Boost wireless - extender vs antenna

J

jfreund

[H]ard|Gawd
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Sep 3, 2006
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My router, placed on the ground floor of the house, is a Netgear XR1000. The exterior brick wall is about 20 feet away. On the other side of the wall is an enclosed porch where signal is weakened and cuts out.

What's the better way to strengthen signal - run Cat 6 and connect an extender (I have a Netgear EX7000) or use an antenna extension cable and put 1 of the 4 router antenna in the porch area?
 
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I'd run ethernet. I don't think wireless devices are really expecting to have their antennas extended. Personally, I don't do mesh or extender, I just run all my wireless routers in access point mode on the same SSID and different channels. I turn the 2.4Ghz transmit down on the APs to help clients make better roaming decisions; for 5Ghz, signals get attenuated pretty quick anyway, so I don't usually see clients hanging on to bad signals on that band.
 
I've used a very expensive antenna extension in one install that was reusing what was part of an existing setup. The result? About 20db gain, but not really usable at all. And this was a $250 3' long antenna designed for outdoor use so it was a really good piece of equipment. I would simply run a cable and put another ap closer. If you don't want to run cables, just use a set of the newer powerlines and it should be quick an easy.
 
Vengance_01 said:
Mesh is the better option with dedicated back-hual.
Click to expand...
Yep, this is probably the best option. It's what I do to get wifi in my backyard, ethernet through the attic to a second router that's placed right by the sliding glass door to my backyard about 50 feet away from the main router. Definitely helps out with the both the backyard and that entire side of the house. Especially things like my security cams that are a bit too far away from the main router.

I have Asus so I use AImesh.
 
Thanks for the replies. I ordered the cable and clips to run a wired connection to the extender.
 
Raise the AP up to ceiling height. Do a site survey at the wall where it drops out. Switch to clearest channel. If this doesn't work then slap a cantenna together, wokfi or some off shelf ptp dish based antennae and you'll be fine at that distance.
Literally lifting AP up and aligning it and chosing a quiet channel doubles range often, as your side lobes aren't hitting the ground and other assorted Wi-Fi esoteric fuckery.

But glad to see you went cable. I avoid wlan at all where possible, having worked withnit professionally from early 00s lol
 
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