Thanks Gary - Just bought a MESH WiFi system from Huawei and it solves all these "old" wifi issues. Mesh is super fast and best of all all the Android phones of my family automatically fails to the strongest signal keeping the Internet speed high over the fibre line. Used 5 WiFi Apps to do testing in and around my house to make sure MESH works and it does !!!
Tech has improved! Years ago I bought an extender, and while it increased the range, with each one daisy chained (wirelessly), data throughput was essentially halved. So at the house, great data speed, garage slower, equipment room even slower, pool area sllooowwweeerrr, barn… hopelessly slow.
Yeah, I purchased a Wi-Fi extender, tested it out in various places around my house, and ended up returning it. You really do have to test the locations before and after to see if it’s really giving the benefit your looking for.
I find placing the extender 1/2 way between the router where you still get a good signal(usually in the hallway), and where you want to connect say your back porch, to work the best for me, I did not fell like drilling holes in my floors, or running cables in my walls, so in my house I have 2 WiFi Network extenders. one for the front edges of my house, and one for the back edges.
I found it Gary, thanks. The difference is now clear to me between both approaches and I now understand why my extenders solution was a bit disappointing, albeit cheaper and maybe a bit less complicated to implement. Great job!
That was very enlightening. Didn't realise how much they'd affect an existing WiFi. I do use a separate Access Point, extended using powerline adapter and also different channel to main system.
I have 2 specific uses for my Wi-fi extender, but turn it off when I’m not using it to avoid interference and save power. Since I’ve done this my router and Wi-fi in general have been better behaved. 1) When I’m in the garden and need more range when I want Wi-fi on my phone. 2) I keep my router on a 5GHz only band to make its life easier and use less power (it stays cooler in the summer as an added bonus). I sometimes need to use a 2.4Ghz network for a) an ancient laptop and b) a wireless 2.4Ghz-only printer (annoyingly many cheap printers are still sold as 2.4GHz-only and will not work on 5GHz). The Wi-fi extender will broadcast at both frequencies, 2.4 and 5GHz and solves that problem very easily and cheaply.
Definitely spot on. Best explanation I've ever heard on the subject. I currently run four access points hardwired back to a gig switch/router. 3300 square feet 2 story the switch is the DHCP server. That was the only way I could get everything talking to each other. Access points 2 upstairs 2 downstairs none in the same corner and manually set channels I turn the power down to about 50% on all of them so it makes it switch from one to the other. Cat6 cable not the prettiest install but it's effective, expensive, and bottlenecked at the switch. It's like running a USB 3.0 device on a 2.0 port. But I can stream video to multiple devices with no problem except for the bottleneck. I really don't have a use for anything faster than 300Mb. Now for the question. How come four devices run a speed test at the same time and all four get 250MB download but, one device by itself will only do maybe 260 MB? I'm not complaining cuz I don't pay for gigabit speed but how is it getting it is my question?
i like using multiple APs in the way that Ubiquity does with the UniFi system so each AP is linked to a central router, so wherever you go you are connected to the same network, the radios are the only thing that changes, but i know some people are unable to run ethernet cables everywhere due to leasing agreements, or maybe the way the house is configured, i've tried wifi extenders in the past, and always ended up just getting the alarm installation bit out, the low voltage tools, and a box of ethernet cable and running a wire to an additional AP configured with the same config as the primary and setup in the firmware as a wireless extension in AP mode Only via WDS, so as you said, WiFi Extenders do have their place, but they aren't the end-all be-all that most try to make them out to be, great video mate, and loads of good information
I find Net Extenders to play a very niche role and are very hard to recommend in those instances. Sometimes they help with stationary devices that have poor internal antennas like TVs or your example of little to no signal in a certain area of the house/property. Even then I tell people to only connect one or two devices at a time.
@@FuriousImp I don't really have much experience with home mesh routers like Eero. In theory they should work better if they are Tri Band and I have heard they work good. Best is to ditch the wifi router and install 2-3 Access Points with a wired router. Ubiquiti makes pretty affordable equipment for home use so that should only run you $300-$500 for a comparably superior set up. Only issue is snaking the wire to the Access Points depending on home layout and floors.
basicyl it's a methode to used existing power-line as wire for network (wire or wireless) by mixing internet data in power-line ... it's usually better than wireless but not as good as dedicated lan cable. point is you don't need to rewire.
A lot of cable modems have batteries. So if you have a power outage, your wireless connection to your router will remain active. With power line networking, if you have a blackout, then you will lose it all. Also, if you live in an apartment building, will your neighbors, who are also using power line adapters, be on you local network? I do not know the answer. But that would be a privacy and security issue.
@@NoEgg4u I’ve not owned a cable modem with a battery in it. None of the three or four I’ve used in the last few years has one. I’m not immediately seeing any on Amazon either.
I think privacy probably isn't a problem, they should be on different ring mains. Even within my house I have a different ring main upstairs to downstairs so I can't use a powerline extender to extend from downstairs to up.
Thanks, Great information. I tried using an Extender and it seemed to be unreliable. I discovered that my Home Access Gateway supported MoCA so I installed a MoCa extender onto my Cable TV system and it has been Rock Solid at getting Wireless Anywhere in the house. Cheers.
I made the calculation on the max available number of unique devices when I learned binary but I never knew how they reserve and make them completely unique
@@CesarHn95 Basically you have 24 of the bits being used to select a brand, and these are in a registry; the other 24 bits are device-unique in each brand. Popular brands will take multiple OUI identifiers (the first 24 bits) to avoid collisions, Intel being one example.
Really love the explanations using the house diagram! Really made things clear and informed my purchase decision. Kudos to you, Gary. Now, I'm wondering on two things: 1. What's the bandwidth percentage in the upper right room if the range extender is in the hallway? 2. What are better alternatives to range extenders? You'd think with all the advanced mobile tech we have now that WiFi tech is able to bypass walls and obstructions, but that doesn't seem to be the case...
Buy one anyway, place it in the middle point between where you have trouble connecting, and your main router. Works wonders. And you can just return it if it doesn’t work for you.
For powerline wifi/ethernet extender must be on same electricity phase. But now better, cheaper invest is to buy mesh than setup those wifi extenders. I have Airport Time Capsule in living room and Airport Extreme in the bed room, same SSID. And it works very stable. No mess with wifi names etc.
@@GaryExplains most it will be mission imposible to get mesh for USD14. But most problem is lose connections, unstable on very heavy load. Mesh or wifi repeater I believe is much better.
You can't just repeat the same data package because then you don't know if these is a new one or the already been transmit and it'll create feedback loop (repeat same package over and over again) that will choke up your bandwidth massively reduces speed.
What I learned quickly: Buy the same router I already have and use that as a repeater. As long as the second router isn't placed on the edge of wifi coverage, broadcasting a weak signal as a "strong" signal, speeds don't suffer as much as people think.
@@playerroku4412 There's the issue of having the power plug in the first place. It's not easy to modify the electrical installation in order to just plug in a Wi-Fi extender after all (my hallway literally has no free plugs)
@@paulstelian97 I don't want to be a jerk but you're attempting to sound way too intelligent for a simple conversation. Use a power strip then. I don't even know why you're attempting to make this complicated. Also, why would it have to be in a hallway? Put the router anywhere. Even if it's only 5 to 10 feet away from the primary router, that can still give you good speeds and way more coverage. I feel like you don't know what you're talking about, which is fine
@@playerroku4412 In my house there's literally 3 walls between the main router and the one in my room, and where would I put a power strip? In the same room as the main router? In the hallway which is 2m by 8m in size? In my own room where the signal is already bad? I need the wired variant, the access point. And I need to replace them since I can see that it behaves very poorly even with this optimization. I just express frustrations not only because of having to do more than just putting a power strip (what if I trip on it? How do I deal with the fact that there's no line of sight spot that is even remotely convenient? And let me completely ignore the fact that there's slowdown from devices which are hard to get in range even with repeaters anyway, and also because of constant traffic from those devices eating away at what 2.4 GHz can do). And further. Recommend me one main router and some repeaters which actually work well. I don't want something that takes up 5 minutes to recover after a power outage (it's enough that my ISP's EoC takes two, I don't want three extra on top of that), like one specific Archer router that I had for two months and sold it away because of this crap...
Hello, Gary. You are a wealth of information. Thank you for explaining how an Extender works. From your explanation, Extenders inside the house are pointless but it's only helpful if you want to connect with the WiFi outside. Is that correct? Therefore, is Mesh a better option to push the wifi to other parts of the house where there are deadzones?
If your extender and wifi router supports both 2.4ghz and 5ghz, and you want range, often you are better bridging with 5 ghz, and using 2.4ghz to give you the additional range, rather than bridging with 2.4ghz. 5 ghz between gives you a bigger pipe in between to support more devices, and 2.4ghz connected devices give you more range and ability to pass thru obstacles; even more true if you have 2.4ghz only devices that are on the perimeters.. With an extender: why bridge with 5ghz ; simply - the desire for range that 2.4 gives you on the outer edges. Why bridge with 2.4ghz; you have lots of devices in the same general area that support 5ghz (because 5ghz is better with that sort of interference ), but are less concerned with range. As far as placement, I'd start by splitting the dwelling into 4, roughly diagonally. At the 1/4 mark and 3/4 mark, roughly, place your extender and router to optimize range and bandwidth.. It's not an absolute, just a good starting point.. Height also matters in the equation; try to keep the router and extender at or above head height, and higher than most or out of the path of large obstacles, like brick, steel doors, filled bookshelves, TV's,and other electronic items - assuming a one floor layout.. If you have wooden studs, and the antennas can "span" the stud, center your device on the stud.. it's less interference for the antennas.. This is NOT an absolute; move your equipment around where you can visualize your path between the components, and try to get close to your target.. It's not rocket science; it's not about whipping out a tape measure either. Often times, moving the router 5 to 10 feet one way or another helps solve a dead spot immensely. So, no absolutes.. Often, however, you can avoid the extender by upgrading to a better wifi router, and placing the router as close to the center as possible.Not always possible to hit 1/2, but try to get as close as possible, with emphasis on the most used portions of the home.. If your router is over 2 or 3 years old, consider upgrading.. If your equipment does not support both bands, well, honestly, it's time to upgrade your equipment. If you doubled the amount of gear on your network since it was bought, it might be also time to look at upgrading.. Don't skimp by getting the cheapest router either; consider what you pay for a years worth of service and consider heavily towards something in the range of what it costs for 3 to 4 months worth of service. Research is your friend and will save you time, money and frustration in the end. For an extender, I'd go with about 1/3rd the price of the router as a starting point. I've been using extenders for years; many extenders can also be used as a desktop switch to put a non-wireless desktop onto a wireless network, while also serving as an extender. The latest wifi router I purchased allowed me to eliminate the extender, but I'll still find use for it. It's a number of years old, but is still sold new today.. The tp-link router rocks however.
Your problem makes sense. You didn't place the extender properly. You expect good signal from the extender. You must give the extender good signal in the first place. Therefore, you must place the extender AS FAR AWAY FROM THE ORIGINAL ROUTER AS POSSIBLE WHILE HAVING THE BEST POSSIBLE CONNECTION. What you did was put the extender in an area with poor coverage. That's where your devices will connect to the repeater FROM. What was the repeater going to work with in that area if there's poor coverage to begin with? The repeater needs good Wi-Fi coverage to begin with, so put the repeater in a spot the original router covers very well (hallway, for instance) and then test again from the room you were having issues in. 12:35 would've worked properly ONLY if the connection between your RE and the router was by cable.
I don't think I had any problems. I was demonstrating how the position alters the throughput based on signal strength. I don't know why you think I was having problems, it was my intention to show how they work and that you need place them optimally. I really don't understand your comment.
My question wasnt exactly answered but was just barely missed. At 12:21, bottom left room is where wifi is. Bottom-middle room is my room, where I game and stream. But I really want my wifi to work in the bathroom which would top-right. Should I put a wifi extender in my room (bottom-middle)? Id also hope for a second benefit of a better connection in my room but its not necessary with ethernet. Would this just confuse my devices?
The better option would be to hardwire your place with Cat5e or 6. Switch your extenderé to access point mode and plug it in the hardwire. Do a quick set up with your wifi device to give it a name and a password. After that, it will access the router with no back n forth from the wifi and you get the full speed of the modem. That’s if you means to do so
Thanks for this, you’ve just saved me time and money. I was going to get one for my bedroom upstairs because I get a low signal there but as you’ve explained a booster in that room will not help.
Thanks garry, I wish I'd seen your video before I listened to Yorkshire Darren a few months ago, I bought a so called wifi extender/repeater, and to be honest, I think I'd have got better results useing a coat hanger.
One would recommend when setting up and AP extender to do DHCP pass threw so devices like a printer can be seen on the network Always places the extender 1/2 way between where you want the signal and the main AP. But now days a Mesh AP a set of 3 mess APs can be gotten for $150.00
Very good and detailed explanation. What should i use to get better wifi sygnal in the basement. Router is upstairs and i have ethernet cable in the basement that runs from the upstairs router.
great video. i went for a mesh setup with fritzbox routers as my internet router is also fritzbox. i wired the extra routers, as running that wireless did almost destroy the network. i now have a router on every floor, as the concrete floors almost completely take out the wifi signals. now it all seems to work fine, but i would be interested to find out how te improve on it even more. mainly i worry about the best possible placement of the accespointrouters. i still want to add an extra accespoint to create garden wifi access. i'm thinking of putting that on a windowsill at the backend of the house. but now i worry of that interfering with the accesspoint closest to it. i use wired setups however and the mesh usually runs at 5 ghz, so i would probably run the gardenwifi at 2.4, hoping that would in turn not interfere too much with the zigbee home automation devices in my house, also running at 2.4. this stuff gets hard. i would love videos on that. maybe my situation is a good example or indication of the type of things to consider. greetings from the Netherlands
Great explanation for beginners! One small nitpick though. While access points usually do have the power to send at 100mW or even 500mW on 5 GHz channels you should never use these high levels because your poor smartphone usually only sends 20 to 25mW back to the access point and you don't want constant failed transmits from the smartphone crippling the experience. Better to also leave the access point at max 25 mW (14 dBm) so you truly get an idea how many access points you actually need. The only reason you would have a single radio on an access point at full power is when you are only using that radio for a mesh link towards another access point. But again, great simplified explanation!
I have a curly one. I have an IP wifi security camera on the outside of a concrete wall which blocks the wifi to the NVR. Can I run an RJ45 cable from the RJ45 lead on the camera, through the concrete wall to the RJ45 socket on the wifi extender inside the house and expect the extender to transmit to the NVR via wifi? The alternative is to remove the aerial on the camera and plug a coax into the camera sma socket and have a yagi on the other end of the coax aimed at the NVR. I already have the latter working on another outside camera where the wall is timber frame and the yagi is on the outside with the camera.
This will work if you connect the NVR Ethernet port to the main wifi router to which the wifi extender connects. This works because the camera and NVR Ethernet port end up on the same subnet. The NVRs MDNS (boujour) broadcasts will then make to the camera and allow the camera to discover the NVR and connect
@@02840321 yes, the nvr and router are connected, I was mainly concerned that I would be using the extender backwards, ie video into the rj45 and out of the aerial
Right at the beginning you say that by relaying data through a single-radio extender, you lose at least 50 percent of your throughput compared to connecting directly at close range to the wired access point. Then in the rest of your figures that 50 percent factor disappears without explanation. Can Gary Explain? This is overall pretty clear, but a little light in its coverage of the situation where an extender does make sense: If there is a location where you need, but can't quite get, a Wi-Fi signal, and you can put the extender approximately halfway between that location and the existing Wi-Fi AP, a good extender is likely to get a reliable (but not full-speed) connection to where you need it.
I like setting up these extenders in client mode. That doesn't create a new SSID, but gives connectivity via the ethernet port. They usually work better than a WIFI USB dongle. It's running openwrt, btw.
That works good for a situation where you just have a few devices that can be hardwired to the extender. For solving an issue where 1/3 of the house is a deadzone due to distance/obstruction/em interference, I opted for the MOCA route. The extender can sync to the existing wifi for SSID settings but has the same bandwidth as if it was plugged directly into the router, thanks to the coax wiring in the house acting as a really effing long ethernet run.
You can connect an ethernet cable to a Wi-Fi extender if you want a hard-wired connection. This will help to get a stable internet connection where Wi-Fi signal tends to go weak. The speed of the connection depends on your purchased plan and capacity of the extender
Sure it is: th-cam.com/video/mOiu9fgOhFo/w-d-xo.html BTW, do you know how I found it, I typed "gary explains mesh" into TH-cam and it was the first result 🤯
Gary, you mention running an ethernet cable between the router and the extender/access point. Is it possible to do it the other way around? i.e a cable from the access point to feed another building? Router Extender secondary router/access point
Never mind - i had an epiphany and managed to test my theory - It works! For anyone else wanting to do the same, i'm using a Netgear N300 wifi range extender (essentials edition). model number EX2700-100UKS
Do they work in sequence or have to originate from the main access point? Trying to use this strategy in a 4 plex to provide internet for each unit. But the 4th is too far from the main modem and router. What about wired from main router to 3 other cheap routers. They get they're own ssid for each unit
I would love to hear you explain how mesh networks using things like unifi access points using poe work to allow you to go from access point to access point smoothly
Same here. Used a wifi extender for like 9 months and got 2/3 of my actual speeds. Switched to mesh and now get full speeds everywhere, and seamless switching too. Definitely recommend mesh over extender.
@@ozziekhoo mesh normally have 3 radios (more expensive) (Triband - 5ghz dedicated radio for backhaul, 5ghz for devices, 2.4ghz for older devices), repeater normally are 2 radios (Dual band - 5ghz for backhaul AND devices, 2.4 ghz for older devices) . Once you backhaul (upstream) and devices (downstream) sharing same radio, is not good.
Wow , nice explanation ! Question , I use a firestick and that tells me the Wi-Fi connectivity in terms of fair , good , very good etc , also my Wi-Fi is called whole home coverage , so there are 2 Wi-Fi routers strategically placed in 2 different places in my house , also it has 2.4 and 5 ghz , and I have a rock space extender with 2 antennas on it , and I thought I was occasionally losing signal on my firestick in one bedroom , so I tried the rock space in there , both the original Wi-Fi and the extender show very good / very good on my firestick , I realize that this is not the best way to test , but after seeing this video , I don’t think my extender is helping my situation at all ? Can anybody help me out with this , thank you
Hello.Nice vid but my problem is not solved! My router D-Link with 4 antennas stay in the living room and I want to have internet in my workshop wich is 15 yards and 3 walls from the router. And I will not drill holes thru the walls. Is it possible to connect for example 3 extenders in every room to get a good wifi signal??? Thanks and greetings from Norway
Soooo useful! This could be a great "how to effectively distribute your internet bandwidth around your home" type playlist for people getting better broadband or with constant wifi problems (most people lol)
Can you link multiple wifi extenders? Like this? Main router ---> wifi extender 1 ---> wifi extender 2 ---> wifi extender 3. Like that? So i can have internet connection even if i am meters and meters away from my main wifi?
Not bad, but one important case you should have included: put the extender roughly ½ way between the router and the intended room, not necessarily in each room.
You must disable DHCP settings on your extender if you are going to keep the same SSID as the main network and use as a wireless repeater to another wireless router.
Hey Gary. Does changing the position of antenna in a router strengthen or weaken the wifi signal? Have searched a lot about it, everybody saying different things. Really confused. Need your help professor! 🙏
I'm slow, still trying to wrap my head around the last example... 😅 So, if your phone is outdoors, on the other side of a wall, is it simply the physical closeness of the wifi extender that enables your phone to get a connection? (Say 16%, vs 0% with no extender).
Hello, I have a question that could be useful to many people having problems with wifi range. Lets say we us two extenders, one at 10m away from the router and the second one 20m away. How does the second extender work? Does it extend the original network or it could be paired with first extender so it extends its network? Thanks
Thanks for the clear tutorial on Wifi Extender. To your last example while you are in the garden you can still receive 16% Mbps. What happens when I place the Extender in the Router Room itself? What %?
I need to know if this world work if im trying to Get wifi from the house to the camper about 15 feet away from the house and the router. Any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks. Much love and respect Matthew.
Really? I didn't think it was complex enough to need a whole video. Like passwords or your contacts or your viewing history, it just synchronized via the cloud. Am I missing something?
I have a WiFi security camera I have a WiFi extender because of the distance involved I can connect with my base router with the extender. I can connect the Camera with the WiFi extender. In the home I have a security camera recording DVR connected to the base WiFi. However I am unable to have the signal from the camera pass through the WiFi extender and or the WiFi Base to the DVR. When accessing the Base WiFi connections, the Extender is listed correctly. Any idea what is going wrong?
Greetings, I listened to your video on wifi extenders. I just purchased two wav link extenders in hopes to get a wifi signal from my house to my shop, which is 170 feet away. I put one extender outside my house and the other extender on the outside of my shop (line of sight). I guess I'm attempting to make a bridge so I can reach the distance and enable me to watch you tube videos in my shop. When I connected my extenders to my network I have a wifi signal but when connected it says, "connected but no internet". Is this normal or is my internet service provider not allowing me to add this. Sorta confused at this point.
I've used WiFi extenders and I have the same issues you had. That is until I swapped everything for a mesh. You can get a 3 mesh network for under 100 pounds. Original sky router. Lounge 100 percent, kitchen 70 percent, bedroom 50 percent, loft 25 percent. Using an extender Lounge 100 percent, kitchen 85 percent, bedroom 75 percent, loft 40 percent. Mesh network. Lounge 100 percent, Kitchen 97 percent, bedroom 95 percent, loft 90 percent. So mesh is brilliant. My ping is also very good in games.
Thanks for sharing your test results, very interesting. Am I right in assuming that you didn't use a wired connection between the mesh units. Also what brand/model of mesh did you use?
@@GaryExplains I wired the mesh into the router and disabled the WiFi on the sky router. That's used as only a modem. I've got one in downstairs hall plugged into modem, one on middle floor in guest bedroom and one in the loft which is wired into my computer and Xbox. But the speed reading was on my phone. Maximum speed is 31mbs and minimum 27mbs. TP link deco E4
@@GaryExplains Before that I could never get more than 12 in the loft which is where I've got a home office/Hifi and gaming stuff. It's where we zoom/Skype from as well. So it's the place that needs the internet the most. When we had sky Q the mini boxes worked like a mesh and not too bad. Stable 12 minimum. When we left sky Q because we didn't watch it enough then it got really hard. Tried WiFi extenders, using big routers with 4 antennas but nothing was reliable. Ping was sometimes good, other times bad. If you used one device downstairs to stream TV the loft would suffer. Couldn't justify spending 300 on a mesh so when these came out reduced from 140 to just 89 went for it. Another advantage is it's the same network so if you cast something from a phone to a TV or Chromecast you'll be on the right network. Some of my devices need you to disconnect WiFi and reconnect if you change rooms or they'll stay on wrong access point. Others much better.
There is many things with WiFi and networks in general. For better coverage of your WiFi, you could use MESH networks, something that would be interesting to see you cover. Now when we are getting all those small smart networked stuff, where some of them is not able to configure or you can't be sure of the security it then would be wise to have such things on a separate network. Some of us might have some kind of servers with access to the internet and there it would be wise to have that on a separate net. Most might know that if you brake into a server and get access to that, then you hole network is on risk... So more on the topic of security and segmenting.
I think the security aspect is important, but it is less about the network and more about not buying smart-enabled devices from random Chinee companies with no history of support. Putting a Wi-Fi enable baby camera on a separate net won't help. If the device is configured to be accessed from the Internet then it is game over. If a hacker has gained access to your main LAN then you have bigger problems than just putting your baby monitor on a different network. As for hacking Wi-Fi, if that is actually happening to you then hiding the SSID won't help.
Very informative. Thanks. My house has wired ethernet and the junction box is in the basement where the DSL comes in. That's where my c1000z centurylink access point sits. I get good wifi on the first floor but poor to none on the front and back porch. I'd like to fix that. I have a second c1000z available and would like to configure them so the second access point gets it's signal from one of the ethernet ports and sends the wifi from there. I've searched but can't find an explanation I can understand. I don't think the c1000z is capable of bridge mode or manual DHCP or whatever is needed to do this. If anyone has any helpful knowledge on a way to accomplish this please let me know. Thanks
Excellent video Gary, but I still have a question. At 12:37 putting the Wi-Fi extender in the same room as your device doesn't help. But if you put the extender somewhere between the router and the device, like in the corridor or inside the bottom middle bedroom, would it be better to connect directly to the router or to the extender? Because it's not the same as in 13:26 that you don't have a direct connection to the router.
If you put the extender in the middle but you are at the other end of the house (away from both transmitters} then you should get better bandwidth by connecting to the extender, but it is worth experimenting.
Thank you so much for your detailed explanation of a wi-if repeater. I, however, have a query as to whether or not having such an extender would lessen the security of your original relatively private system. I have read recently that having such a device would greatly diminish the security of one’s data. In advance, thank you. very much…….Joe
I'd love a video on MOCA and it's advantages, And disadvantages, over power line. When I moved in, the wifi is terrible in my room. My roommates gave me a power line adapter. Horrid performance. I went out and got a Mocha adapter and it's just shy of the performance I'd get over Ethernet. Pair that with a wifi access point, and I've got amazing connectivity in my room.
Finally! Someone who explains this stuff in a way that's understandable. Thanks dude!
Thanks Gary - Just bought a MESH WiFi system from Huawei and it solves all these "old" wifi issues. Mesh is super fast and best of all all the Android phones of my family automatically fails to the strongest signal keeping the Internet speed high over the fibre line. Used 5 WiFi Apps to do testing in and around my house to make sure MESH works and it does !!!
Good to hear that. My next videos will be in mesh networking. What Huawei model did you buy?
You just saved me money... I had a wrong idea of how it works. Almost bought one until I watched this video
I vote for the additional videos on powerline and Ethernet wired backhaul.
Wired and access points are my setup, though currently I use some home routers as access points. The disadvantage is I'm limited to 2.4 GHz.
@@paulstelian97 qw te
Tech has improved! Years ago I bought an extender, and while it increased the range, with each one daisy chained (wirelessly), data throughput was essentially halved. So at the house, great data speed, garage slower, equipment room even slower, pool area sllooowwweeerrr, barn… hopelessly slow.
How'd you fix this??
@@TheStarvingEntrepreneur better tech more extenders
Yeah, I purchased a Wi-Fi extender, tested it out in various places around my house, and ended up returning it. You really do have to test the locations before and after to see if it’s really giving the benefit your looking for.
Did you purchase it so you can use it around multiple areas in your home or so you can get better connection in a bedroom?
@@Cordinium the goal was to improve the Wi-Fi in an upstairs office.
I find placing the extender 1/2 way between the router where you still get a good signal(usually in the hallway), and where you want to connect say your back porch, to work the best for me, I did not fell like drilling holes in my floors, or running cables in my walls, so in my house I have 2 WiFi Network extenders. one for the front edges of my house, and one for the back edges.
I would like to see presentations of the mesh network and powerline adapters. Love your videos, great work, thanks.
I have a mesh video already.
I found it Gary, thanks. The difference is now clear to me between both approaches and I now understand why my extenders solution was a bit disappointing, albeit cheaper and maybe a bit less complicated to implement. Great job!
Hi Gary, could you please provide the link for the mesh video? Cheers!
@@spm2381 That would be: Understanding Mesh Networking (feat. MikroTik Audience) - th-cam.com/video/mOiu9fgOhFo/w-d-xo.html
Thanks Gary! This was so helpful. I really appreciate your ability to put things in regular people speak. So so so helpful.
Awesome explanation! Looking forward to learning more about mesh networking soon too
That was very enlightening. Didn't realise how much they'd affect an existing WiFi. I do use a separate Access Point, extended using powerline adapter and also different channel to main system.
I have 2 specific uses for my Wi-fi extender, but turn it off when I’m not using it to avoid interference and save power. Since I’ve done this my router and Wi-fi in general have been better behaved.
1) When I’m in the garden and need more range when I want Wi-fi on my phone.
2) I keep my router on a 5GHz only band to make its life easier and use less power (it stays cooler in the summer as an added bonus). I sometimes need to use a 2.4Ghz network for a) an ancient laptop and b) a wireless 2.4Ghz-only printer (annoyingly many cheap printers are still sold as 2.4GHz-only and will not work on 5GHz). The Wi-fi extender will broadcast at both frequencies, 2.4 and 5GHz and solves that problem very easily and cheaply.
When I have nothing to watch, your videos are always the ones I go to, awesome content as always Gary!
Definitely spot on. Best explanation I've ever heard on the subject. I currently run four access points hardwired back to a gig switch/router. 3300 square feet 2 story the switch is the DHCP server. That was the only way I could get everything talking to each other. Access points 2 upstairs 2 downstairs none in the same corner and manually set channels I turn the power down to about 50% on all of them so it makes it switch from one to the other. Cat6 cable not the prettiest install but it's effective, expensive, and bottlenecked at the switch. It's like running a USB 3.0 device on a 2.0 port. But I can stream video to multiple devices with no problem except for the bottleneck. I really don't have a use for anything faster than 300Mb. Now for the question.
How come four devices run a speed test at the same time and all four get 250MB download but, one device by itself will only do maybe 260 MB? I'm not complaining cuz I don't pay for gigabit speed but how is it getting it is my question?
i like using multiple APs in the way that Ubiquity does with the UniFi system so each AP is linked to a central router, so wherever you go you are connected to the same network, the radios are the only thing that changes, but i know some people are unable to run ethernet cables everywhere due to leasing agreements, or maybe the way the house is configured, i've tried wifi extenders in the past, and always ended up just getting the alarm installation bit out, the low voltage tools, and a box of ethernet cable and running a wire to an additional AP configured with the same config as the primary and setup in the firmware as a wireless extension in AP mode Only via WDS, so as you said, WiFi Extenders do have their place, but they aren't the end-all be-all that most try to make them out to be, great video mate, and loads of good information
Yes, that is called a Mesh Network. I have a video about that as well.
I find Net Extenders to play a very niche role and are very hard to recommend in those instances. Sometimes they help with stationary devices that have poor internal antennas like TVs or your example of little to no signal in a certain area of the house/property. Even then I tell people to only connect one or two devices at a time.
Wouldn't a mesh setup be much better?
@@FuriousImp I don't really have much experience with home mesh routers like Eero. In theory they should work better if they are Tri Band and I have heard they work good.
Best is to ditch the wifi router and install 2-3 Access Points with a wired router. Ubiquiti makes pretty affordable equipment for home use so that should only run you $300-$500 for a comparably superior set up. Only issue is snaking the wire to the Access Points depending on home layout and floors.
would love a video on power-line communication
basicyl it's a methode to used existing power-line as wire for network (wire or wireless) by mixing internet data in power-line
... it's usually better than wireless but not as good as dedicated lan cable. point is you don't need to rewire.
A lot of cable modems have batteries. So if you have a power outage, your wireless connection to your router will remain active.
With power line networking, if you have a blackout, then you will lose it all.
Also, if you live in an apartment building, will your neighbors, who are also using power line adapters, be on you local network?
I do not know the answer. But that would be a privacy and security issue.
@@NoEgg4u I’ve not owned a cable modem with a battery in it. None of the three or four I’ve used in the last few years has one. I’m not immediately seeing any on Amazon either.
I think privacy probably isn't a problem, they should be on different ring mains. Even within my house I have a different ring main upstairs to downstairs so I can't use a powerline extender to extend from downstairs to up.
Mmmmh.someday I have one that wi-fi the problem I can't afford ,hehehe
Thanks, Great information. I tried using an Extender and it seemed to be unreliable. I discovered that my Home Access Gateway supported MoCA so I installed a MoCa extender onto my Cable TV system and it has been Rock Solid at getting Wireless Anywhere in the house. Cheers.
yes, a video on MAC addresses please~
I made the calculation on the max available number of unique devices when I learned binary but I never knew how they reserve and make them completely unique
@@CesarHn95 Basically you have 24 of the bits being used to select a brand, and these are in a registry; the other 24 bits are device-unique in each brand. Popular brands will take multiple OUI identifiers (the first 24 bits) to avoid collisions, Intel being one example.
Really love the explanations using the house diagram! Really made things clear and informed my purchase decision. Kudos to you, Gary.
Now, I'm wondering on two things:
1. What's the bandwidth percentage in the upper right room if the range extender is in the hallway?
2. What are better alternatives to range extenders? You'd think with all the advanced mobile tech we have now that WiFi tech is able to bypass walls and obstructions, but that doesn't seem to be the case...
I was about to buy a wifi extender and after watching your video I change my mind. Thanks for the info!
Buy one anyway, place it in the middle point between where you have trouble connecting, and your main router. Works wonders. And you can just return it if it doesn’t work for you.
@@cat-.- Or better yet, return it for one that does work!
For powerline wifi/ethernet extender must be on same electricity phase. But now better, cheaper invest is to buy mesh than setup those wifi extenders. I have Airport Time Capsule in living room and Airport Extreme in the bed room, same SSID. And it works very stable. No mess with wifi names etc.
Cheaper? The one I used in the video costs $14. Can you get mesh networking for $14?
@@GaryExplains most it will be mission imposible to get mesh for USD14. But most problem is lose connections, unstable on very heavy load. Mesh or wifi repeater I believe is much better.
@@WP7Nettwerk Of course mesh is better, but you didn't say that, you said cheaper, that is why I replied.
@@GaryExplains but it will be nice if you give video about mesh and wifi repeater and comparison.
@@WP7Nettwerk I will and I say I will in the video.
thank you for explaining this in such detail. You just saved me time and money on trying out probably several extenders.
crystal clear explanation! Thanks @Gary 😀😀😀😀
Thank you Gary! That was one of the most informative, and useful narratives on WiFi range extenders that I have come across in the last one year.
Glad it was helpful!
I didn't realize that extenders recalculated the data, I thought that it was just a passive repeater
You can't just repeat the same data package because then you don't know if these is a new one or the already been transmit and it'll create feedback loop (repeat same package over and over again) that will choke up your bandwidth massively reduces speed.
They have to. They don't have any thing directional in the end.
Excellent technical video explains all practical issues
What I learned quickly:
Buy the same router I already have and use that as a repeater. As long as the second router isn't placed on the edge of wifi coverage, broadcasting a weak signal as a "strong" signal, speeds don't suffer as much as people think.
That works if you can place that router there in the first place.
@@paulstelian97 huh?
@@playerroku4412 There's the issue of having the power plug in the first place. It's not easy to modify the electrical installation in order to just plug in a Wi-Fi extender after all (my hallway literally has no free plugs)
@@paulstelian97 I don't want to be a jerk but you're attempting to sound way too intelligent for a simple conversation. Use a power strip then. I don't even know why you're attempting to make this complicated. Also, why would it have to be in a hallway? Put the router anywhere. Even if it's only 5 to 10 feet away from the primary router, that can still give you good speeds and way more coverage. I feel like you don't know what you're talking about, which is fine
@@playerroku4412 In my house there's literally 3 walls between the main router and the one in my room, and where would I put a power strip? In the same room as the main router? In the hallway which is 2m by 8m in size? In my own room where the signal is already bad?
I need the wired variant, the access point. And I need to replace them since I can see that it behaves very poorly even with this optimization.
I just express frustrations not only because of having to do more than just putting a power strip (what if I trip on it? How do I deal with the fact that there's no line of sight spot that is even remotely convenient? And let me completely ignore the fact that there's slowdown from devices which are hard to get in range even with repeaters anyway, and also because of constant traffic from those devices eating away at what 2.4 GHz can do).
And further. Recommend me one main router and some repeaters which actually work well. I don't want something that takes up 5 minutes to recover after a power outage (it's enough that my ISP's EoC takes two, I don't want three extra on top of that), like one specific Archer router that I had for two months and sold it away because of this crap...
Hello, Gary. You are a wealth of information. Thank you for explaining how an Extender works. From your explanation, Extenders inside the house are pointless but it's only helpful if you want to connect with the WiFi outside. Is that correct? Therefore, is Mesh a better option to push the wifi to other parts of the house where there are deadzones?
If your extender and wifi router supports both 2.4ghz and 5ghz, and you want range, often you are better bridging with 5 ghz, and using 2.4ghz to give you the additional range, rather than bridging with 2.4ghz. 5 ghz between gives you a bigger pipe in between to support more devices, and 2.4ghz connected devices give you more range and ability to pass thru obstacles; even more true if you have 2.4ghz only devices that are on the perimeters.. With an extender: why bridge with 5ghz ; simply - the desire for range that 2.4 gives you on the outer edges. Why bridge with 2.4ghz; you have lots of devices in the same general area that support 5ghz (because 5ghz is better with that sort of interference ), but are less concerned with range.
As far as placement, I'd start by splitting the dwelling into 4, roughly diagonally. At the 1/4 mark and 3/4 mark, roughly, place your extender and router to optimize range and bandwidth.. It's not an absolute, just a good starting point.. Height also matters in the equation; try to keep the router and extender at or above head height, and higher than most or out of the path of large obstacles, like brick, steel doors, filled bookshelves, TV's,and other electronic items - assuming a one floor layout.. If you have wooden studs, and the antennas can "span" the stud, center your device on the stud.. it's less interference for the antennas.. This is NOT an absolute; move your equipment around where you can visualize your path between the components, and try to get close to your target.. It's not rocket science; it's not about whipping out a tape measure either. Often times, moving the router 5 to 10 feet one way or another helps solve a dead spot immensely. So, no absolutes..
Often, however, you can avoid the extender by upgrading to a better wifi router, and placing the router as close to the center as possible.Not always possible to hit 1/2, but try to get as close as possible, with emphasis on the most used portions of the home.. If your router is over 2 or 3 years old, consider upgrading.. If your equipment does not support both bands, well, honestly, it's time to upgrade your equipment. If you doubled the amount of gear on your network since it was bought, it might be also time to look at upgrading..
Don't skimp by getting the cheapest router either; consider what you pay for a years worth of service and consider heavily towards something in the range of what it costs for 3 to 4 months worth of service. Research is your friend and will save you time, money and frustration in the end. For an extender, I'd go with about 1/3rd the price of the router as a starting point.
I've been using extenders for years; many extenders can also be used as a desktop switch to put a non-wireless desktop onto a wireless network, while also serving as an extender. The latest wifi router I purchased allowed me to eliminate the extender, but I'll still find use for it. It's a number of years old, but is still sold new today.. The tp-link router rocks however.
This is way to much to take in one comment
Your problem makes sense. You didn't place the extender properly.
You expect good signal from the extender. You must give the extender good signal in the first place.
Therefore, you must place the extender AS FAR AWAY FROM THE ORIGINAL ROUTER AS POSSIBLE WHILE HAVING THE BEST POSSIBLE CONNECTION.
What you did was put the extender in an area with poor coverage. That's where your devices will connect to the repeater FROM. What was the repeater going to work with in that area if there's poor coverage to begin with?
The repeater needs good Wi-Fi coverage to begin with, so put the repeater in a spot the original router covers very well (hallway, for instance) and then test again from the room you were having issues in.
12:35 would've worked properly ONLY if the connection between your RE and the router was by cable.
I don't think I had any problems. I was demonstrating how the position alters the throughput based on signal strength. I don't know why you think I was having problems, it was my intention to show how they work and that you need place them optimally. I really don't understand your comment.
My question wasnt exactly answered but was just barely missed. At 12:21, bottom left room is where wifi is. Bottom-middle room is my room, where I game and stream. But I really want my wifi to work in the bathroom which would top-right.
Should I put a wifi extender in my room (bottom-middle)? Id also hope for a second benefit of a better connection in my room but its not necessary with ethernet. Would this just confuse my devices?
Yes, put it in the middle.
Thanks Gary, for this excellent explanation on Wi-Fi extenders. It's the best explained that I have come across.
Glad it was helpful!
The better option would be to hardwire your place with Cat5e or 6. Switch your extenderé to access point mode and plug it in the hardwire. Do a quick set up with your wifi device to give it a name and a password. After that, it will access the router with no back n forth from the wifi and you get the full speed of the modem. That’s if you means to do so
Thanks for this, you’ve just saved me time and money. I was going to get one for my bedroom upstairs because I get a low signal there but as you’ve explained a booster in that room will not help.
Tell us more about the mesh network! Great video!
I have a video already published. 👍
Really clear and useful explanation. Thanks.
im glad this video exists. but why is this kind of video appearing in 2021 - needed this in 2010
Eh? Are people no longer buying or using WiFi extenders?
Thanks garry, I wish I'd seen your video before I listened to Yorkshire Darren a few months ago, I bought a so called wifi extender/repeater, and to be honest, I think I'd have got better results useing a coat hanger.
One would recommend when setting up and AP extender to do DHCP pass threw so devices like a printer can be seen on the network Always places the extender 1/2 way between where you want the signal and the main AP. But now days a Mesh AP a set of 3 mess APs can be gotten for $150.00
Very good and detailed explanation. What should i use to get better wifi sygnal in the basement. Router is upstairs and i have ethernet cable in the basement that runs from the upstairs router.
I use a air of powerline units to extend into the garage, then WiFi AP in bridge mode to the original router. Works ok for the garage.
great video. i went for a mesh setup with fritzbox routers as my internet router is also fritzbox. i wired the extra routers, as running that wireless did almost destroy the network. i now have a router on every floor, as the concrete floors almost completely take out the wifi signals. now it all seems to work fine, but i would be interested to find out how te improve on it even more. mainly i worry about the best possible placement of the accespointrouters. i still want to add an extra accespoint to create garden wifi access. i'm thinking of putting that on a windowsill at the backend of the house. but now i worry of that interfering with the accesspoint closest to it. i use wired setups however and the mesh usually runs at 5 ghz, so i would probably run the gardenwifi at 2.4, hoping that would in turn not interfere too much with the zigbee home automation devices in my house, also running at 2.4. this stuff gets hard. i would love videos on that. maybe my situation is a good example or indication of the type of things to consider. greetings from the Netherlands
Very good and detailed explanation, thank you so much!
Great explanation for beginners! One small nitpick though. While access points usually do have the power to send at 100mW or even 500mW on 5 GHz channels you should never use these high levels because your poor smartphone usually only sends 20 to 25mW back to the access point and you don't want constant failed transmits from the smartphone crippling the experience. Better to also leave the access point at max 25 mW (14 dBm) so you truly get an idea how many access points you actually need.
The only reason you would have a single radio on an access point at full power is when you are only using that radio for a mesh link towards another access point.
But again, great simplified explanation!
Exceptional stuff Gary! Thanks :)
I have a curly one. I have an IP wifi security camera on the outside of a concrete wall which blocks the wifi to the NVR. Can I run an RJ45 cable from the RJ45 lead on the camera, through the concrete wall to the RJ45 socket on the wifi extender inside the house and expect the extender to transmit to the NVR via wifi? The alternative is to remove the aerial on the camera and plug a coax into the camera sma socket and have a yagi on the other end of the coax aimed at the NVR. I already have the latter working on another outside camera where the wall is timber frame and the yagi is on the outside with the camera.
This will work if you connect the NVR Ethernet port to the main wifi router to which the wifi extender connects.
This works because the camera and NVR Ethernet port end up on the same subnet. The NVRs MDNS (boujour) broadcasts will then make to the camera and allow the camera to discover the NVR and connect
@@02840321 yes, the nvr and router are connected, I was mainly concerned that I would be using the extender backwards, ie video into the rj45 and out of the aerial
@@02840321 Thanks David, I'll try that when the camera arrives!
Thank you Gary for such infomative infomation, we struggle with these marketing infomation. be blessed.
Glad I could help!
they are good at reducing your wifi bandwidth by 60-75% (unless fed by network cable and just operating in AP mode)
Great explanations! Please complete a performance testing with WIFI extender via Ethernet connectivity
Right at the beginning you say that by relaying data through a single-radio extender, you lose at least 50 percent of your throughput compared to connecting directly at close range to the wired access point. Then in the rest of your figures that 50 percent factor disappears without explanation. Can Gary Explain? This is overall pretty clear, but a little light in its coverage of the situation where an extender does make sense: If there is a location where you need, but can't quite get, a Wi-Fi signal, and you can put the extender approximately halfway between that location and the existing Wi-Fi AP, a good extender is likely to get a reliable (but not full-speed) connection to where you need it.
This was an excellent presentation. Thank you it helped me!!!
Glad it was helpful!
I like setting up these extenders in client mode. That doesn't create a new SSID, but gives connectivity via the ethernet port. They usually work better than a WIFI USB dongle. It's running openwrt, btw.
That works good for a situation where you just have a few devices that can be hardwired to the extender. For solving an issue where 1/3 of the house is a deadzone due to distance/obstruction/em interference, I opted for the MOCA route. The extender can sync to the existing wifi for SSID settings but has the same bandwidth as if it was plugged directly into the router, thanks to the coax wiring in the house acting as a really effing long ethernet run.
You can connect an ethernet cable to a Wi-Fi extender if you want a hard-wired connection. This will help to get a stable internet connection where Wi-Fi signal tends to go weak. The speed of the connection depends on your purchased plan and capacity of the extender
You mean like this? th-cam.com/video/4OkEoanbOeo/w-d-xo.html
Hi Gary, could you please provide the link for the mesh video? Cheers!
Sure it is: th-cam.com/video/mOiu9fgOhFo/w-d-xo.html BTW, do you know how I found it, I typed "gary explains mesh" into TH-cam and it was the first result 🤯
Gary, you mention running an ethernet cable between the router and the extender/access point.
Is it possible to do it the other way around? i.e a cable from the access point to feed another building?
Router Extender secondary router/access point
Never mind - i had an epiphany and managed to test my theory - It works!
For anyone else wanting to do the same, i'm using a Netgear N300 wifi range extender (essentials edition). model number EX2700-100UKS
Can u the WiFi extender over a network cable connected to the original access point. Thanks
If the network extender provides that functionality (i.e. it has an Ethernet port) then yes.
Do they work in sequence or have to originate from the main access point? Trying to use this strategy in a 4 plex to provide internet for each unit. But the 4th is too far from the main modem and router. What about wired from main router to 3 other cheap routers. They get they're own ssid for each unit
You need a mesh network, I have a video about mesh networking here in this channel.
I would love to hear you explain how mesh networks using things like unifi access points using poe work to allow you to go from access point to access point smoothly
Yes, as I say in this video I will be doing a video in mesh. 👍
I tried an extender but it wasn't working well. I changed to a mesh network and it works like a charm.
Same here. Used a wifi extender for like 9 months and got 2/3 of my actual speeds. Switched to mesh and now get full speeds everywhere, and seamless switching too. Definitely recommend mesh over extender.
@@ozziekhoo My biggest issue was the switching as well.
Now I don't even notice when it switches, not even in a video conference.
@@ozziekhoo mesh normally have 3 radios (more expensive) (Triband - 5ghz dedicated radio for backhaul, 5ghz for devices, 2.4ghz for older devices), repeater normally are 2 radios (Dual band - 5ghz for backhaul AND devices, 2.4 ghz for older devices) . Once you backhaul (upstream) and devices (downstream) sharing same radio, is not good.
9:30 how do you cook and prepare meals? you don't seem to have a kitchen
We eat out a lot. 🤣
Wow , nice explanation ! Question , I use a firestick and that tells me the Wi-Fi connectivity in terms of fair , good , very good etc , also my Wi-Fi is called whole home coverage , so there are 2 Wi-Fi routers strategically placed in 2 different places in my house , also it has 2.4 and 5 ghz , and I have a rock space extender with 2 antennas on it , and I thought I was occasionally losing signal on my firestick in one bedroom , so I tried the rock space in there , both the original Wi-Fi and the extender show very good / very good on my firestick , I realize that this is not the best way to test , but after seeing this video , I don’t think my extender is helping my situation at all ? Can anybody help me out with this , thank you
Excellent explainer. Thank you.
Hello.Nice vid but my problem is not solved! My router D-Link with 4 antennas stay in the living room and I want to have internet in my workshop wich is 15 yards and 3 walls from the router. And I will not drill holes thru the walls. Is it possible to connect for example 3 extenders in every room to get a good wifi signal??? Thanks and greetings from Norway
Yes, see my video on Mesh networking.
@@GaryExplains Thanks pal
Soooo useful! This could be a great "how to effectively distribute your internet bandwidth around your home" type playlist for people getting better broadband or with constant wifi problems (most people lol)
Which one do you recommend
I have a solar cctv and would like to know if these boosters will boost the phone signal to pick up the cctv signal better?
Can you link multiple wifi extenders? Like this? Main router ---> wifi extender 1 ---> wifi extender 2 ---> wifi extender 3. Like that? So i can have internet connection even if i am meters and meters away from my main wifi?
That is called a MESH network, I have a separate video about that.
Not bad, but one important case you should have included: put the extender roughly ½ way between the router and the intended room, not necessarily in each room.
You must disable DHCP settings on your extender if you are going to keep the same SSID as the main network and use as a wireless repeater to another wireless router.
Is wifi extender meshed with the main router and will have unified access point or it is still the same a seperate access point for wifi extentee
I thought I covered all of that in the video. Was something unclear?
Do a video on all of them. I like hearing your teaching pedagogy
Hey Gary. Does changing the position of antenna in a router strengthen or weaken the wifi signal? Have searched a lot about it, everybody saying different things. Really confused. Need your help professor! 🙏
Runing secondary AP on classic cable is always a better choice ;-)
@@aaronjeremy7721 Hi Gary, CHECK YOUR ACCOUNT AND CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD!!!
@@kubik256 exactly. Gary has gone. Account mafia. Tomorrow mafia video?!?
My account is fine. That is a fake account with the same name. I am cleaning it up.
No, I haven't "gone".
@@GaryExplains Oh sorry than, it looked really authentic :-)
I'm slow, still trying to wrap my head around the last example... 😅 So, if your phone is outdoors, on the other side of a wall, is it simply the physical closeness of the wifi extender that enables your phone to get a connection? (Say 16%, vs 0% with no extender).
Yes, because it is connected to the extender's network not the original access point.
Question, is a router good next to a window it's the only place I can place mine ?
Hello,
I have a question that could be useful to many people having problems with wifi range.
Lets say we us two extenders, one at 10m away from the router and the second one 20m away. How does the second extender work? Does it extend the original network or it could be paired with first extender so it extends its network?
Thanks
I have a video on mesh networking which covers that exact case.
Thanks for the clear tutorial on Wifi Extender. To your last example while you are in the garden you can still receive 16% Mbps. What happens when I place the Extender in the Router Room itself? What %?
Good video, but I’m a bit confused. It sounds like mesh networks are the way to go, to get really speed and distance? Is this correct?
Yes, use a mesh network or add some physical cabling when you can. I have videos about both here on this channel.
Thank you for an honest discussion
can't connect a extender to a extender to router, is that what mesh is help
I need to know if this world work if im trying to Get wifi from the house to the camper about 15 feet away from the house and the router. Any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks. Much love and respect Matthew.
Since you say the camper is only 15 feet from the router then the question is can you already get WiFi signal in the camper?
@@GaryExplains yes I get a very weak signal in the camper
That was a great explanation, thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
I have a metal refrigerator that blocks my router's signal to a certain room. Can a range extender help in this case?
Yes
@@GaryExplains Thank you.
Hey Gary could please explain how universal clipboard works what is the tech behind it.
Really? I didn't think it was complex enough to need a whole video. Like passwords or your contacts or your viewing history, it just synchronized via the cloud. Am I missing something?
@@GaryExplains So it will depend on iCloud
You are a very good explainer!!!
I have a WiFi security camera I have a WiFi extender because of the distance involved I can connect with my base router with the extender. I can connect the Camera with the WiFi extender. In the home I have a security camera recording DVR connected to the base WiFi. However I am unable to have the signal from the camera pass through the WiFi extender and or the WiFi Base to the DVR. When accessing the Base WiFi connections, the Extender is listed correctly. Any idea what is going wrong?
Greetings, I listened to your video on wifi extenders. I just purchased two wav link extenders in hopes to get a wifi signal from my house to my shop, which is 170 feet away. I put one extender outside my house and the other extender on the outside of my shop (line of sight). I guess I'm attempting to make a bridge so I can reach the distance and enable me to watch you tube videos in my shop. When I connected my extenders to my network I have a wifi signal but when connected it says, "connected but no internet". Is this normal or is my internet service provider not allowing me to add this. Sorta confused at this point.
Very useful explanation. Thanks.
I've used WiFi extenders and I have the same issues you had. That is until I swapped everything for a mesh. You can get a 3 mesh network for under 100 pounds.
Original sky router. Lounge 100 percent, kitchen 70 percent, bedroom 50 percent, loft 25 percent. Using an extender Lounge 100 percent, kitchen 85 percent, bedroom 75 percent, loft 40 percent.
Mesh network. Lounge 100 percent, Kitchen 97 percent, bedroom 95 percent, loft 90 percent. So mesh is brilliant. My ping is also very good in games.
Thanks for sharing your test results, very interesting. Am I right in assuming that you didn't use a wired connection between the mesh units. Also what brand/model of mesh did you use?
@@GaryExplains I wired the mesh into the router and disabled the WiFi on the sky router. That's used as only a modem. I've got one in downstairs hall plugged into modem, one on middle floor in guest bedroom and one in the loft which is wired into my computer and Xbox. But the speed reading was on my phone. Maximum speed is 31mbs and minimum 27mbs. TP link deco E4
Very helpful, thanks.
@@GaryExplains Before that I could never get more than 12 in the loft which is where I've got a home office/Hifi and gaming stuff. It's where we zoom/Skype from as well. So it's the place that needs the internet the most. When we had sky Q the mini boxes worked like a mesh and not too bad. Stable 12 minimum. When we left sky Q because we didn't watch it enough then it got really hard. Tried WiFi extenders, using big routers with 4 antennas but nothing was reliable. Ping was sometimes good, other times bad. If you used one device downstairs to stream TV the loft would suffer. Couldn't justify spending 300 on a mesh so when these came out reduced from 140 to just 89 went for it. Another advantage is it's the same network so if you cast something from a phone to a TV or Chromecast you'll be on the right network. Some of my devices need you to disconnect WiFi and reconnect if you change rooms or they'll stay on wrong access point. Others much better.
Amazing explainetion ❤❤❤
Glad you liked it
thank you sir, this was very informative.
Link to the app please.
To which app?
There is many things with WiFi and networks in general. For better coverage of your WiFi, you could use MESH networks, something that would be interesting to see you cover. Now when we are getting all those small smart networked stuff, where some of them is not able to configure or you can't be sure of the security it then would be wise to have such things on a separate network. Some of us might have some kind of servers with access to the internet and there it would be wise to have that on a separate net. Most might know that if you brake into a server and get access to that, then you hole network is on risk... So more on the topic of security and segmenting.
I say in the video at least twice that I will cover mesh networks. Did you watch it all?
@@GaryExplains I'm sorry that you took it that way ;-( But very few seems to cover the security aspects of wireless.
I think the security aspect is important, but it is less about the network and more about not buying smart-enabled devices from random Chinee companies with no history of support. Putting a Wi-Fi enable baby camera on a separate net won't help. If the device is configured to be accessed from the Internet then it is game over. If a hacker has gained access to your main LAN then you have bigger problems than just putting your baby monitor on a different network. As for hacking Wi-Fi, if that is actually happening to you then hiding the SSID won't help.
Very informative. Thanks. My house has wired ethernet and the junction box is in the basement where the DSL comes in. That's where my c1000z centurylink access point sits. I get good wifi on the first floor but poor to none on the front and back porch. I'd like to fix that.
I have a second c1000z available and would like to configure them so the second access point gets it's signal from one of the ethernet ports and sends the wifi from there. I've searched but can't find an explanation I can understand. I don't think the c1000z is capable of bridge mode or manual DHCP or whatever is needed to do this. If anyone has any helpful knowledge on a way to accomplish this please let me know. Thanks
I have a follow-up video which might help: th-cam.com/video/4OkEoanbOeo/w-d-xo.html
Great video!! Very informational, Thanks 😁
Glad it was helpful!
Excellent video Gary, but I still have a question. At 12:37 putting the Wi-Fi extender in the same room as your device doesn't help. But if you put the extender somewhere between the router and the device, like in the corridor or inside the bottom middle bedroom, would it be better to connect directly to the router or to the extender? Because it's not the same as in 13:26 that you don't have a direct connection to the router.
If you put the extender in the middle but you are at the other end of the house (away from both transmitters} then you should get better bandwidth by connecting to the extender, but it is worth experimenting.
Thank you so much for your detailed explanation of a wi-if repeater. I, however, have a query as to whether or not having such an extender would lessen the security of your original relatively private system. I have read recently that having such a device would greatly diminish the security of one’s data. In advance, thank you. very much…….Joe
I'd love a video on MOCA and it's advantages, And disadvantages, over power line. When I moved in, the wifi is terrible in my room. My roommates gave me a power line adapter. Horrid performance. I went out and got a Mocha adapter and it's just shy of the performance I'd get over Ethernet. Pair that with a wifi access point, and I've got amazing connectivity in my room.
I would like a video on Etherley connected Wi-Fi extenders