Replace my TP Link archer AC 1200 C6 router or buy a extender?

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b33rus

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Hello everyone,
I have my router in a room which is 3-3.5 meters + 2-3 walls interference away from my PS5 and TV. So far it was working somewhat fine, decent for downloading games but not that great for online multiplayer.
Recently, 2 antennas of my router are broken from the hinge and I have seen drop in wifi speed and coverage range.
Should I replace the router? Or a cheaper extender such as the TP Link Single/ Dual Band would work just as fine if not better?
Also if I need to replace the router, would the C80 provide me extra range?
I have a 75 Mbps Ethernet Internet connection.
 
Only step up from a C6 which is an AC router would be AX10 or AX12 (weaker processor than AX10) which are AX routers. Extenders are not of much use nowadays considering the cheapest decent AC extender cost just a few hundred rupees less than C6.
 
guest_999 said:
Only step up from a C6 which is an AC router would be AX10 or AX12 (weaker processor than AX10) which are AX routers. Extenders are not of much use nowadays considering the cheapest decent AC extender cost just a few hundred rupees less than C6.
Click to expand...
I see, but my internet isn’t that fast would I really see any difference in speed?
2.4 ghz extender is around 1-2-1.3k
 
b33rus said:
I see, but my internet isn’t that fast would I really see any difference in speed?
2.4 ghz extender is around 1-2-1.3k
Click to expand...
You get AC/AX routers for your home network wifi speeds, so if transferring large data from one laptop to another or streaming HD videos from a pc/laptop to smart tv then home network wifi speeds will matter a lot. Another con of wifi extender is that it can only be used as an extender meaning it will always require another wifi router to work but you can use any wifi router as wifi access point by simply connecting it via ethernet wire to main router.
 
If you plan to connect the extender using wifi then speed will also reduce to half.
For example in your case you might max download speed as 8 MBps once you add a extender via wifi you max download speed will reduce to 4 MBps

My suggestion would be buy new router and if the range issue doesn't solve, use the C6 router as access point connected with LAN cable if possible.

Also not sure if it same with PS5 but in general LAN cable to PC gives better network in multiplater games. If you are okay with LAN wire laying in house you can buy a 10m long cable for ₹300 and give it a try.
 
believe me, if wiring was possible, it would be the first thing i do :(
Speed reduction to half doesnt sound bad, i am already on less than half. I just want to maintain a stable connection and dont want to get dropped out of online races.
Which router to buy that might be giving a better range than the archer c6 ac 1200
khalil said:
If you plan to connect the extender using wifi then speed will also reduce to half.
For example in your case you might max download speed as 8 MBps once you add a extender via wifi you max download speed will reduce to 4 MBps

My suggestion would be buy new router and if the range issue doesn't solve, use the C6 router as access point connected with LAN cable if possible.

Also not sure if it same with PS5 but in general LAN cable to PC gives better network in multiplater games. If you are okay with LAN wire laying in house you can buy a 10m long cable for ₹300 and give it a try.
Click to expand...
 
You could get a new router and make your existing router act as a wireless bridge that provides internet access to your PS5/TV via the router's inbuilt LAN ports.

Tp-link seems to have this option available,

How to Configure WDS Bridging on TP-Link Dual Band Routers (green UI)

How to Configure WDS Bridging on TP-Link Dual Band Routers (green UI)
www.tp-link.com www.tp-link.com

That way you don't have to waste money on a repeater. And since the connection will be new router <-wifi-> tp-link <-ethernet-> ps5/tv, you should not lose any throughput theoretically. But I've never tried it. Although this is only really useful if you can place the existing router at a spot with significantly better reception than the ps5/tv get, and then run ethernet cables from it to those devices. Maybe that doesn't make sense for your case, idk. Otherwise, this mode will still let you use the old router as a repeater without LAN, but at half the speed.

As for a new router, I have the AX23, installed openwrt on it and it works great. It goes on sale for ~3.6k sometimes.
 
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variablevector said:
You could get a new router and make your existing router act as a wireless bridge that provides internet access to your PS5/TV via the router's inbuilt LAN ports.

Tp-link seems to have this option available,

How to Configure WDS Bridging on TP-Link Dual Band Routers (green UI)

How to Configure WDS Bridging on TP-Link Dual Band Routers (green UI)
www.tp-link.com www.tp-link.com

That way you don't have to waste money on a repeater. And since the connection will be new router <-wifi-> tp-link <-ethernet-> ps5/tv, you should not lose any throughput theoretically. But I've never tried it. Although this is only really useful if you can place the existing router at a spot with significantly better reception than the ps5/tv get, and then run ethernet cables from it to those devices. Maybe that doesn't make sense for your case, idk. Otherwise, this mode will still let you use the old router as a repeater without LAN, but at half the speed.

As for a new router, I have the AX23, installed openwrt on it and it works great. It goes on sale for ~3.6k sometimes.
Click to expand...
Any list of routers that support this feature?
 
b33rus said:
Which router to buy that might be giving a better range than the archer c6 ac 1200
Click to expand...
Something like these

TP-Link WiFi 6 AX1500 Mbps Archer AX10.
https://www.amazon.in/TP-Link-Archer-AX10-Triple-Core-Wireless/dp/B07YP3T5H7
Current price on amazon - ₹3,599.00

TP-Link Archer AX23 AX1800
https://www.amazon.in/Dual-Band-Wireless-Beamforming-Next-Gen-Dual-Core/dp/B09DQ3RV16
Current price on amazon - ₹4,299.00

TP-Link Next-Gen Wi-Fi 6 AX3000 (Archer AX53)
https://www.amazon.in/TP-Link-Supported-HomeShield-Archer-AX53/dp/B09NC4SSSQ
Current price on amazon - ₹4,999.00
 
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You can also flash custom open-source firmware such as OpenWRT, DD-WRT, Tomato or OPNsense onto your router and they might enable wireless bridge even if it is disabled on the default firmware. As long as it supports. They are also almost always better than the official brand one. I installed tomato on my Linksys E1200 and saw 50% better performance.
Although for such shenanigans I would recommend using a 2nd hand or an old router in case updating firmware bricks the router and you can't reset it.
 
Only ax23 supports openwrt for now. Ax10 ax12 ax53 not yet supported.

I found that wifi 6 on 2.4ghz band on my ax23 router give better range than non wifi 6 2.4ghz (one bar vs full bar on my wifi 6 mobile). But if your pc doesn't support wifi 6, then no benefit I think.

I wouldn't game on the 2.4ghz band at all. I used to see ping spikes on my old archer c1200 at 2.4ghz band. But no spikes on 5ghz. Maybe isolated incident?
 
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