Weird networking issue resolved without understanding problem!

ne0rmatrix · May 17, 2015

Ok I play World Of Warcraft and had a real annoying problem that occurred after changing from ISP's from Telus to Delta Cable. When i plugged in my router and connected by Wifi i had issues where the game would not let me click on anything and the game was completely unresponsive.

I ended up connecting up a wireless extender which i had connected upstairs before when sharing the internet with my landlord. Now if i connect directly to the router using wifi i cannot play game and it is unresponsive to user input in any way. I Tried port forwarding and opening firewall etc to no avail.

I am using a Linksys router ac 1750 from ncix. Its the 6500 model and it works great for AC Wireless. I have a D-link extender that gives me 1200 AC and it also works like a charm. I for the life of me cannot figure out how the extender is fixing the issue.

I am not a total nube when it comes to networking but i am far from understanding the nuances of how IT infrastructure works at a detailed level. I know enough to forward ports and know what NAT is but i cannot understand how an extender is fixing my nat issues with a remote server. Is it using upnp to open ports? Or am I just totally clueless? Cause i would think my pc would do that too? Or am i fishing in the wrong pond with that idea?