Does access point reduce internet speed?

nsas02

nsas02

Galvanizer
I have ACT Internet connection, with 300Mbps plan (Plan Name: CHNACT Blast Promo 1M New). The modem provided by ACT is installed in my Living Room. Me and my wife currently work from home, from one of our bedroom. The problem is that we sit at the far end and we don't get the Wifi signal from Living Room. To add insult to Injury, our house is of Mivan technology and i've read that this further impacts Wifi coverage.
Now, I had installed 'TP Link AC750 (RE200)' in the midway as a Wifi extender for past 1 year and the performance has been very poor. To start with, the connection is not stable i.e, if some on walks between the ACT Wifi and this Extender, the connection disrupts. We usually take calls via our mobile data, just in case Zoom/Team disconnects due to this un-reliable Extender.

Now, I raised a request via ACT and got a wired line (From the Living Room modem to my Work Room) and i'm using the same AC750 in Access Point settings. Wifi coverage is excellent as it is a Wired Access Point (Not even sure if Wireless AP is available). Now, though it is wired, I don't get the full speed of my ACT plan. My main modem gives speeds of about 250+ Mpbs while this Extender's Wifi just gives 75..ish Mbps.

My question:
Is this expected out of this setup? I mean, while using as Wifi Extender I understand the speed reduction. But, as a wired setup also speed is reduced, more than half.
Or, is the AC750 working at it's max capacity? I mean, 75Mbps is the max it can give? If yes, can you suggest some router/extender (or whatever it is called) that can give me same speed as my main ACT one.
 
Your issue is due to physical port limitation of your TP Link AC750 (RE200)
It only had a 100Mbps port and if you use it wired then it will not provide more than 85-90Mbps
Also check if you are connecting to 2.4Ghz SSID on the access point.
 
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rajneeshrana said:
Your issue is due to physical port limitation of your TP Link AC750 (RE200)
It only had a 100Mbps port and if you use it wired then it will not provide more than 85-90Mbps
Also check if you are connecting to 2.4Ghz SSID on the access point.
Click to expand...
Ok. I have to get a new one with high speed port. Thanks.
And I'm connecting to 5Ghz on the access point.
 
nsas02 said:
Ok. I have to get a new one with high speed port. Thanks.
And I'm connecting to 5Ghz on the access point.
Click to expand...
Get something with a gigabit port. Your internet speed is 300Mbits and your range extender only did 100Mbits max theoretically. Max was probably around 45Mbits since it needs half to talk to the main router. High speed port is the same as 100Mbits port. So your problem won't go away till you buy something with a gigabit port that can transfer up to 1000Mbits easily.
 
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gourav said:
Also note that using an entry level Gigabit router in AP mode might be more cost effective than a dedicated extender.

This gigabit router is only 1899
Click to expand...
Thanks man. There is 1 more problem. I don't have a provision to mount a wired router/modem. I'm looking for something that goes directly inside the plug point i.e without any wires.

Any suggestions like this?
 
You'll have to compensate speed in a wireless extender, no matter what.
Unless you find something with 2x 5ghz radios (which uses 1 radio for talking to connected devices and another for talking back to main router) then you may have a better connectivity but even then you'll be limited by the caveats of wireless connection.

For a stable experience you would want a wired backhaul connection.
 
For you the main bottleneck is 100Mbps port.
If you can upgrade to a gigabit port access point or repeater with wired connection then you should see improvements on 5Ghz band

If you have budget then you can check Omada based TP-Link access point.
They have a model which goes in wall and will not show any wires or clutter
https://www.tp-link.com/us/business-networking/omada-sdn-access-point/eap235-wall/

P.S you will need either a POE injector or POE switch for this access point.
 
@nsas02 What is your budget?

You have really limited options because of the wall plug requirement. Most routers can be mounted on the wall easily.

If money is not an issue, then I think TP-Link AC1750 (RE450) will give you close to full speeds, it has a gigabit port.
 
john1911 said:
@nsas02 What is your budget?

You have really limited options because of the wall plug requirement. Most routers can be mounted on the wall easily.

If money is not an issue, then I think TP-Link AC1750 (RE450) will give you close to full speeds, it has a gigabit port.
Click to expand...
I don't have any budget in my mind, but can't spend unrealistically more i.e. can't convince my finance minister.
Will take a look at your suggestion. Thanks.
 
john1911 said:
If money is not an issue, then I think TP-Link AC1750 (RE450) will give you close to full speeds, it has a gigabit port.
Click to expand...
But that ETH port acts as a wireless bridge to let you connect a wired device to your wireless AP. It doesn't work as an "input" for the connection. Apparently it does. So this just might work.

nsas02 said:
I'm looking for something that goes directly inside the plug point i.e without any wires.
Click to expand...

nsas02 said:
I'm not looking for a wireless extender. I have a LAN connection from my main modem to use with my extender. All I'm looking for is a plug type extender.
Click to expand...
But you did mention "without any wires". Anyways, it's very hard to find such a device. You best bet is a gigabit router connected via LAN, in any other case you'll be compromising speed/reliability etc.
 
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Can't you get an electrician to pull a lan cable through the internal ducting to your room where you work? It will be cheaper and you will get an outlet in your room too.
 
6pack said:
Can't you get an electrician to pull a lan cable through the internal ducting to your room where you work? It will be cheaper and you will get an outlet in your room too.
Click to expand...
Done that last week and I can't use that LAN directly in my Laptop as we have multiple devices in that vicinity to connect. So I tried using my old extender in access point mode.....not full speed in wifi....hence this thread.
 
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You can use this one, TP-Link Omada AC1350.
It supports gigabit connection, although a little bit costly.
Your best option is to run a ethernet cable from router to your laptop.
 
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Are you 100% set on the wall plug thing? As @enthusiast29 said, it's seriously limiting your options. If you are, I think your best bet is to find a repeater that can do at least 300 Mbps for as low a price as possible, maybe even second hand, and use that - that should be perfectly fine for you unless you upgrade your internet to gigabit. I did see this thread on the marketplace with a bunch of repeaters (and gigabit routers) for sale - maybe check those out?
 
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try to go for mesh setup tp link deco series ,tenda`s mesh offerings or mercurys mesh offerings these seem to have become more affordable .Your first issue was 100 mbps physical port and second issue is if you have multiple devies connected to wifi at the same time and communicating it will divide the speed further down.

for your wifi router model

1675518094937.png



let us say on 5 ghz band we assume 10 devices are connected than the theoretical speed would be 433/10 per device =43.3 Mbps

on 2.4 it would be 300/10 = 30 mbps
 
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@nsas02 I was in similar situation as the default router provided by ACT doesn't cover my apartment (or drops in speed).
I purchased TP-Link AX90 and setup in bridge mode. Essentially only wifi router which will cover your entire apartment.

I highly recommend this for following reasons
1. Multiple routers do interfere with Wifi Frequency band
2. There will be always drop in speed if you are using wireless extender (however one strong wireless router will be sufficient without dropping speed, for upto 3000 SFT Apartment)
3. You don't run into double NAT issues or latency
 
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