Best Wifi range extenders for gaming / streaming

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
K

khell98

Prominent
Jan 16, 2018
3
0
510
Hey all,

So I moved into a new apartment not that long ago where I get free wifi via the landlords upstairs as part of the rent. They have Bell FibreOP and their router is located upstairs, in a completely separated living space from mine. The signal was weak however so I invested in a D-Link AC 1750 dual band wifi extender to extend the signal.

The problem is I frequently get slowdowns when I'm trying to stream games via the ps now service. Streaming videos on Netflix and Crunchyroll isnt too bad, but they see slowdowns and drops as well, albeit much less frequently.

I was wondering what are the best range extenders on the market right now for both streaming large file content and online gaming. I've been doing some reading and it looks like the Netgear nighthawk ex7000 extender is one of the better choices atm, but id like to get some input first before deciding. Budget isnt much of an issue.

 
Solution
V


If it's a three-stream router like the DIR-868L or DIR-880L, that might mean the link has been attenuated (by walls, ceilings, air) down to 64-QAM. You can probably get the link rate up to 1300 Mbps at 256-QAM by improving the receiver gain.

If you used something like the RNX-AC1900PCE/Archer T93 for a desktop, which is three-stream MIMO and can be found for $60, you could buy some 9 dBi or 12 dBi aftermarket antennas and get the RSSI up to -23 or -20 dBm. You can also find some Alfa USB adapters with upgradable antennas.

If you use the EX7000, the internal antennas have 2 dBi of gain, so while you'd be repeating the signal (which is what range extenders...
Sort by date Sort by votes
V

vmfantom

Notable
Nov 28, 2017
181
0
860


A range extender is not ideal if you care about latency and throughput. It'll cut throughput by 50% or more. Maybe you could invest in a set of higher gain antennas (9-12 dBi) for a wifi adapter and improve reception without reducing performance. Can you use Keuwlsoft's Wifi Analyser app to post the RSSI and link rate?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
V

vmfantom

Notable
Nov 28, 2017
181
0
860


If it's a three-stream router like the DIR-868L or DIR-880L, that might mean the link has been attenuated (by walls, ceilings, air) down to 64-QAM. You can probably get the link rate up to 1300 Mbps at 256-QAM by improving the receiver gain.

If you used something like the RNX-AC1900PCE/Archer T93 for a desktop, which is three-stream MIMO and can be found for $60, you could buy some 9 dBi or 12 dBi aftermarket antennas and get the RSSI up to -23 or -20 dBm. You can also find some Alfa USB adapters with upgradable antennas.

If you use the EX7000, the internal antennas have 2 dBi of gain, so while you'd be repeating the signal (which is what range extenders do), you wouldn't really be improving the signal strength at all since 2 dBi is usually around what laptops' wifi modules have to start with. And the RSSI needs to increase so you can get the highest MCS value and highest throughput.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
K

khell98

Prominent
Jan 16, 2018
3
0
510
That solution would be fine for getting a better connection on my tower (which is okay since its my main gaming setup), but I guess theres not much I can do for improving the connection to my ps4 outside of investing in my own wifi.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
V

vmfantom

Notable
Nov 28, 2017
181
0
860


Orbi's receiver gain somewhat decent for an extender, up to 7.8 dBi according to the test report. Or you could use a router in repeater mode and use aftermarket antennas with that. Or if the landlord's router has detachable antennas, you could see if they'd let you upgrade them.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom