wifi extender or wifi mesh network?

[Klaatu]

I get shit wifi throughout my house which would work better?

 

[User names must be unique]

A cable failing that, mesh. dunno how either stack up to LAN over power though.

 

[Klaatu]

A cable failing that, mesh. dunno how either stack up to LAN over power though.

i have everything that can be wired connected through ethernet, i just want good wifi connection for wireless devices

 

[IamnottheNSA]

What's your router?

 

[Klaatu]

What's your router?

im not sure lol probably some random company since its rented

 

[Major Discord]

You could try flint 2 or flint 3. These dont cost too much but have good coverage. but IDK how big your house is.

 

[IamnottheNSA]

im not sure lol probably some random company since its rented

It's just that Mikrotiks are infamous for having dogshit WiFi. But if it's rented then it's probably not that.

As for the question: WiFi Access Points are the most bulletproof option - unlike a WiFi extender those won't cut your internet speed in half, and are usually cheaper than mesh (depends on the device however). Unlike the other two options, those require a cable connection to your router, which is a blessing and a curse - on one hand, it might not always be possible to set up because of that, but on the other hand, nothing beats cable in data transfer speed and signal quality.

WiFi extenders are the cheapest option, and are the easiest to set up. However, they do cut your bandwidth in half because of the way they work. Also, each new extender creates additional network names, meaning sometimes your device may cling onto the weaker signal and not automatically connect to a closer node. I don't recommend it.

WiFi mesh is probably the best option overall - the nodes use different frequency channels to talk to each other, so they won't lower your bandwidth, and they create a seamless network between each other, automatically handing off your device between different nodes. And they are also fairly simple to set up. But you need to make sure your router supports WiFi Mesh networking, and buy satellite nodes that support your router.
Alternatively, you can buy a WiFi mesh system, disable your old router wifi altogether to prevent interference, plug the system's main node into your router, and use that.

 

[Klaatu]

Alternatively, you can buy a WiFi mesh system, disable your old router wifi altogether to prevent interference, plug the system's main node into your router, and use that.

yea i keep seeing people talk about bypass mode turning the router into a modem and hooking it up that way. im leaning towards the mesh since i dont want to have a bunch of different connections possibly competing to get connection from the device

 

[Klaatu]

What's your router?

(not mine but same model i think)

 

[I Do Not Care]

Lower the frequency the more shit it goes through. Directional antenna is usually what you'll want. Get the kind used in PtP and PtMP though, eg nanostation, and bridge to WAP.
MoCA would be the next best, as all others will have speed cut in half unless mesh backhaul has own radio and band. Powerline adapters needs to be on same circuit for it to work.

 

[Klaatu]

Lower the frequency the more shit it goes through. Directional antenna is usually what you'll want. Get the kind used in PtP and PtMP though, eg nanostation, and bridge to WAP.
MoCA would be the next best, as all others will have speed cut in half unless mesh backhaul has own radio and band. Powerline adapters needs to be on same circuit for it to work.

i live in a older house and the walls are thick plaster, my cell signal is even shit depending where i am in the house ( mostly my bedroom gets shit cell service )

 

[I Do Not Care]

i live in a older house and the walls are thick plaster, my cell signal is even shit depending where i am in the house ( mostly my bedroom gets shit cell service )

You can get repeaters for mobile that cost quite a bit. Haven't dug deep into setting up private 5g, but a CBRS is cheaper. Could spin your own. Maybe see if it can relay, bridge, or repeat with a CFW or natively.

 

[Never Scored]

yea i keep seeing people talk about bypass mode turning the router into a modem and hooking it up that way. im leaning towards the mesh since i dont want to have a bunch of different connections possibly competing to get connection from the device

The routers ISPs give you are notoriously shitty. Buying a good router and putting the one you're renting in bridge mode is good practice anyway.

 

[Klaatu]

The routers ISPs give you are notoriously shitty. Buying a good router and putting the one you're renting in bridge mode is good practice anyway.

i get 350mbs-450mbs download speed with the router i have now, i have no issues with the speed just how shit the wifi is

 

[ForkyMeetsPorky]

Go for a mesh setup (something like a Netgear Orbi or the TP-Link equivalent) and disable the internal WiFi of your ISP router. Mesh Wifi is useful if you walk around with a smartphone or tablet since it can handover to another mesh node without breaking the connection.

 

[Pee Cola]

Due to my property's location and the fact the only Internet I can get that isn't horribly expensive is via a 4G mobile plan, I have a cheap 4G router with WiFi and an external 4G antenna set up in my garage, with an old second WiFi router as a client of the 4G router set up inside my house.

The router in question supports a WAN connection over WiFi, otherwise I'd have to run Ethernet all the way from the garage to the house. It's a bit more than a simple repeater, but not as sophisticated as mesh.

It works surprisingly well, the speeds are as consistent as one can hope for when relying on 4G for Internet in the middle of Bumfuck Nowhere. The only time I notice any interruption is when I'm working at the back of the property, when the wifi on my phone cuts over from the house router to the garage router (or sometimes even 4G on my phone).

I should probably upgrade to a real mesh setup at some point, but my current nigger-rigged network seems to be hanging in there OK.

tl:dr: second access point with a way of tapping into WAN from the main house router is how I do it

 

[Anton LaVay’s watersports]

Mesh network, WiFi extenders are garbage and create dead zones.

 

[Klaatu]

Mesh network, WiFi extenders are garbage and create dead zones.

I ordered a couple of these cuz they were in my budget and they seem to be working great so far

 

[StacticShock]

I get shit wifi throughout my house which would work better?

mesh, wifi extenders are absolute chink crap.
although meshes can conflict with your router's wifi so... gotta be one or the other.