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Access points vs. Wi-Fi extenders: One of these "solutions" just makes the problem worse

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Access points vs. Wi-Fi extenders: One of these "solutions" just makes the problem worse

Lots of people use Wi-Fi extenders, but is that truly the right thing to do? It's the easy way, that's for sure, but whether it's the right way is debatable.

Sure, you'll get some extra bars on your connection if all goes well, but those bars can be misleading. Access points tackle similar problems very differently, and only one of the two has a bad reputation.

I'm sure I'm not the first person to tell you that Wi-Fi extenders don't get a whole lot of love in the networking world. I've gone as far as to say they can ruin your entire network, and I stand by that. However, it's easy to misunderstand why they get such a terrible rep, and to make sense of it, let's talk about how they work.

Extenders don't just create a fresh connection out of thin air (that'd be something). They have to connect back to your existing router over Wi-Fi, and then they rebroadcast that connection farther away. This means you have two (somewhat fallible) entirely wireless links to worry about: the one between your router and the extender, and the one between the extender and your device(s).

This whole setup can be misleading. As I said, you may have a lot of "bars" on your Wi-Fi , but that doesn't mean the connection itself will see any improvement. One device may show a strong connection because it's right by the extender, but that doesn't say antyhing about how good the connection between the router and the extender is to begin with.


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