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alanch15's avatar
alanch15
Aspirant
Jun 28, 2020

wifi extender or booster

hi everyone.

I am looking for help picking the correct product. I have an extension on my house and am unable to get a wifi signal in it. I have already run a cat5 cable from my router and fitted a switch for the tv. I would like to get a wifi signal in this room as I use smart plugs and they wont work in this area. My router has split 2.4 and 5ghz networks as the smart plugs only work on the 2.4ghz band. What are my options? Can I get something that would plug into the switch and provide wifi or would a mesh system be a better choice?

many thanks for taking to time to read this.

4 Replies

  • Coaleyed's avatar
    Coaleyed
    Guide
    Jun 28, 2020

    If you have a cable running to a TV in the extension I would buy something like a EX8000 or similar and plug into that Cat5e cable.  Then I would run another cable out of the remaining 3 ports to your TV.   I would then continue to set up your EX8000 as an AP to provide wireless to that side of the house.

    • alanch15's avatar
      alanch15
      Aspirant
      Jun 29, 2020

      thank you for the advice. I will try my old modem first. If not successful I will get  a nighthawk

       

  • plemans's avatar
    plemans
    Guru - Experienced User
    Jun 29, 2020

    The EX8000 is a solid device (I have one) but you wouldn't need to go that high end. 

    A standard dual band extender would work fine being hardwired in. Just make sure it has access point mode. 

    or even an old router if you have one and run it in access point mode. 

    You're not using either for any routing functions, that'll run off your primary router.