Currently my Netgear router has 802.11n Wifi, as does my Netgear Extender. I am about to upgrade to a router with 802.11ac, so I was thinking of replacing my Extender by a EX3700 model in order to increase the WiFi speed.
The Extender is needed to feed a laptop in another part of the house, but that only has 802.11n capability. In due course I will replace it with one with 802.11ac, but in the meantime how will the system work? Will the Extender talk 'ac' to the router and then 'n' to the laptop, or simply 'n' from end to end?
Even if the latter, will the end-to-end speed still be better than currently (approx 135mbps only to the laptop)?
What wireless chip is in the laptop? Does it have 5ghz? or only 2.4ghz?
Extenders by their very nature, drop speeds 50% of what they recieve (except the tribands).
So its something to keep in mind.
If you're planning on getting a new router and a new extender, maybe a better option is to check into a mesh system that offers seamless roaming and the ability to add satellites as needed.
The current router (DG2200) is sited upstairs with wired connections to most devices, but the laptop is used downstairs. The WiFi signal from router to laptop is about 3/4 strength and not very stable, hence the use of an extender (currently WN3000RP). The result is a strong stable signal, but obviously a 50% drop in WiFi speed.
I am moving to BT as ISP and will be sent a new Smart Hub 2 router. I am hoping that its WiFi signal to the laptop may be strong enough not to need an Extender, in which case no problem. However, if an extender is still necessary, then I would like to upgrade to a 3700 in order to increase the spead on the Extender to laptop link, on the basis that 50% of (say) 650Mbps is at least better than 50% of 350 Mbps 🙂
AFAIK the laptop is only capable of 2.4 GHz. Although it will get replaced eventually by one with 802.11ac, at the meantime I would like to get at least some improvement in WiFi spead if at all possible, hence the idea of an extender upgrade at modest cost.
an upgrade to a dual band extender might help a little if you're using fastlane. Otherwise if you're not, the 2.4ghz will still use the same chip/link as the prior extender since its based on 2.4ghz.
A slight change of tack neow, as the broadband has been upgraded and the Smart Hub 2 is now in use.
Normally the laptop is the only item used on WiFi, but for testing purposes I have also used my desktop. Both only have 'N' capacity. The Smart Hub 2 has 'ac' capacity and is supposed to be backward-compatible with 'n'.
Both my laptop and desktop will talk 300/150Mbps to my Netgear DG2200 when within a reasonable range. For reasons which I fail to understand they will talk only 144/72 to the Smart Hub 2 even when placed right next to it.
I have attached the DG2200 to the SH2 by Ethernet and used it simply as a WiFi access point (with a separate SSID for each) and both desktop and laptop still talk 300/150 to the DG2200. Unfortunately I,m not able to put the DG2200 anywhere where it will be within range of the laptop in normal use (hence the current use of an Extender).
I am purchasing a Netgear AC1200 USB adapter (model A6150-100PES as I want a 'nano' type) to see if I can get the laptop to talk to the SH2 on the 5Ghz band and hopefully get a faster speed. However as even the SH2 only gives a 3/4 strength signal at the laptop's location on the 2.4Ghz, I suspect the 5GHz may be even worse - but until I've bought the adapter I have no other way of testing the 5GHz signal. So that is why I'm looking at what might be best to buy as a WiFi Extender that can handle 'ac', hence probably the Netgear EX6120.
