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Do Wi-Fi Range Extenders Work?

Thursday, January 15th, 2009 by Lockergnome at 12:45pm
6 Responses (Add)

I’m having trouble getting a wireless signal into the far end of my house. Do Wi-Fi range extenders really work? – Max

Wi-Fi networks in a typical home are invariably prone to weak or non-existent signals in some portion of the house. Without any obstructions, Wi-Fi signals can theoretically reach 300-500 feet, but unless you live inside of a warehouse with no walls, you are more likely to see decent signal in the 75-150 foot range.

Wi-Fi networks use a weak radio signal that can be blocked or weakened by any number of construction materials: cinder block, concrete, metal, and even wood and drywall.

The more barriers between your wireless router and your computer, the weaker the signal will likely be, which also translates to slower connection speeds.

Before you invest in any more technology, you can try a couple of simple tests to see if your signal will improve. Start by moving the router around, if possible. Moving it around in the room it’s in as well as moving it to another room can sometimes make a noticeable difference.

In general, the best location in your house (if you want coverage throughout) is as close to the middle as possible or on the second floor if you live in a two-story house. Keep it off the floor and away from walls and large metal objects, like filing cabinets.

Range extenders (or wireless repeaters) can be useful, but they come with a downside: lower speeds. In most cases, you will get half of the throughput (or less) than connecting directly to your wireless router, so don’t expect the same type of performance.

If you are simply surfing the Web and checking e-mail, the speed difference shouldn’t be that noticeable. If you are into gaming, you probably won’t like the lag created by the additional overhead of the extender.

The range extender must also be located within signal range of your wireless router; the stronger the signal, the more it has to boost, so you will need to experiment with placement.

They work best in situations where you have a weak signal in the desired location and need to boost it up by installing the extender halfway between the remote computer and your wireless router.

If the location that you are trying to reach is currently showing no signal, a range extender may get you a signal, but it won’t be like the signal (and speeds) on the other end of the house.

For the best results, buy range extenders (or access points that can be used as wireless repeaters) of the same brand as your wireless router. Before making any buying decision, check with the manufacturer’s Web site for advice on the best combination based on what you already have.

Another option, especially if you don’t need to be mobile while connected to your home network is to make use of your home’s electrical outlets through the installation of power-line adapters.

Power-line (or power-LAN) adapters simply plug into any electrical outlet near your router and the remote computer and use the electrical wires as a network cable. As with range extenders, you will not achieve maximum speeds connecting this way, but it’s a cheap and reliable way to get on your home network.

Power-line adapters are available from most all of the major home networking companies, such as Linksys, Netgear, and D-Link (and some are even combining power-line with built-in range extenders).

Ken Colburn
President of Data Doctors Computer Services, Host of the award-winning Computer Corner radio show, and Author of Computer Q&A in the East Valley Tribune newspapers.

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6 Comments

Sangueffusor

January 16th, 2009
at 1:56pm

You could also try the Ez-12 12 dB Parabolic Reflector antenna from http://www.freeantennas.com/ which is easy to make and use.

Saracen11

January 16th, 2009
at 10:05pm

I agree with the article with one sharp difference. Placing the Linksys range extender at various midpoints did not work at all; there was no signficant boost in the signal. By trial and error, I discovered that the most effective boost is achieved by placing the range extender near the computer which I am trying to link to the wi fi router (also a Linksys router which purported to have extended range and speed). Once I did that, the signal strength and speed of the connection improved dramatically.

Tony Lang

January 17th, 2009
at 1:49am

Hi,
Re your comments on range extenders, My computer and router are downstairs at the front of the house. My daughters both have computers with wireless network cards upstairs at the back of the house. The signal at their computers was so weak that it was very difficult to connect and if they could the data rate was very low.
I considered getting a range extender but before I did I searched around the web and found designs for cylindrical parabolic reflectors which sit behind the antenna on your wireless router and make it much more directional with a stronger signal. I did a simple experiment with a cut up pringles can, cardboard and sellotape and the signal at my daughter’s computers went up dramatically. I’ve since made a more robust unit with metallised plastic sheet. I’ve also added some higher gain antennas on my daugther’s computers and the signal strength is now full scale on the Netgear monitoring software.
You can buy ready made reflectors but it’s so easy to make one that it’s well worth it.
Regards
Tony Lang

Kame

January 29th, 2009
at 2:52pm

Really concise and comprehensive article, thank you Ken, but you gotta love Tony Lang’s parabolic reflector made from a cut-up Pringles container and cellotape! What type of Pringles, regular or light? Seriously though, what was the cardboard for, to keep the parabolic Pringles cyclinder from rolling over? Actually, the direction you described, upstairs and other end of a house, is pretty much what I am trying to “bridge”, so I will definitely give a home made parabolic refelector a go. Also thank you Sangueffusor for the link. Nice site, bookmarked for sure!

Jennifer

March 5th, 2009
at 8:01am

So how would you increase the range when your router has no external antenna, only internal? Netgear RangeMax Wireless-N Router WNR834B

Router is connected to computer in mil’s house some 200 ft away. Getting low to no signal in our house on desktop and laptop. Need something to increase signal in our house.

John

August 23rd, 2009
at 11:01am

Hello, I recently made both the EZ-10 and EZ-12 antenna reflectors (go to freeantennas.com) and tested them on my WPNT 834a RangeMax wireless router which has 3 broadcasting antennas and is a MIMO router. Today I woke up to having my DC transformer blown. And I am thinking it’s because these reflectors cause the router to suck more amps. Have you heard anything like this happening before? Luckily I have an universal tranformer I am using now to write here in this blog. Also, I have found that my EZ-12, which is 1.75x’s bigger than the original template doesn’t work as well as my 3 EZ-10s I have reduced by a 1/3 to fit on each antenna. For the Ez-10s I had to trim the left and right side of the outer antennas so they don’t interfere with the transmission from the middle antenna. Please if you have any input of why my transformer may have blown if it’s possible that these reflectors cause my router to suck more amps I would like to know so I can just do with out them and get another wifi router and use it as a repeater.

~John

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