Seeking Advice - WiFi Extenders

[Tidybuoy]

I am not an IT guru and I need help understanding how this works and hooks up.

The Problem:
My house is old, plaster, thick walls (about 10" thick). I have a SimplySafe alarm system that gets WiFi interruption alerts a few times a day. Basically, I get a text that states system has lost connection, and follows up with a re-connection text a few seconds later. This occurs at least 5-6 times per week.

I called SimplySafe and they had me reset the base unit by removing the batteries for an hour and that seemed to work for about a week and now I'm back to the same.

My router is located on the second floor at one end o the house and the alarm system is located downstairs at the other end of the house. Not that far since it's a two story but walls and floors are thick (95 yr old house).

My Question: does a WiFi extender have to be hardwired? And, are there better ones than what would be provided from xfinity?

[WPOZZZ]

I tried extenders and they worked, but they were also spotty. Go with a Wifi6 Mesh system.

[aschen]

Mesh system would work great in your case.

I use a 3 node eero system for my 3200sqft house, really a huge step change improvement over single point router.

[Cajundaddy]

Mesh for the win.

[908/930]

Yup, mesh works well. Place one near difficult wall, in my case 8" solid concrete wall into garage, no problem.

[TimT]

Or something like this... It uses your houses existing wiring to extend a wifi network

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-AV600-Powerline-WiFi-Extender/dp/B00HSQAIQU?th=1

[cabmandone]

I replaced my hodgepodge network with mesh and really like it. But you could just add another router configured as a wireless access point or buy one of the plug in style repeater. The plug in repeater works okay.

[astrochex]

Originally Posted by TimT

Or something like this... It uses your houses existing wiring to extend a wifi network

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-AV600-Powerline-WiFi-Extender/dp/B00HSQAIQU?th=1

This link did not work.

[jhynesrockmtn]

I use a google mesh system. I just upgraded after several years to their newest version. My house is an odd shape and has plaster walls and metal siding. I have 6 nodes to cover the space and a hardwired one in my shop. So far, so good.

[Bill Douglas]

It may work for others so I'll mention what I did.

I ran a cat5 (or cat6, dunno which) from a port on my wifi router to the apartment at the back of my house. Then got another wifi router but set it up as a secondary router so it's ip address is different, and plugged that in. So instead of a signal getting weaker it's 100% up to strength and doesn't drop off.

Another thing to note is 5GHz doesn't go through walls very well and 2.4 is a whole lot better at walls and distance.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by TimT

Or something like this... It uses your houses existing wiring to extend a wifi network

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-AV600-Powerline-WiFi-Extender/dp/B00HSQAIQU?th=1

I had a Powerline system and took it out, speeds varied widely depending on where I plugged it in. The electrical wiring needs to be close to a straight shot to the router for it to be effective.

Like the others have said, a mesh WiFi system will be your best bet. I have a TP-Link Deco WiFi 6 system and it works well. There are lots of options, I would probably grab whatever happens to be on sale that week at Bestbuy. Ideally you want one satellite per floor unless you have a lot of square footage.

[cabmandone]

If should have mentioned, my setup is TP link deco mesh. Mine isn't wifi6. I have six nodes. Two are direct wired. One wired to the modem direct and one connected to it that is out in my barn. I have three covering the house, first floor, second floor and garage. Two in the barn and one out in my shop. I have coverage anywhere I go on my 2 acre property.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by cabmandone

If should have mentioned, my setup is TP link deco mesh. Mine isn't wifi6. I have six nodes. Two are direct wired. One wired to the modem direct and one connected to it that is out in my barn. I have three covering the house, first floor, second floor and garage. Two in the barn and one out in my shop. I have coverage anywhere I go on my 2 acre property.

That’s a good point, if your house has Ethernet and you can hardwire to the base station, you’ll get better speeds.

[SpyderMike]

One issue with wifi extenders is slowing down overall network speed due to rebroadcasting comms back and forth. A mesh network fixes this.

[Rtrorkt]

An extender just takes a weak signal and stretches it, a mesh system delivers the same signal as at the router throughout the house/office.

Have an earlier version of this system. Works very well.
https://amplifi.com/alien

[MBAtarga]

Originally Posted by aschen

Mesh system would work great in your case.

I use a 3 node eero system for my 3200sqft house, really a huge step change improvement over single point router.

^+1

We've also got 3 nodes - about 6000 sq ft 3 level house. Router/gateway is in the basement, 1 eero almost directly above it on the main floor in the den/kitchen, another in the master on the main floor near this computer I'm on, and the 3rd eero upstairs in the open loft/office area where my wife works. Simple to set up and no complaints with about 6 months of use.

[flipper35]

We have Ubiquity APs, but our house was wired for it. Works great.

Put a Deco in at mom and dads which works very well for them, other than the one node is too close to the TV and it will drop a few packets now and then.

[Tidybuoy]

I bought the TP-link Deco AXE5400 WiFi 6E (that's a long title).

I ordered on Amazon last night at 8pm and it was on my doorstep this morning - amazing. I will install it this afternoon when I go to my rental.

I was convinced that my SimplySafe was defective as I have been getting error messages about 3 times per week. Then, yesterday, I moved my modem/wifi about 3ft since I moved a piece of furniture. Immediately, I started getting error messages. I would get "WiFi interferance" and then two seconds later "everything ok". I was getting this about every two min. I moved my modem/wifi back to its original location (I think) but the error messages continued. In fact, I had to turn my ringer off since it was constant texts. This morning when I woke up, I had 277 text messages from my security system. I look forward to getting this resolved.

The Deco mesh came with 3 stations so I will try one on each level (upstairs, downstairs, and basement).

These will initially communicate via wifi but I plan on running a WAN cable to the basement when I install the conduit for my security cameras from attic to basement (next month's project).

Thanks for all the great advice!

[zakthor]

I use a pair of ethernet over power adapters to get a gb to the basement, then connect that to a mikrotik hap set in bridge mode. Has been flawless for almost a decade.

My provider and access points come and go but that fixed link has been flawless.

Current house is served by a mesh of 3 devices provided by quantum fiber but they still cant reach that part of the house (downstairs room, alarm, hot water heater.)

I like that its its own independent thing.

[Tidybuoy]

PROBLEM SOLVED!

I ended up buying the Deco AEX5400 WiFi 6E and it seems to have solved all my problems. I placed the units (3 of them) 2nd floor, 1st floor, and Basement. I haven't had any problems since.

Thanks for all the advice - it worked.