Recommend a WiFi signal booster or extender?

[cantdrv55]

Lots on the market so very hard to choose. Can you recommend a certain brand? Where’d you buy it? Thanks.

[aschen]

No Network expertise, but went to a mesh system about 18 months ago and all my wifi woes are relieved


I went eero 3 node system for my 3000ish sqft house works fantastic to include my garage and back yard.

[Ayles]

Same here, been on a Google mesh system with one router and two extenders. Covers 3k sqf no problem.

[Chocaholic]

Mesh here also. TP-link Deco. No brainer.

[cantdrv55]

Mesh router? Does that mean I have to switch out my router? I don’t know if that’s possible as it came with the 2 year deal I agreed to with Xfinity.

[jyl]

No, you just plug the mesh system base station into the Xfinity router/modem/access point. The base station communicates with the mesh satellites you put elsewhere in your house.

I've used eero, which was pretty good and dead easy to set up. Gave them to a friend who love 'em.

Now I use Orbi, not quite as easy to set up but seems a bit faster.

[Ayles]

You dont have to use their router. Just run the cat 5 out of the modem into the router of your choice.

[cantdrv55]

Ok thanks guys

[astrochex]

Is brand important for a mesh system?

[Deschodt]

Mesh.. extenders divide the bandwidth in half.
Any Mesh, google, Eero, whatever, plug one on your modem, then another within line of sight if possible.. Or if inconvenient route an ethernet cable thru your house and have a second WIfi there ?

[greglepore]

A ton of providers are using gigaspire modem/routers now, which have inherent and very good mesh capability. You can pick up units on ebay for $30-50 if that's what your provider uses, do a factory reset, and link them to mesh. I cover the better part of 3 acres with 5 for under $150 and can stream music everywhere...

[cabmandone]

I have mesh covering my house and two out buildings. I'm using TP link Deco Mesh. I have one wired node in my barn that connects to a main node in the house with ethernet cable. I hard wired this node because the barn has metal siding. The rest are all wireless. I have wifi, and more importantly the same network, across my entire property and for about 1/4 down the road from my house.

[1990C4S]

We went to Google mesh when we had a house full of people working from home. Very easy, works great.

[Rtrorkt]

https://www.amplifi.com/ Been using this system for about 4 years. Great coverage in a single story 3000sf house

[jyl]

cantdrv, I did a ton of research on mesh systems and at the end of the day couldn't find any good way to predict which brand would work "best" for me, but had confidence that any major brand would work "okay". Just pick one, on aesthetics or price or whatever. They are not that expensive, you can always add nodes/satellites or switch brands.

Mesh systems really changed the game. Before that I had to cobble together power-line transmitters, multiple AirPoints, etc. It worked fine but needed constant attention. I need to pay attention to my Orbi system maybe once every two years, and then it is usually because someone moved or unplugged a unit.

[Bill Douglas]

There is a small apartment at the back of my house. Probably a signal booster wouldn't work because of the walls. I ran a cat5 type ethernet cable and put a wifi router in the place. Works great.

[cantdrv55]

I ended up buying this from Amazon and it will be delivered today. My brother bought the previous model to this and it’s been performing well for him. His house is bigger but mine is a tri-level. We will see if it’ll work for me. It’s returnable which is why I bought from Amazon.

[greglepore]

The only issue I ever have with my mesh system is occasionally when either streaming music or wifi calling (we lack cell service) I'll get a drop when moving between nodes of the system and have to reload.

[DavidI]

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Deco-AXE5400-Tri-Band-XE75/dp/B0B88T5RDY/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1BPP8BIAUT80G&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.S9y9E0da1teFQ2nC4xnGRS-R9w3Tyw3nJWbN7FD_Ij9Iqo4vLiXg1-fp3o9YBt5ZJIxsKKI9wCLOPBpRWFsMPbnhuT0UzvQHOrFcNCI_ HPDpuZu8ki57hltml8jMyX6Qe2l1Fn7JMopjk-v0QVrphepuquhAqLHNViW6mWRWa04HQqGO8LBxnDx5-o4le3w3gzj1-RqNNQ_52EKuo8nwnb_MSQAKnwaDSbd2ff9cVeM.BwcQv4fNf5n oFk-iM3KABll2Q4nPydy9-pkKRrQnbtQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=home+mesh+wifi+system&qid=1727909152&sprefix=home+mesh%2Caps%2C217&sr=8-6

A mesh system is the way to go. October 8 and 9, 2024, is "Prime Day" and I bet you can find them cheaper.

Good luck, David

[wildthing]

I use Amazon's eero. Bought a set of 3 that supports WiFi 6. I'm sure they have my browsing data and other stuff, apart from my Amazon history.