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EX3700 signal strength spec
I have an EX3700 dual band extender that is set up to extend both 2.4GHz and 5GHz signals from my Telstra Gen2 DJA0321 Smart Modem. The extender is about 15m from the modem and almost line of sight (...
dbm isn't a good way of checking signal because of underlying radio noise. Its a SNR (signal to noise) issue.
Actual speedtesting and stability are more important.
a couple things.
1. your extender should be midpoint between where you need signal and where the router is. Reason why is the extender needs a decent signal to pick up and rebroadcast. If its where the laptop is, the laptop might as well as just direct connect to the router because it'll suffer from less throughput drop going through the extender
2. if you're living in apartments, condo's, homes living close together, then 2.4ghz tends to be much less stable because it broadcasts futher and suffers from more interference by the very nature of its spectrum. If you're device has 5ghz, it should be on it in close living situations.
Thank you for the quick advice plemans. So, with the 5GHz band, an extender should be around 10m from the modem as the modem has about a 10m range to maintain "good" signal, according to on line advice on this particular modem.
I was wanting to "bend" the signal around the corner of an obstructing wall with the EX3700 extender. I will need to look at a different geometry to do this, I guess.
Do you have suggstions for speedtest and stability applications that would run on Windows 10? I currently use StartTrinity CST.
Thank you again for your advice.
You can go further than 30ft (10m) but the further away you get, the worse your performance from the extender will be. Sometimes its worth the trade off in speed loss for better coverage, sometimes it isn't.
I don't base my setups on signal strength when I'm doing a new setup.
I usually use a coupe different speedtest sites and test in each location I try an extender. Both for where the extender is at and where my devices will be.
The first month I own extenders/mesh networks, they get moved around a lot as I test speeds/long term stability/home structure to ensure its optimally placed. There isn't any one program that I use because so many things can impact extenders from the home layout, wireless interference in the area, to the devices you're using, etc.
Nice thing about it is after setting up a couple, you basically know how your home/interference is going to perform and basically know where the key spots are. I have different layouts for if I'm using a router +extender, mesh router +1 satellite, mesh router +2 satellites, etc.