The prices ranged from $20 to more than $200, which is a bigger gap than the last time we looked at these devices. With all of that in mind, we set out to see just how effective a low-cost WiFi extender can be in improving coverage. Following up on testing done in 2020, we recently evaluated seven popular models from Linksys, Netgear, and TP-Link, companies that also make some of the highest-scoring routers in our ratings (available to CR members). You’ll pay even more if you want cutting-edge features like WiFi 6E. The problem is that a good mesh router setup starts at around $150. Those have two or three units that work together to spread WiFi more evenly throughout your home. It might even help to move the device just a few inches back, forward, or to the side.In some cases, according to our testing, a mesh router system may be a better solution. If you keep a streaming media device or a printer hidden away, that may contribute to it having poor connectivity. And that means where you keep your connected devices makes a difference, too. Water, believe it or not, can also block WiFi signals-avoid placing an access point behind a fish tank, Robinson advises.Īdditionally, keep in mind that WiFi involves a two-way conversation between a gadget such as laptop and the router. “For example, drywall impedes the signal less than concrete or cinder block.” “The construction of the walls and how dense those walls are all factor into the propagation of the signal,” Robinson says. The building materials matter, too, which is why old homes with stone walls can present more WiFi problems than newer homes. That’s one less barrier to slow down the signal. If the router sits in a room with a closed, thick wooden door, open the door. The effect is cumulative: The more obstructions, the bigger the problem.Īs a rule of thumb, if you can see your router from where your device is, you’ll probably have a good connection. If the router is inside a drawer, move it. Though the WiFi signals that power our devices may be invisible, most impediments to those signals are in plain view.įloors, walls, and doors-anything standing between your router and your device-can slow the signal down. “It should be somewhere between where the coverage problem is and where the other base station is,” Robinson says. So you shouldn’t put the second unit in the middle of a room that gets poor WiFi coverage, even if that’s the problem you’re trying to solve. You need a good connection between the main and satellite units. But location matters with these multi-unit systems, too. The systems use multiple units to talk to each other and expand your network coverage area. Many units simply plug into wall outlets and cost $100 or less for a pair.Īnother option is to create a multiple access point system, such as the mesh networks that have come on the market in the past couple of years. Some internet service providers can do this for you, and another option is to invest in powerline adapters-these use your home’s existing electrical wiring like a network cable to transfer data to a centrally placed router. If the data connection running into your home is in some corner bedroom, you may need to run ethernet cable from that spot to a more central location. But this isn’t always easy to accomplish.
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