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NETGEAR 11AC 1200 Mbps (300 Mbps + 900 Mbps) Dual Band Wi-Fi Range Extender
Hi,
I'm thinking of getting NETGEAR 11AC 1200 Mbps (300 Mbps + 900 Mbps) Dual Band Wi-Fi Range Extender with External Antennas (Wi-Fi Booster) (EX6120-100UKS) because it has higher speed than the 300Mbps models. However, I want to make sure that I will ctually be able to get the higher speed.
How do you use both wi-fi bands to establish one very high-speed connection?
Does using both wifi bands together work well?
Will our mobile devices be able to use both wifi bands together easily?
I'm thinking of getting NETGEAR 11AC 1200 Mbps (300 Mbps + 900 Mbps) Dual Band Wi-Fi Range Extender with External Antennas (Wi-Fi Booster) (EX6120-100UKS) because it has higher speed than the 300Mbps models. However, I want to make sure that I will ctually be able to get the higher speed.
How do you use both wi-fi bands to establish one very high-speed connection?
The answer the second question first - you don't. Instead, the extender connects back to your router on both bands. The 2.4 ghz radio (the 300 Mbps part) extends the 2.4 ghz wifi from your router. The 5 ghz radio extends the 5 ghz wifi from your router.
So the first thing is that you need to make sure that your router is at least 300+900 mbps. If it's less than that, the performance will be limited by the router wifi. Also, you need to find a spot for the extender where it can make a solid connection to the router, and still cover the dead spots. 5 Ghz speeds drop off more quickly than 2.4 ghz. You should try testing some locations using a PC or tablet - either looking at signal quality directly or running speedtest.net.
Using the extender in this way will cut the bandwidth in about half, since everything is being relayed to the router using the same radios that the extender uses for the clients. There are two approaches to overcoming this. One is to run ethernet from the router to the extender location, and then configure it as an access point. The other is to get a triband extender, and use Netgear's fastlane technology. That dedicates a radio to the router->extender link.
Note that there is a fastlane option for the EX6150 too, but that won't get you the highest speeds. If you use it at 2.4 ghz, you'll be limited to the 2.4 ghz connection to the router. If you use it a 5 ghz, you'll be limited to the 2.4 ghz connection your client makes to the extender.
I'm thinking of getting NETGEAR 11AC 1200 Mbps (300 Mbps + 900 Mbps) Dual Band Wi-Fi Range Extender with External Antennas (Wi-Fi Booster) (EX6120-100UKS) because it has higher speed than the 300Mbps models. However, I want to make sure that I will ctually be able to get the higher speed.
How do you use both wi-fi bands to establish one very high-speed connection?
The answer the second question first - you don't. Instead, the extender connects back to your router on both bands. The 2.4 ghz radio (the 300 Mbps part) extends the 2.4 ghz wifi from your router. The 5 ghz radio extends the 5 ghz wifi from your router.
So the first thing is that you need to make sure that your router is at least 300+900 mbps. If it's less than that, the performance will be limited by the router wifi. Also, you need to find a spot for the extender where it can make a solid connection to the router, and still cover the dead spots. 5 Ghz speeds drop off more quickly than 2.4 ghz. You should try testing some locations using a PC or tablet - either looking at signal quality directly or running speedtest.net.
Using the extender in this way will cut the bandwidth in about half, since everything is being relayed to the router using the same radios that the extender uses for the clients. There are two approaches to overcoming this. One is to run ethernet from the router to the extender location, and then configure it as an access point. The other is to get a triband extender, and use Netgear's fastlane technology. That dedicates a radio to the router->extender link.
Note that there is a fastlane option for the EX6150 too, but that won't get you the highest speeds. If you use it at 2.4 ghz, you'll be limited to the 2.4 ghz connection to the router. If you use it a 5 ghz, you'll be limited to the 2.4 ghz connection your client makes to the extender.
Thanks. Checked and my router and it cannot handle dual bands, so I'm stuck with the slower alternative.
The PLPW1000 is probably the best option then. It uses powerline to get to your router, and then you'd have both 2.4 ghz and 5 ghz wifi.
The EX6150's fastlane would also make some sense. It'd use 2.4 ghz to reach your router, and you'd use 5 ghz for your client wifi. You won't get the usual 5 ghz throughput, but you won't see the throughput reduction from the relaying, since you'd be using different radios for the router backhaul and the client radio.
A more expensive approach is to upgrade the router. If you want to do that, I'd suggest an Orbi - generally it is similar in price to router+extender, and a fully integrated system does have some advantages over separates.
