WiFi Boosters Vs. Repeaters Vs. Extenders: Everything You Need To Know
WiFi boosters vs. repeaters vs. extenders: Everything you need to know
You don't have to live in a mansion to be frustrated by areas of your home receiving only a weak WiFi signal — regardless of how much you pay for high speeds.
In some cases, entire rooms or floors may be completely devoid of signal. Typically, you restrict your WiFi usage to the rooms or areas of your home with the strongest WiFi signal.
Fortunately, this need not be the case. There are ways to provide a strong WiFi signal throughout your home, allowing you to use your favorite devices in any room you please. After all, you're paying for the service, and you should have the freedom to use it however you please.
Although many people use the term "WiFi" interchangeably, which makes discussing the devices somewhat difficult, this article will cover everything you need to know to understand the various ways you can extend WiFi coverage throughout your home.
What is a WiFi booster?
The term "WiFi booster" is frequently used in a generic sense. This is analogous to saying, "Hand me that tool," rather than requesting a more specific item, such as a hammer or a saw. In simple terms, a WiFi booster is any device that is used to amplify or extend the range of a wireless signal.
For example, a WiFi booster can be either a repeater or an extender — although most people use the term to refer to a WiFi repeater. There is, however, a third method for boosting a WiFi signal. You have the option of upgrading your antenna.
How does a WiFi antenna increase the strength of a signal?
An antenna is required to broadcast all WiFi signals. Often, your home's wireless router — the device that enables wireless Internet access — lacks a robust antenna.
Upgrading an antenna to boost a WiFi signal is analogous to putting your finger over the end of a hose: the water travels farther, but it is also a more concentrated stream. As a result, if you increase the signal strength in one area, you may actually reduce the signal strength in other areas of your home, which may or may not be acceptable.
What is a WiFi repeater?
A WiFi repeater is a device that can assist in expanding your home or office's WiFi coverage. To gain a better understanding of what a WiFi repeater does, a baseball analogy may be helpful. Because a centerfielder may not be able to throw the ball all the way to home plate from deep centerfield, they must instead throw it to the second baseman, who must catch it and then throw it home. If the ball were a WiFi signal, the second baseman would act as a WiFi repeater.
How do WiFi repeaters work?
WiFi repeaters, on the other hand, are a little more complicated than the baseball analogy, as they actually create a second network. This secondary network is where your devices will connect in order to maintain service.
If it helps, consider a second baseman who catches one ball but throws another. The WiFi repeater distributes a strong, new WiFi signal to areas of your home with insufficient coverage. While this may appear to be the ideal solution for comprehensive coverage throughout your home, it does have some drawbacks, which we will discuss later in this article.
Is a WiFi repeater the same as a mesh network?
If you purchase multiple WiFi repeaters, you may believe you are creating a mesh network that provides strong WiFi coverage throughout your home, but this is not always the case.
There is a critical distinction between utilizing multiple WiFi repeaters and establishing a mesh network. With WiFi repeaters, communication is limited to a single direction. To continue our analogy, this means that no matter how many other players are on the field, the centerfielder can only throw the ball to the second baseman. With a mesh network, the centerfielder, on the other hand, can throw the ball to any other player on the field, strategically choosing the path that gets the ball to its destination the fastest.
In other words, a WiFi repeater will always take the same path, whereas a mesh network will always take the path of least resistance.
What is a WiFi extender?
A WiFi extender performs the same function as a WiFi repeater. The primary difference is in how the signal is delivered to areas of your home that are not covered. Rather than establishing a new network, these devices simply extend the reach of the one you already have.
How do they work?
Whereas a WiFi repeater receives signals via a wireless connection, a WiFi extender receives signals via a wired connection. If your home is wired with coaxial cable, this will suffice. Certain newer homes may even be hardwired with Ethernet connections to facilitate connectivity. However, if you do not have either of these, do not despair; the wired signal can be carried via the electrical lines in your home.
WiFi booster vs. repeater vs. extender: Pros and cons
Now that you have a basic understanding of the options for extending WiFi coverage inside your home, let's examine the advantages and disadvantages of each method in greater detail.
Upgraded antennae
If it is possible to upgrade the antenna on your WiFi router to increase its range — you'll need to check with the manufacturer — the cost is typically minimal, and the process is typically quite simple. However, this may not be sufficient to resolve the issue.
Because everything that a WiFi signal passes through weakens it, the boost in power you receive from upgrading your antenna may simply be insufficient to make a noticeable difference. Additionally, as previously stated, increasing the power implies sharpening the focus. In other words, strengthening the signal to reach one room may cause it to weaken or disappear entirely in adjacent rooms.
WiFi repeater
If your home is compact, a WiFi repeater may be the best option. When strategically placed, this device will amplify the signal, providing coverage to the most underserved areas of your home. However, it comes at a cost: a WiFi repeater will significantly reduce your bandwidth. This is not a desirable solution if you have multiple devices connected to the Internet at the same time, as it will significantly slow your connection.
Mesh network
As previously stated, a mesh network functions similarly to a WiFi repeater. As a result, each node (receiver/transmitter) in the network's bandwidth will be reduced by half. If you must jump between two or more nodes to obtain coverage, you will almost certainly notice a significant decrease in speed — which may be acceptable if the area previously lacked coverage. On the plus side, the nodes communicate with one another to continuously determine the optimal path for signal extension, providing the highest possible speeds available at any given time.
WiFi extender
Due to the fact that a WiFi extender utilizes a wired connection to extend your existing network, it has two distinct advantages over other devices. To begin, a WiFi extender will not halve your bandwidth. Second, because the signal is received via a wired connection, you will have significantly more placement options for your WiFi extender.
This means that, unlike a wireless signal, the signal received by the device will not be diminished by doors, floors, or walls. With a WiFi extender, you can extend your WiFi coverage to every room in your home, including the garage and basement.
Summary
Not long ago, playing a video game online required positioning yourself within a few feet of your home's WiFi router to ensure the signal was strong enough to play. Not only is it possible to blanket your entire house with strong, reliable WiFi coverage nowadays, but it is also affordable. Additionally, it eliminates the need for a technician to perform the installation, as the majority of devices are designed to be plug-and-play.
