Extended area of wifi extender makes the 'original' area slower

[ShunTune]

So this happened a while a ago but I never really bothered to ask until now.

I bought a Wifi extender for the basement as the connection is really poor with the router being upstairs + thick walls. Setting it up was quite easy but after using it for a few minutes I noticed that the internet isnt as fast as it was before. Afterwards I used the speedtest app on my phone to get a roughly estimate of the internet speed just to see if there really is a difference, and there was!

 

Area A: The range of the router wifi.

Area B: The range the wifi extender created/extended.

 

Whenever the wifi extender was plugged in, the internet speed in B was much faster and A was really slow. If it's not plugged in A had it's 'original' speed back. I'm pretty sure thats not the purpose of a wifi extender so is there anything I can do by accessing my router via web or etc.? I still have a TP-Link Wireless N Access Point TL-WA801ND if its of any use in order to extend the wifi.

 

Wifi Repeater: http://www.tp-link.us/products/details/TL-WA850RE.html

Access Point: http://www.bootic.com/tp-link/electronics/networking/bridges-and-routers/tp-link-tl-wa801nd

[W-L]

3 minutes ago, ShunTune said:

-SNIP-

Welcome to the Forums!

 

That isn't an uncommon issue, as you are adding extra load to the main router with the extender since it acts as a wireless device, but you will also find that most extenders halve the speed of your connection when a device is connected to it. If you want to prevent that your best option would be to look into installing an AP instead of an extender. 

[mcraftax]

The extender has to relay the traffic it is getting to the router ap. This takes up bandwidth on the router ap, thus lowing other connections speed.

[ShunTune]

2 minutes ago, W-L said:

Welcome to the Forums!

 

That isn't an uncommon issue, as you are adding extra load to the main router with the extender since it acts as a wireless device, but you will also find that most extenders halve the speed of your connection when a device is connected to it. If you want to prevent that your best option would be to look into installing an AP instead of an extender. 

Oh my bad, I always thought Wifi extenders would simply increase the range of the wifi without slowing down the connection. Is the AP also going to slow down the speed significantly or just slightly? If possible I dont want the speed in Area A to slow down at all

[dalekphalm]

6 minutes ago, ShunTune said:

Oh my bad, I always thought Wifi extenders would simply increase the range of the wifi without slowing down the connection. Is the AP also going to slow down the speed significantly or just slightly? If possible I dont want the speed in Area A to slow down at all

Getting an actual AP, and linking it to your original router via Ethernet will not slow down your Wireless traffic at all, unless there is interference between the two of them (There shouldn't be, unless your area has a high WIFI pollution rate).

[W-L]

7 minutes ago, ShunTune said:

Oh my bad, I always thought Wifi extenders would simply increase the range of the wifi without slowing down the connection. Is the AP also going to slow down the speed significantly or just slightly? If possible I dont want the speed in Area A to slow down at all

As mentioned AP's don't affect the wireless speed of the original router directly as they require an ethernet connection to the AP.

[Mark77]

Basically if you understand antenna theory, if you want more gain in EIRP, you sacrifice directionality.  In extreme cases, with extreme gain antennas (sometimes called "dishes"), the directionality is extreme, but gain is very large.

 

This is how 802.11 can be used to set up links that are 10's of kms/miles long in some circumstances, yet it can be hard to even access your neighbour's wireless.  High gain antennas precisely tuned and aimed at each other, versus low gain non-directional antennas but very little gain. 

[ShunTune]

8 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

 

8 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

8 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

 

Getting an actual AP, and linking it to your original router via Ethernet will not slow down your Wireless traffic at all, unless there is interference between the two of them (There shouldn't be, unless your area has a high WIFI pollution rate).

 

So did I understand it correctly that I set up an AP via Ethernet cable near my current router and it will increase the wifi range throughout the entire house without slowing down the speed? I thought the AP would be in my basement but if I have to connect it via Ethernet theres no way I could do that

[dalekphalm]

3 minutes ago, ShunTune said:

 

So did I understand it correctly that I set up an AP via Ethernet cable near my current router and it will increase the wifi range throughout the entire house without slowing down the speed? I thought the AP would be in my basement but if I have to connect it via Ethernet theres no way I could do that

Well the AP needs to be wherever you need the WIFI zone extended. If you put the AP right beside your current router, you won't really see a range increase.

 

You have to deal with the drawbacks of one vs the other:

 

Use a Range Extender and have shit performance over the entire network, or

Use an AP via Ethernet, and have a long-ass ethernet cable running across your house.

[ShunTune]

1 minute ago, dalekphalm said:

Well the AP needs to be wherever you need the WIFI zone extended. If you put the AP right beside your current router, you won't really see a range increase.

 

You have to deal with the drawbacks of one vs the other:

 

Use a Range Extender and have shit performance over the entire network, or

Use an AP via Ethernet, and have a long-ass ethernet cable running across your house.

Well that makes the decision pretty easy now. Both aren't great for me so I'll keep the wifi range as it is right now without changing anything.

There was only one spot in front of the TV I would have liked to cover and increasing the signal in general as I mostly had one bar except in the kitchen which is right below the router. 

 

Thanks for the help you two!

[W-L]

4 minutes ago, ShunTune said:

Well that makes the decision pretty easy now. Both aren't great for me so I'll keep the wifi range as it is right now without changing anything.

There was only one spot in front of the TV I would have liked to cover and increasing the signal in general as I mostly had one bar except in the kitchen which is right below the router. 

Thanks for the help you two!

This option is a bit of a compromise, it's a powerline ethernet but it also gives you a wireless AP, as long as the wiring in your home isn't too old or has a very long run it should be fairly effective without the issues you had with the extender or having to physically run cable.

https://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Extender-Powerline-Wireless-TL-WPA4220KIT/dp/B00HSQAIQU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1468013727&sr=8-2

[ShunTune]

2 minutes ago, W-L said:

This option is a bit of a compromise, it's a powerline ethernet but it also gives you a wireless AP, as long as the wiring in your home isn't too old or has a very long run it should be fairly effective without the issues you had with the extender or having to physically run cable.

https://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Extender-Powerline-Wireless-TL-WPA4220KIT/dp/B00HSQAIQU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1468013727&sr=8-2

I'm actually already using Powerline for my PC and PS4 right now. The Powerline Ethernet you linked is the same concept as the one I'm currently using with the additional benefit of having an AP? If so that would be great I just have to find one with a built in power socket like the Powerline I'm using

[Peepnbrick]

5 minutes ago, ShunTune said:

I'm actually already using Powerline for my PC and PS4 right now. The Powerline Ethernet you linked is the same concept as the one I'm currently using with the additional benefit of having an AP? If so that would be great I just have to find one with a built in power socket like the Powerline I'm using

I can attest to the fact that this works, at least with my house. I did some tests, and over the PowerLine, the AP provides bitrates just slightly lower than the main router, not very noticeable. 

 

I'll just add, I am using my previous router as the AP. 

[ShunTune]

7 minutes ago, Peepnbrick said:

I can attest to the fact that this works, at least with my house. I did some tests, and over the PowerLine, the AP provides bitrates just slightly lower than the main router, not very noticeable. 

 

I'll just add, I am using my previous router as the AP. 

Thanks, if the speed difference isnt noticeable thats the perfect option for me

[W-L]

40 minutes ago, ShunTune said:

I'm actually already using Powerline for my PC and PS4 right now. The Powerline Ethernet you linked is the same concept as the one I'm currently using with the additional benefit of having an AP? If so that would be great I just have to find one with a built in power socket like the Powerline I'm using

You can use an AP or old router to use as an access point from the powerline connection as the main run from the main router to the area you need it to be in or for example get an addon unit like this which has a built in wireless AP.

https://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Extender-Powerline-300Mbps-TL-WPA4220/dp/B00LEFYTMK/ref=pd_sim_147_4?ie=UTF8&dpID=31Twmjf9TPL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=J2777VAE658CQ32ZAMZ3

[ShunTune]

28 minutes ago, W-L said:

You can use an AP or old router to use as an access point from the powerline connection as the main run from the main router to the area you need it to be in or for example get an addon unit like this which has a built in wireless AP.

https://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Extender-Powerline-300Mbps-TL-WPA4220/dp/B00LEFYTMK/ref=pd_sim_147_4?ie=UTF8&dpID=31Twmjf9TPL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=J2777VAE658CQ32ZAMZ3

I assume any TP-Link Powerline Extender works in my current Powerline circuit?

[W-L]

24 minutes ago, ShunTune said:

I assume any TP-Link Powerline Extender works in my current Powerline circuit?

Believe it should be compatible but I would look into that first just to make sure it works with the current setup you have.