Strong router vs. wifi range extender?

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jonstore

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Aug 13, 2014
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Hi guys, here's the dilemma I'm facing.

The crappy 2 in 1 wifi + modem TWC has seen fit for me does a terrible job at wifi. At some places in the house there's zero signal.

Now, the thing is: The cable outlets in the house are very few. (Old house.) Also we're renting so we can't put new ones there. Because of this, the current placement of the wifi modem is not good.

Here are my 2 options:

1. Get a wifi extender and put it somewhere so the whole house has OK wifi.
2. Get a powerful wifi router (like TP Link Archer C7?), connect it to the modem with a 100ft ethernet cable, and place the router somewhere more central in the house. The combination of the more powerful router + better placement should make a big difference.

What do you guys think? I'm leaning towards the second option.
 
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B
Be very careful there really is not such thing as a more powerful router. Almost every router on the market will transmit the maximum legal power and have been for many years. Most the improvements in routers are related to how much data they have managed to pack into the signal but the actual strength of the signal is exactly the same as when the rules came out many years ago. The key factor in how much signal you get in a house is more related to the walls and what they are made of more than any tiny differences between routers.

Unfortunately there is no way to predict how well a router will work in your house. This is why you see such mixed reviews on routers some say they have great coverage and other say they are horrible...
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bill001g

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Aug 9, 2012
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Be very careful there really is not such thing as a more powerful router. Almost every router on the market will transmit the maximum legal power and have been for many years. Most the improvements in routers are related to how much data they have managed to pack into the signal but the actual strength of the signal is exactly the same as when the rules came out many years ago. The key factor in how much signal you get in a house is more related to the walls and what they are made of more than any tiny differences between routers.

Unfortunately there is no way to predict how well a router will work in your house. This is why you see such mixed reviews on routers some say they have great coverage and other say they are horrible. What it really means is they work differently in different houses.

It is always best to have a centrally located wireless signal since it give you the best odds for good coverage. When that does not work you go to using 2 wireless devices to cover the house. In your case you would leave the modem/router with the wifi active for half the house and put a new router in the other end of the house. you would want to run the second router as a AP just to make things a little simpler. They key problem with this is getting a ethernet cable between them. If you can this design will give you excellent results. This is how huge office buildings are done they run many AP all back to a central location with wires.

If you have cable tv wire you also have the option to look at MoCA units or even powerline networks to use instead of the ethernet cable.
 
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