Best Way to Extend my Wireless Range?

Here's an excerpt from a cNet article: http://www.cnet.com/topics/networking/buying-guide/

How to find the best Wi-Fi extender? A Wi-Fi extender is the second-best way to extend your Wi-Fi network, mostly because it's very convenient. Basically, it's a device that you place between the original Wi-Fi router and the client that's currently just a little too far out of range, and it will bridge the two. There's no wiring involved. However, there are a few things that you need to consider when getting a range extender for them to work effectively.

First, the extender needs to be the same standard as the original Wi-Fi network or better. For example, if you have a dual-band router that offers up to 450Mbps (three-stream) Wi-Fi speed, then you need to get an extender that also supports this Wi-Fi standard. Note that generally an extender only extends one frequency band at a time, so you might need two separate extenders to extend both the 2.4GHz and the 5GHz bands in a dual-band network. Getting a range extender that supports an older or slower standard will affect not only the data speed but also the coverage of the extended Wi-Fi network, hence defeating the purpose of the extender itself. Getting an extender that supports a newer or faster Wi-Fi standard doesn't hurt, but won't give you the most bang for your buck.

Secondly, it's imperative to find the sweet spot to place the extender. This is the spot where the signal of the original Wi-Fi network is just about to wane. You can find this place by moving away from the original Wi-Fi network slowly and finding the farthest spot where you still receive full bars of Wi-Fi reception. Too close, the extender becomes less effective and even creates interference that adversely affects the original network. Too far, and there's not much signal for it to extend. For this reason, in most cases, a combination of a power line adapter kit and an access point, or a combined kit such as the Netgear XAVNB2001, makes a much better alternative to a range extender.

Finally, the best extender to get is the one that's made by the same vendor as the Wi-Fi router that you're using (and happy with). Again, pick one that supports the same Wi-Fi standard. Getting an extender from a different vendor works, too, but it might be a little hard to set up, if you're a novice user. For more on how to best set up your network, check out this post on how to optimize your Wi-Fi at home.