[SOLVED] Wi-Fi Range Extender A Worthwhile Purchase?

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u.umar_malik

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https://imgur.com/a/GbgbZDY

I'm connected to 5G on a 120mbps plan and with an average 2-3 bars I'm managing to get a decent connection, but it does stutter a bit in games and it's not as 'buttery' as I'd hope.. The router is on the ground floor of our house and my PC is on the second floor on the opposite side of the building.

Would a Wi-Fi extender be a good fix to get a better signal into my room or would it be a redundant waste?

MoBo
 
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It would be best not to run 2 powerline networks in the house. They in theory can form a single network between brands. Running 2 separate networks runs the risk of them interfering.

Can you plug your PC in the same powerline unit that the Ps4 is using...say if you add a switch. If it is in a different room then it is not a option i guess.

Unfortunately the best option is likely going to be to buy a third dlink av500 unit. It "should" work fine. There should be more than enough bandwidth.

It is just too bad you spend more money on old tech. The newer av2 models like the one you link are much better. TPLINK Has pretty much stopped selling their av500 model replacing it with av2-600 for the same price. I suppose it is...
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Kashimi

Kashimi

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I purchased a Netgear Nighthawk and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. It certainly made a huge difference and now gives me full bars of WiFi while in my bedroom which previous to using it, I was lucky if it was 1 bar.
 
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u.umar_malik

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https://imgur.com/a/0zSlL2i

There aren't any coax inputs and that's how we're getting our internet
 
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u.umar_malik

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I can plug it in with ethernet no problem!

Is it worth the investment though? Like with the speed I'm getting in the image do you think I'd be seeing a noticeable difference? I get it's all situational but I like opinions lol
 
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Kashimi

Kashimi

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The better your signal, the faster your speed will be no doubt about it.

https://theruckusroom.ruckuswireless.com/wired-wireless/wifi-101/understanding-wi-fi-signal-strength-vs-wi-fi-speed/

Eventually you will hit a max speed once you reach a certain signal strength but you're talking the difference between 2-3 bars out of 5 so essentially you're averaging only half signal. You still have room to increase.

You can test this out yourself to see the difference. Go to your room with the reduced signal and run a speed test. Then get your phone a bit close and give yourself almost full signal and try it again. You'll see if the numbers make a difference.

If you go to post screenshots, I'm at work and can only see screenshots from prntscrn
 
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u.umar_malik

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I have no idea how to insert a prntscrn on here so I'll give you this link for when you're not at work xD

https://imgur.com/a/L5DPkO7

Basically in my room my S9 is struggling to catch 1 bar of the 5Ghz band, but my PC's MoBo came with an external antenna so I guess that's why it's at least getting SOME connection. I went downstairs and stood beside my router with my phone and my speed was phenomenal =D!

Does that mean getting an extender for the 5G band is worth it? It looks like it to me..

 
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bill001g

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I would always look at a wifi extender as a last option. You may get more signal strength but it is at the cost of bandwidth. A extender/repeater will cut the bandwidth by at least half and most times much more. To even hope to get it to work it must be placed in a location that gets good signal from the router and can still transmit the repeated signal to the final device. It does not work to place it in the same room as your pc that gets poor signal. It will receive the bad signal and make it even worse.....even though you now get maximum bars. It all depends on the house, you can do little if it is the ceilings or the floors blocking it, you can't put the repeater on both sides at the same time.

Wifi is the worst possible choice for games. It is subject to interference which causes random spikes in the latency. When you use a repeater you now add a second wifi signal. Both signals are now subject to interference and the repeater itself because of how it works is transmitting on the same radio band as the main router.

For games it will be much better to just buy poweline network devices and not use wifi to get to the router. The av2 based technology works well in most houses. It tends to have much more stable latency than wifi.
 
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u.umar_malik

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That's wayyy too overkill for me
 
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Kashimi

Kashimi

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That looks solid to me.

The other guy is right that using an extender will potentially cause bandwidth spikes, but I don't have an issue with mine affecting me. I can stream youtube and netflix just fine from my bed room using my range extender.
 
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u.umar_malik

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My brother got a powerline adapter earlier today for his PS4. We tested it on my PC first and my speeds were still mediocre... I could test the setup again in the morning if you have any suggestions for how I can optimally set it up!

Upd: He got this specifically
 
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bill001g

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Make sure it is the newer models. A av2-1200 is lot faster than the older av500 tech in most houses.

You have to be careful about what you want. Even a older av500 will play games better than most wifi. A game needs almost no bandwidth, many run less than 500kbps. What it needs very badly is consistent latency which many times is called jitter. With wifi the jitter will be fine and then all the sudden you get massive spikes. So just looking at what you download rates are is not really a valid test when your primary use is gaming.

If your primary use is bit torrent that application can tolerate massive packet loss and jitter. So a poor quality wifi may actually be able to put more raw data though because the application is not affected by the data retransmissions.
 
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u.umar_malik

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So for gaming which I do want a fast and consistent connection for, what adapter would you recommend? Could use your judgement!
 
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bill001g

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Explain why you need "fast" and what you really mean by that. A game will only use the bandwidth it needs if you have extra the game will not perform any better it will just not be used. Online game companies want as much money as possible so they make the games perform well for people that have say 3mbps DSL connection or the guy that has 1gbit google fiber. Both will get exactly the same performance. Only difference maybe when you download a big patch you have to wait a bit longer to start the game.

If you mean by "fast" the latency or ping times. That is more a function of distance. The powerline units...and even wifi when it does not have interference...will not delay the traffic much. The vast majority of the latency is due to the distance the signal must travel over the internet and that is many times a speed of light restriction.

You can search av2-1200 and you will get lots of hits. Tplink tends to be popular units. The exact models depend on the country you live in and if you want things like being able to use the outlet to plug something else in.
 
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u.umar_malik

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"If you mean by "fast" the latency or ping times." - Yeah that's that I meant, my terminology isn't that great :/

I'll check them out in the morning it's pretty late. Thanks for your help! =)
 
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u.umar_malik

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https://www.canadacomputers.com/search/product.php?cPath=27_1054_360&item_id=109325

I was looking at that, is that a good one?

Also this may sound like a dumb question but it my brother is running a D-Link AV500 already for his PS4, so would it be an issue if I plugged mine into the same outlet and into the router?
 
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bill001g

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It would be best not to run 2 powerline networks in the house. They in theory can form a single network between brands. Running 2 separate networks runs the risk of them interfering.

Can you plug your PC in the same powerline unit that the Ps4 is using...say if you add a switch. If it is in a different room then it is not a option i guess.

Unfortunately the best option is likely going to be to buy a third dlink av500 unit. It "should" work fine. There should be more than enough bandwidth.

It is just too bad you spend more money on old tech. The newer av2 models like the one you link are much better. TPLINK Has pretty much stopped selling their av500 model replacing it with av2-600 for the same price. I suppose it is always a option to buy 3 of the av2-1000 units.
 
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u.umar_malik

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My brother bought it not me xD

We could return it and both buy an AV2 model... that could be an option
 
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u.umar_malik

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My brother bought it not me xD

We could return it and both buy an AV2 model... that could be an option
 
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