Wi-fi Extenders: What Are They Why Do We Need Them & Are They Worth It

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Many of us, including me, have that one room or spot in our houses or offices where the Wi-Fi never seems to work properly, doesn’t matter how often you try restarting your router or prancing about with your laptop, you just cannot seem to get a healthy enough Wi-Fi signal.

And even if your laptop, miraculously, manages to grab onto the Wi-Fi signal it won’t stay connected for long or the signal will be too weak for you to properly enjoy your online experience.

Table of Contents

WHAT CAUSES Wi-Fi DEADSPOTS

It is unfair to blame your device, your internet service provider (ISP), your room, or even your router for Wi-Fi dead spots.

Users connected to fast-paced fiber internet services and high-tech satellite internet services like HughesNet Internet have reported suffering from these dead spots. Because these bald patches have nothing to do with where you get your internet from.

The problem is more local and related to the router inside your house.

There are three major causes of dead spots.

OBSTRUCTIONS:
Blockages around your router like concrete walls, thick wooden doors or even bushes can obstruct Wi-Fi signals from reaching your device.
INTERFERENCES:
Devices that give out or receive radio signals like telephones, televisions, or even microwaves can interfere with your Wi-Fi signals and create Wi-Fi dead spots.
RANGE:
Most modern Wi-Fi routers have a throw range of between 150 feet to 300 feet. If your router is placed fairly far away from the device you are using the signals might not reach your device and end up creating dead spots.

You can obviously try moving your router, opening the door or even leaving the room altogether, but these are off course temporary fixes and do not solve your long-term Dead Spot dilemma.

The long-term solution is Wi-Fi extenders.

WHAT ARE Wi-Fi EXTENDERS?

Now that we understand the frustrating issues Wi-Fi extenders are designed to solve let’s take a look at how these essential devices work to make our lives easier.

Wi-Fi extenders basically work to boost your internet signal. They receive a radio band from your router and amplify them so that these signals can travel farther and reach your device.

Extenders are normally placed right in the middle of the dead spot they are targeted towards and the router they receive their signals from.

Extenders, also known as Signal repeaters or boosters, are generally very cheap and range from anywhere between 20 Dollars to 150 Dollars. And even the best ones generally cost less when compared to the prices of high-tech routers. And are hence considered low-cost solutions to internet signal issues.

SOME LIMITATIONS OF Wi-Fi EXTENDERS

Despite being highly useful Wi-Fi extenders are not without limitations of their own.

If you are connected to your internet using an extender you will probably experience higher latency as compared to your normal connection. The reason is simple, your internet signal now has to travel a greater distance and make more stops before reaching your device.
Wi-Fi extenders generally tend to reduce your internet bandwidth by half. As a result, your internet experience becomes fairly slow.
Repeaters are generally low-tech and cheaper as compared to modern routers and are not designed to handle extremely fast download speeds. So, in addition to lower bandwidth and higher latency, you might also have to face a much slower connection, overall.
Even though repeaters do not create their own sub-nets and belong to the same local network as your main router, they do give out their signals with a different name and so you might have to re-connect your device to the Wi-Fi every time you step into the (ex) dead spot.

Because of these fairly common and frankly frustrating sets of issues technology companies have taken the traditional extender principle to its logical evolutionary conclusion and created something called Wi-Fi Mesh Networks (WMNs). Here is a brief look at how WMNs work.

Wi-Fi MESH NETWORKS

Wi-Fi Mesh Networks utilize networks of interconnected routers to provide house/building-wide signal coverage. So, instead of giving out signals from the single router WMNs use nodal networking to give out signals from multiple vantage points. As a result, almost no nook or corner of the building remains outside of the reach of the signal.

Moreover, some of these networks deploy Artificial Intelligence to manage and tweak their signal throw for more optimal coverage.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Wi-Fi dead spots are a real pain in the head for people who rely on being constantly connected to the internet. Luckily, modern technologies like Wi-Fi extenders and Wi-Fi Mesh Networks offer an easy and cheap fix to this age-old problem.

So, if you are suffering from poor signal strength in one particular area of your house do not take it out on the internet service provider because the issue does not lie at the service provider’s end but inside your house. Instead just log onto Amazon, or any other e-commerce site, and buy a cheap repeater for a smoother online experience.