtings.com/router/reviews/best/long-range

https://www.rtings.com/router/reviews/tp-link/archer-ax4400

 

Personally,

You should try to purchase a 2-pack or 3-pack mesh Wi-Fi routers. Amazon's Prime Day is coming soon so there should be a lot of deals coming up.

https://www.rtings.com/router/reviews/tp-link/deco-x5000

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CH5J2K3X/

 

This way, you can have 1 router in the current room. 1 node wireless in the room directly above. And maybe you can keep another node on the 1st floor, but you can buy a super long ethernet cable and place this node in the room directly below the room with the devices you need wirelessly connected to?

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=44504&srsltid=AfmBOoonOA0nRI5ktxO0D7hVUyNmjQJ5trWV_8DStAdhHjfqs3XTOC4d

[Donut417]

22 hours ago, rkunati said:

however with the extender, my speeds are 10 Mbps. I was wondering if I am doing something wrong. Because I don't get why my speeds are so much slower with an extender.

 

By design extenders will cut your bandwidth in half in the best case senirio. The problem is, most people put extenders on the edge of WiFi coverage areas. WiFi is designed to prioritize connection reliability over speed. So the further you get from the router, the slower the speed will be to keep the connection stable. 

 

So basically if you "Extend" a weak WiFi signal it's going to make a slow connection even slower. 

 

Your best option probably would be to look in to a Mesh system. OR if you have Coax near the current router and near where the extender is you can look in to Moca. BUT the Mesh system likely would be easier over all.