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Forum Discussion
Recommendations for Powerline and WiFi Range Extender?
I would like to add a Powerline with a one Port + WiFi (XWNB5221?) to one room which has a desktop computer and a WiFi Range Extender (EX2700?) to another room? I have a N600 WNDR3800 WiFi Router. ...
Hello Michael, thanks for your response!
Yes, I'm looking to extend my WiFi in two rooms. In one of those rooms, I also want to have an ethernet port to plug in my desktop computer.
No, I was not aware the "XWNB5221 duo, or something more modern, will not reach the second room". What is my best option to achieve what I want to do?
Thanks again, Mark
I would buy the Powerline duo and check to see if it also takes wifi into the other room where you need it. If it doesn't, then you do not need to buy anything else.
If that does not work, then you have a couple of choices, buy a wifi repeater that will take the wifi from either of your sources (the modem/router or the powerplug) or buy another powerline duo that can work as an access point in the other room.
Unfortunately, Netgear, and other manufacturers, do not sell single powerline plugs so you may end up with a redundant plug, unless you can find a use for it.
Thanks again Michael!
If I do end up needing to buy something for my second room, will the EX2700 wifi extender/repeater meet my needs or would I be better off with one of their other models?
It probably depends on the layout of your rooms. A small apartment is not the same as a huge mansion.
Remember, you will need a decent wifi link between the router and whatever you buy as the Range Extender. It eats the wifi from the router and acts as a go between with any wifi devices that connect to ot. So the best place to put it would be somewhere between the router and the room where you want wifi.
This is not true of the powerline setup. That does not need to see the router's wifi signal. It does everything over the LAN on the powerline. So you can put the access point in the room where you want the wifi.
One thing against the EX2700 is that it does not support the 5G band that you will find in most modern wifi devices. If you want to connect anything like that, I would look for a more modern range extender.
The same applies to some older powerline kit, but the PowerLINE WiFi 1000 does 5G as well as GB LAN.
Speed may not be the most important thing to you, but you wouldn't want to be disappointed when you opened the boxes.
Michael, thank you for the great tutorial!
Does the Powerline 500 + WiFi support 5 GHz band or just 2.4 GHz?
If I end up getting a WiFi extender, it looks like I should be OK with their WN3500RP, EX3700 or EX6100 models? Correct?
Thanks again!