WiFi Range Extender Lag

[Arclight]

My gaming PC is barely able to reach the wifi signal. I am able to stream and do everything fine except playing games. My ping during gaming only spikes every few seconds. Speedtest.net doesn't show any change.

 

So I am considering getting a wifi range extender. What sort of extra lag can I expect to add on to regular ping?

[Roawoao]

http://superuser.com/questions/237636/powerline-network-adapters-vs-wireless-range-extender

 

I'd recommend just using a ethernet cable instead if possible. A wifi extender may actually decrease latency if your signal is very bad but this means the extender needs a clean signal to both your AP and PC otherwise latency and reliability would be worse. Extenders in general are pretty crappy and results may vary wildly. It technically adds some latency but then again poor wifi will have bad latency to start with so it might overall improve.

 

I used lan cable drapped around my house for years and just put it into the walls much later.

[LittleCarrot]

I had a powerline, It didn't work well. I got this one (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AWRUICG?keywords=tp%20link&qid=1455861900&ref_=sr_1_6&s=pc&sr=1-6) my wifi speed is 180 Mbps, it limited me to less than half around 30- 50

[ReesZRB]

17 minutes ago, Arclight said:

My gaming PC is barely able to reach the wifi signal. I am able to stream and do everything fine except playing games. My ping during gaming only spikes every few seconds. Speedtest.net doesn't show any change.

 

So I am considering getting a wifi range extender. What sort of extra lag can I expect to add on to regular ping?

Slight teleportation back? Can't move for few ms?

 

I would say get a 300MBPS Dual Band WiFi Adapter. Unless the other half of your house doesn't have net then get the Extender

[Roawoao]

8 minutes ago, LittleCarrot said:

I had a powerline, It didn't work well. I got this one (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AWRUICG?keywords=tp%20link&qid=1455861900&ref_=sr_1_6&s=pc&sr=1-6) my wifi speed is 180 Mbps, it limited me to less than half around 30- 50

Power line and extenders all don't work very well and the results vary wildly especially for powerline adapters because it is dependent on how your house is wired. Long ago my solution was a 100ft ethernet cable which provided coverage for the whole house and backyard. Now there is 1000ft+ of cable up in the roof/walls. (All that cat6 cable alone only cost ~$100 from monoprice)

[Roawoao]

2 minutes ago, ReesZRB said:

Slight teleportation back? Can't move for few ms?

 

I would say get a 300MBPS Dual Band WiFi Adapter. Unless the other half of your house doesn't have net then get the Extender

Directional antennas may also help if your PC is stationary.

[ReesZRB]

1 minute ago, Roawoao said:

Directional antennas may also help if your PC is stationary.

http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WN8200ND-Wireless-detachable-antennas/dp/B00A8GVNNY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1455862502&sr=8-1&keywords=tp+link+tl+wn8200nd.

[Roawoao]

2 minutes ago, ReesZRB said:

http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WN8200ND-Wireless-detachable-antennas/dp/B00A8GVNNY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1455862502&sr=8-1&keywords=tp+link+tl+wn8200nd.

Provided his PC doesn't already have detachable antenna. You would still need to buy directional patch antennas to replace the onmidirectional rubber duck antennas that come default with that adapter. But you can also just use a long usb cable to try and position the adapter for a better signal first before trying directional antennas.

 

Also remember that the onmi-directional antennas are only this in one plane which basically means the bulk of the signal is going to be around the middle of the antenna so if you tilt the antenna(s) you may get a different signal strength. Higher db omni antennas have a tighter disc which means if your router/adapter are on different elevations it might cause problems if your say directly below/above the AP. (ideal would be both at the exact same height)

 

 

Patch panel (look like little squares) antennas generate a cone like pattern and you just point it in the general direction of the AP to get a better signal. Best is if both ends have directional antennas then you can get much stronger signals (but much less coverage).

 

 

If you goto something like a dish or other high gain directional antennas then at far distances you will need very good alignment.

[ReesZRB]

Just now, Roawoao said:

-snip-

Indeed, although I run this same adapter. The router is like 15-20m for my room, going through like 4-5 walls, and I still get decent signal

[Roawoao]

External removable antennas are always preferable to internal ones if you want better signal. Also you can change them if you want later for other situations. I wonder what happens if you re-purposed a tv coax line and just connected a wifi router to that and then plugged the other end into a usb removable antenna adapter. Obviously you need to disconnect the cable service line and any TVs otherwise bad things will happen. (I cancelled cable quite a long time ago so I have some dead coax in the walls)