Wifi Extender

[x4HACKER4x]

I was just wondering if anyone could help me out. I was looking to put a PC in my room far away from my router. Instead of running a a very long Ethernet cord from my router up the stairs to my PC I was going to get a WiFi extender. Problem is I have no clue what to look for in a WiFi extender and I have one standing question. As you know wired connection is better than using WIFI but if I run a wired connection from a WiFi extender will my PC run on a WiFi grade of internet or a wired grade as if I was connecting to my router?

[Sousuke]

The weakest link in that will be WifI Connection between the WiFi extender and the Router. 

 

I use a WiFi Extender in my bedroom for 1 thing and thats my phone/laptop, everything else is wired, I'd actually rather have a long ethernet cable rather than relying on a WiFi Connection which is what I've actually done for around 5-6 years with no issues.

[MrBucket101]

@x4HACKER4x I think an access point might be more beneficial to you. They negate the weak link described above because you wire them to the primary device. Run a cable to the middle of your home then setup the access point there, or somewhere else convenient.

Most routers can be turned into an access point though.

Instead of using the WAN port, use port 1, disable the built-in DHCP server, and set a static IP address on the access point

Or if you get a nice enough router, the web config will have options to enable or disable it...my E4200 has this and it was really easy to setup. If your router supports this in the config read the manual. My E4200 requires me to use the WAN port when it's in access point mode.

[xmx1024]

Since your traffic will be making two hops, your extended wifi network will be exactly half the speed of your main wifi network.

 

 

I use a Dlink DAP 1320. Get something else, this one is terrible

[darth_bubbles]

Or you can avoid wireless and use a powerline adapter! Run the internet through your electricity lines.

[x4HACKER4x]

Thanks for the tips! Would any of you recommend a product that works best or should I really just stick to an Ethernet cable that is 50+ feet long?

[dragoon20005]

Thanks for the tips! Would any of you recommend a product that works best or should I really just stick to an Ethernet cable that is 50+ feet long?

no issues with long ethernet cables

 

I have a line from my living room to my master bedroom which is more than 50 ft and it runs pretty well

[x4HACKER4x]

no issues with long ethernet cables

 

I have a line from my living room to my master bedroom which is more than 50 ft and it runs pretty well

Guess I could do that. I was just looking for other options. But like you said nothing wrong with long Ethernet Cables.

[dragoon20005]

Guess I could do that. I was just looking for other options. But like you said nothing wrong with long Ethernet Cables.

yes see if you can find at least Cat5e and above UTP cables

[skywake]

Browsing around smallnetbuilders' benchmarks the best performing wireless range extender, AC1200 class BTW, provided a fairly stable 80Mbps. But these guys are getting pretty clever with how they do it now. They'll make it so that one band is running as "backhaul" and the second band is used for connecting clients. So they're basically using one of the bands in the same way that you would have usually run used Ethernet (or powerline) when running to an access point. 

 

It's worth remembering though that most of these extenders will only give you ~30Mbps or so and a lot of them have an unreliable signal. Compare that to a decent access point at the same price that can do 250Mbps or so if you have the right client. Or powerline that can do 40Mbps for the cheapest ones upto ~150Mbps. Extenders are definitely better than they used to be but they still don't really make much sense.