I am in a campground in Mexico. I bought a Netgear wifi range extender at someones suggestion. The wifi isn't so bad now but the rv park is also quite empty and soon to fill up. I was told the wifi range extender will help when browsing and FaceTiming family etc, I have read through the booklet and its suggestion I hook up into my router, I don't have a router as I am in a campsite. I am not overly knowledgeable regarding electronics so will appreciate any help. I am hoping I do not have to buy more things to make this work, I do not have access to any of the campgrounds computer info except the wifi passwords they hand out.
Depending on your placement options, the benefits of the range extender can vary. While ideally the extender should be placed sufficiently within the range of the primary AP in order to achieve a good PHY rate for the backhaul, the extenders can also work well when uses similarly to a WiFi client device.
The main benefit in this case though not the intended use, is the WiFi extenders, especially the full sized ones, is that they do not need to compromise for space savings, thus you often get a 2-4dBi antenna, better receiver sensitivity, and a far higher transmit power than you would find in typical WiFi clients. For example, many laptops will be in the 100-250mW transmit power range, while extenders can typically run in the range of 700-1000mW. That paired with better antennas, often allows them to maintain a higher PHY rate and effective throughput compared to many common client devices in the same location. Beyond that, the the AP that the extender created will then provide that connectivity to all of your devices.
This can also be useful if in a location where many structures are metal. For example if an RF us using a lot of metal as part of the frame and walls, then coverage indoors can be an issue, but if you have an extender, it can be placed near a window (as long as it doesn't get too much direct sunlight), and it can then provide more reliable and faster connectivity to all of your devices.
Depending on the extender, there are multiple ways to connect it to a router. The default method is wirelessly where you select the SSID and enter the password for the main AP, and it will handle the rest.
For best performance the extender (if supported) can use an Ethernet cable to form a wired backhaul, that will essentially turn it into a more traditional AP, though that would also mean running Ethernet cabling which may not be feasible at a campground.
If using WiFi then the overall viability will be based on how good of a signal can you get at your location, if there is a spot indoors where the signal is decent/ reliable, then placing an extender in that spot, will have a good chance at boosting reliability and speed a little.
If you are not at the campground yet, then do not buy any hardware until you have had a chance to test the connection performance and reliability with your current devices.
Depending on your laptop and phone if they have a decent antenna and WiFi radio, you may get fully reliability connectivity without ever needing an extender.
