How simple is the installation of a Netgear range extender?

brianl1948 wrote:

provides 500+mbps near it's downstairs location ( where my wife's office is located ) but much less and intermittent upstairs where my office is located

How much speed do you need in your office?  There will be some drop-off with a dual-band extender if the signal needs to be relayed over wifi.

If you have the Telstra Smart Modem 4, then you have a dual band WiFi 7 network now.  A WiFi 7 extender could give better performance than going with WiFi 6, especially if you can find one that supports MLO (which the Telstra Smart Modem 4 supports).  But Netgear's WiFi 7 extenders aren't available in Australia yet (at least they are not on Amazon Australia).  One competitor's model you could  consider is 

• https://www.amazon.com.au/TP-Link-Dual-Band-Extender-Compatibility-RE225BE/dp/B0FQMDFLMF

If the Telstra is WiFi 6, then there is no need to consider WiFi 7 extenders.

I am wondering if it is practical to run an ethernet cable either to the upstairs office or to the intermediate location.  If so, you could connect the extender to the Telstra unit with ethernet - avoiding the need to relay over wifi.  (FWIW, this would also let you move the Telstra to an intermediate location).

If not, then you could probably live with the drop-off in performance in your office.  There should still be enough performance for email, access to corporate documents, and video conferencing.  Generally 50-100 mbps download and 10-20 mbps upload are enough for office work.  That is assuming you aren't doing video editing or other work that requires transfer of very large files.

Another option is to get a tri-band mesh system - disabling the Telstra WiFi, and using the mesh for your wifi (setting it up as an AP, not a router).  That would give you the best performance, but would be quite expensive.

CrimpOn wrote:

For many of us, relocating the ISP connection to a different part of the house is not trivial. 

Agreed.