WiFi Booster

CloneFanInKC

Well-Known Member
Jul 26, 2021
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My home internet is provided by satellite and is not very good (rural area). There is only one other provider that I could consider switching to.

Q: Does anyone have any experience with a Wifi Booster/Extender? My early internet research hasn’t revealed any brands that are recommended to stay away from or suggest buying. Does CF have any experience with these?

TIA!
 
My home internet is provided by satellite and is not very good (rural area). There is only one other provider that I could consider switching to.

Q: Does anyone have any experience with a Wifi Booster/Extender? My early internet research hasn’t revealed any brands that are recommended to stay away from or suggest buying. Does CF have any experience with these?

TIA!
I just installed an Amazon eero. It made a huge difference. I have 200MB/200MB service but was only getting 20MB/20MB in spots with regular Wi-Fi. I’m consistently getting 150MB/150MB in any location in the house now.
 
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My home internet is provided by satellite and is not very good (rural area). There is only one other provider that I could consider switching to.

Q: Does anyone have any experience with a Wifi Booster/Extender? My early internet research hasn’t revealed any brands that are recommended to stay away from or suggest buying. Does CF have any experience with these?

TIA!
I used a Netgear extender for several years, modem was on main floor and daughters were having buffering issues when trying to stream shows in bedrooms upstairs. It did the trick. Recently switched to Linksys mesh system and it's great.

My question is, and I'm not that bright about these things, but if you're starting with a weak wireless signal to begin with, would an extender even matter? I would assume those are for when you have a strong signal that's just not reaching distant areas of your home. Again, fire away if my thinking is off.
 
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I'm a bit confused. So the internet entering your home is slow, but you want to boost your wifi to improve that? That's not going to work. If the speed entering your home is slow, improving your wifi within your home won't improve anything.

Or did you mean there is a wifi option (or cellular like Verizon home) in your area?
 
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Clonehomer and Gonzo-

I appreciate the questions and agree with them. Frankly I don’t know what the exact issue is.

A little more info; it’s actually a 12 unit condo complex (never fully resided at same time, very rarely is bandwidth an issue) that has 2 access points; one Wifi network for each AP. I can stand 10 feet from one AP and have terrible connection but able to browse online from the other AP.

My unit has two floors; upper level uses one network and lower level uses the other. I just utilize Roku and the lower level has a very difficult time updating.

I don’t know if a booster would help or not; I’m open to other suggestions for resolution.

Thx again.
 
Clonehomer and Gonzo-

I appreciate the questions and agree with them. Frankly I don’t know what the exact issue is.

A little more info; it’s actually a 12 unit condo complex (never fully resided at same time, very rarely is bandwidth an issue) that has 2 access points; one Wifi network for each AP. I can stand 10 feet from one AP and have terrible connection but able to browse online from the other AP.

My unit has two floors; upper level uses one network and lower level uses the other. I just utilize Roku and the lower level has a very difficult time updating.

I don’t know if a booster would help or not; I’m open to other suggestions for resolution.

Thx again.
I don't know if it would help in your situation, but here's the mesh router I'm now using:


Covers 6,000 square feet and has three units for placement on multiple levels. Has worked great.
 
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A good router or mesh system does wonders for connection BUT if you internet speed going upstream and downstream is still low just be aware that great connection won't get you more internet speed.
 
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There are getting to be a lot of variables here. A lot.
If you're going to get good help from internet strangers then much more info is needed.

First off, as others have said already, if the service from the provider is slow or poor then there is no reasonable configuration change that can be made to the wireless setup in the building to improve things.

Second, we're talking about covering 12 condo units with 2 access points. With good quality AP units this is perhaps plausible, but I would wager that it's unlikely to be satisfactory. There are just too many walls and materials to push the wireless signal through for end devices to have a good experience.
How big are the condo units and how many walls are there? What are the materials - drywall and 2x4? Metal studs? Brick walls anywhere?
What WAP models are they? How are they connected back to the router(s)? What wifi channels are being used? Is there a controller software being used or are they each a complete standalone? Are they actually wireless access points or are they each their own router?
One theory I got from the behavior you described of on performing poorly even when right near it - you're double NAT'ing. This would be where you have the ISP line coming in to a router then that connects to another router that is segmenting the networks again. So, the guess here is that the "bad" wireless is the 2nd router in the line and it performs much worse because all its traffic is getting sent up the line to the 1st router and then on out to the ISP. Bad bottleneck. Or it could be misconfigured wifi settings, something about the wireless environment in that particular spot, etc.

Third, is this one line of service being shared amongst multiple units/tenants? Are you sure that is allowed by the provider? Also, one device generating suspicious traffic could result in the entire service being cut for everyone.

What I'm getting at here is that it doesn't sound like you're going to be able to just plug in a wifi mesh system and have your problems solved.
 
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Clonehomer and Gonzo-

I appreciate the questions and agree with them. Frankly I don’t know what the exact issue is.

A little more info; it’s actually a 12 unit condo complex (never fully resided at same time, very rarely is bandwidth an issue) that has 2 access points; one Wifi network for each AP. I can stand 10 feet from one AP and have terrible connection but able to browse online from the other AP.

My unit has two floors; upper level uses one network and lower level uses the other. I just utilize Roku and the lower level has a very difficult time updating.

I don’t know if a booster would help or not; I’m open to other suggestions for resolution.

Thx again.

Is it a shared wifi for the whole condo complex?

If no, can you connect a LAN cable to your router from a laptop? Then test the speed at speedtest.net.

I think before you can get an answer to your question you need to know if it's speed or range you're having an issue with.
 
There are getting to be a lot of variables here. A lot.
If you're going to get good help from internet strangers then much more info is needed.

First off, as others have said already, if the service from the provider is slow or poor then there is no reasonable configuration change that can be made to the wireless setup in the building to improve things.

Second, we're talking about covering 12 condo units with 2 access points. With good quality AP units this is perhaps plausible, but I would wager that it's unlikely to be satisfactory. There are just too many walls and materials to push the wireless signal through for end devices to have a good experience.
How big are the condo units and how many walls are there? What are the materials - drywall and 2x4? Metal studs? Brick walls anywhere?
What WAP models are they? How are they connected back to the router(s)? What wifi channels are being used? Is there a controller software being used or are they each a complete standalone? Are they actually wireless access points or are they each their own router?
One theory I got from the behavior you described of on performing poorly even when right near it - you're double NAT'ing. This would be where you have the ISP line coming in to a router then that connects to another router that is segmenting the networks again. So, the guess here is that the "bad" wireless is the 2nd router in the line and it performs much worse because all its traffic is getting sent up the line to the 1st router and then on out to the ISP. Bad bottleneck. Or it could be misconfigured wifi settings, something about the wireless environment in that particular spot, etc.

Third, is this one line of service being shared amongst multiple units/tenants? Are you sure that is allowed by the provider? Also, one device generating suspicious traffic could result in the entire service being cut for everyone.

What I'm getting at here is that it doesn't sound like you're going to be able to just plug in a wifi mesh system and have your problems solved.
JimDog,
I can already tell you have more knowledge on this topic than any of the DS technicians we have had onsite over the years!

I'm recently appoint president of the COA and am simply trying to solve everyone's frustration with the internet service. We currently have a "commercial account" that is intended to be shared through the entire community.

Interior wall construction is standard 2x4 and I believe exterior is 2x6. There is a hardline/cable that comes off the receiving satellite, and then connects to a modem or router. From there there are hardlines/cables that go to the Access Points (maybe they are not APs, IDK what else they could be there). Techincians have informed me in the past that these locations are what send the wifi signal out.

My Ring and Ecobee app are offline at least twice a month on average. There is no way I can have work conference calls (Teams, zoom) either, even without using a camera.

Netflix/Amazon Prime apps very rarely have buffering issues, but it does occur. Like previously mentioned, the lower unit Roku can't update, I have to unplug it and put it into the upper level TV to update.

Not sure I can answer any of the other questions.

I appreciate everyone's comments.
 
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My home internet is provided by satellite and is not very good (rural area). There is only one other provider that I could consider switching to.

Q: Does anyone have any experience with a Wifi Booster/Extender? My early internet research hasn’t revealed any brands that are recommended to stay away from or suggest buying. Does CF have any experience with these?

TIA!

Just get a mesh system like eero or google nest. You will be happier in the long run.
 
What kind of speed do you have?

I used to have 100/20 with 1 router and 1 extender. The extender dropped the network speed to 50-70 range and download speed to barely able to take a zoom call.

Spent the money and upgraded to the Google Nest mesh system. Speeds are consistant and very good throughout our 2800 sf home. I can still pull 70-80 mbs sitting at the fire pit in our back corner of the yard
 
What kind of speed do you have?

I used to have 100/20 with 1 router and 1 extender. The extender dropped the network speed to 50-70 range and download speed to barely able to take a zoom call.

Spent the money and upgraded to the Google Nest mesh system. Speeds are consistant and very good throughout our 2800 sf home. I can still pull 70-80 mbs sitting at the fire pit in our back corner of the yard
I call fire pit fail.
 
My home internet is provided by satellite and is not very good (rural area). There is only one other provider that I could consider switching to.

Q: Does anyone have any experience with a Wifi Booster/Extender? My early internet research hasn’t revealed any brands that are recommended to stay away from or suggest buying. Does CF have any experience with these?

TIA!
For a cheap, effective option, it's hard to beat this one.
TP-Link AC750 Wifi Range Extender | Up to 750Mbps | Dual Band WiFi Extender

For a more expensive option with maximum coverage in your home, and WiFi 6, I'd second those recommending Eero.
 
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Thank you to all of the people that responded to my original question.

I was able to set up a “wifi booster” today and the results are confusing to me. The booster resulted in a broader Wifi radius; however my mobile devices/roku connection didn’t result in an improved download ability - am I mistaken by expecting an improved download ability as a result from the booster?

Note - the lack of improvement (less than 1mb download ability from the lower level roku unit vs. 13-17mb in upper level on the same “network”) should be expected?

Ultimately, I’m confused on if my expectations in the $100 wifi booster should result in a better consistency/stronger download (less burfing) of the native wifi network in the lower level.

I feel I should simply accept that my location is gonna result in a less than adequate internet access. Am I wrong?

TIA and go clones!
 
So you have 2 SSIDs, one for each AP? You need to look at the stats too. Maybe most people in the condo are connecting to only one of the networks/APs. Or someone is a hog, bringing down performance for others. Is the problem mainly with one AP or both. Gathering info from everyone in the complex would help narrow down the issue.
 
So you have 2 SSIDs, one for each AP? You need to look at the stats too. Maybe most people in the condo are connecting to only one of the networks/APs. Or someone is a hog, bringing down performance for others. Is the problem mainly with one AP or both. Gathering info from everyone in the complex would help narrow down the issue.
Yes, 2 SSIDs. Note there are only 3 units with people right now and no one is hogging it I feel. 7 units on one SSID and 4 on the other SSID.

What additional information would be helpful?
 

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