I have an R6220 wifi router running dual band 2.4/5 GHz. I am using the guest wireless feature to present a different SSID on 2.4 GHz (5 GHz turned off for guest). So basically three SSIDs on a single router.
I have good signal and decent bandwidth in most of the house (Two story, 1500 sq Ft) but would like to extend the range out to our sun room where signal strength drops to 91% 51 Mbps. Most other locations we use wireless get 100% and 468+ Mbps.
What's the best range extender compatible with this router? I have some devices still on 'n'. I'd rather have transparency with the existing networks and SSIDs, not add new ones. Never set up a range extender before, so I'm not sure how this works. Also, I'm thinking a plug-in type won't work too well as we have a lot of stuff on our outlets already. Something I can sit on the mantel over the fireplace would work best, I think.
Any recommendations?
Thanks!
Model: R6220|AC1200 Smart WiFi Router with External Antennas
Something to keep in mind with standard extenders.
1. They're great if you don't have coverage and need to reach further.
2. They're going to cut throughput 50%. Reason why is they have to receive and retransmit using the same chip. And they can't do both at once. So it cuts the speed in half for wherever they're located.
3. the signal percentage isn't that big of a deal. Its more about speed/coverage. Reason why is things like 5ghz. It has much higher throughput so you might not have as much of signal as 2.4ghz but it might still be faster because of how it operates. Is that 51mbps the link speed or an actual speedtest speed? Because link speed isn't the same as throughput (actual speed)
4. If its actual throughput speed, do you need more than 51mbps? 4k streaming only needs 20-30mbps to stream
5. Placement is key with extenders. They need a good signal to rebroadcast.
That's some of the basics of extenders. for a standard extender, it works great if you're in an area with no signal or greatly reduced signal.
One thing you can do is check into the tri-band extenders. They have an extra 5ghz radio thats just for router----extender communication. so they don't take as much of a speed hit. but they are more expensive.
