Wifi extenders (need dual band)

[iPwnz]

Our home's Jio router is in my room in the first floor of our building. And the signal is very weak or doesn't reach the ground floor. I'd like to get an extender to mitigate or fully fix this signal problem.
I often need a good latency so I would like to connect the extender to my main Jio router with the help of a LAN cable.
I also need a dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) as some of our smartphones support only 2.4GHz. :/
My current Jio plan is only 30mbps. At max I use the 100mbps plan so I don't want to spend unnecessarily on premium models with support up to a whopping 1gbps.
My concern is that I've read a lot of reviews which talked about the extender devices heating up or slowing down or shutting down overtime. Is this a common issue and how frequent is it?
Assume that the router and extender will be up 24*7. I'll be leaving home soon so I want to set up everything and running before that and it will be problematic if the router/extender throws up a problem and I'm not there to fix it. You know how it is.

So far I found this model below 2k. TP-Link RE205 AC750 https://www.amazon.in/TP-Link-RE205-AC750-Wi-Fi-Extender/dp/B0783PHTJJ/

 

[Kaleen Bhaiya]

Instead of getting a wifi range extender, get a new router like Archer A6/C6 from Tp link and use it as an access point mode. The thing with range extender is that, they drop in speeds hence not give full bandwidth.
Personal experience..
Also how much area in square feet are we talking here?

My current Jio plan is only 30mbps. At max I use the 100mbps

Got me confused.. Are you saying your current plan is 300mbps?

 

[iPwnz]

Instead of getting a wifi range extender, get a new router like Archer A6/C6 from Tp link and use it as an access point mode. The thing with range extender is that, they drop in speeds hence not give full bandwidth.
Personal experience..
Also how much area in square feet are we talking here?

Thanks. Seems like the reviews weren't wrong. Won't the signal strength be good as long as I use an ethernet cable to connect them?
I don't know about the distance. Just assume any two floors in a building.
What's the difference between the two routers C6 and A6? Prices are similar. Which of them is better?

Got me confused.. Are you saying your current plan is 300mbps?

30mbps. I sometimes take the 100mbps plan.

 

[Kaleen Bhaiya]

Won't the signal strength be good as long as I use an ethernet cable to connect them?

From your main router to the range extender, it will be good. But the wifi from RE is generally poor given it throttles after heating up. I had mine setup using wifi-wifi mode from router to RE and from RE to my device,i.e. TV. I saw a drop by more than 50%. So on 120 mbps, my wifi speeds hovered around 40-50. Clearly not an efficient product. Also, in my case, the wifi receiver on my tv was situated at the rear which further hampered the signal quality. I switched from RE to C6 and get 96mbps on a 100 mbps line. That 4mbps drop is primarily due to my router and C6 paired in wifi mode.
The speeds drop as you move away from RE because the signal strength is weak given the tiny antennas it has, compared to -6dbix4 on c6/a6.

Regardless, if you are looking for floor-floor coverage, it won't make much sense with RE. The reason I asked for area is there are lot of parameters which would determine coverage, mainly obstacles. I barely get 1 or no wifi signal from the 4th to 3rd floor because there are too many concrete walls in my building. If I change the position of the antennas, then maybe it could change but I haven't done it till now.
If you feel there are too many obstacles, then opt for Mercusys MR50G. You cannot go wrong with this as it has 6 antennas. Only downside is it has only 2 usable ports while in tplink it has 4.

What's the difference between the two routers C6 and A6? Prices are similar. Which of them is better?

Honestly, with current generation they have removed the differences that existed in previous ones, primarily A6 had internal antennas which helped increase range. But on YT videos, I saw no difference between the two. Given the same pricing, I went for C6 and it suits my purpose of covering ~600 sq feet, nook and corner, laterally.

 

[tech.monk]

How about EX6110?

 

[rdst_1]

Better buy a good router, connect it via Ethernet and use in AP mode. Most routers, even good ones will only have limited 5Ghz range. I bought Archer C80 few months back and it supposedly had very good range, but I found it difficult to cover a 1000sq ft house. It now barely covers the whole house and that's after I moved it to a central position. For future use in my other floors, I will probably buy the same router and place it at the same spot at that floor and connect via Ethernet.
For high speed wireless connectivity through 5Ghz one will have to buy multiple routers for multiple floors and hardwire each of them. A mesh network will also work well, but what I've noticed with my router using the one SSID system that TP-Link provides (where the router decides itself which band to connect the client to) is not great. So I prefer keeping the SSIDs different and do manual connection myself. This won't be feasible if you roam around a lot and there are too many networks.

 

[iPwnz]

For high speed wireless connectivity through 5Ghz one will have to buy multiple routers for multiple floors and hardwire each of them.

gesus dude how many wireless devices do you have connected to the internet? IoT system?
BTW thanks for all the feedback. Let me try my luck searching for used pieces. Too many on my plate. Cost cutting!

 

[vidyut]

How about EX6110?

+1

 

[blr_p]

The thing with range extender is that, they drop in speeds hence not give full bandwidth.
Personal experience..

The way it works is expect half the throughput from the extender as the router puts out and double the latency. If you add more extenders halve again. That's just the way it works. Keep in mind half is the best throughput possible with one extender. If you don't position the extender right by doing (LAN not internet) throughput testing and it gets a weaker signal it will halve that leaving you with even less on the receving end (!)

Instead of getting a wifi range extender, get a new router like Archer A6/C6 from Tp link and use it as an access point mode.

Provided you use a wired connection from the new AP to the Jio router then it won't face halving of bandwidth.

The second advantage is more flexibility with placement of the AP where you want as opposed to with the RE.

Our home's Jio router is in my room in the first floor of our building. And the signal is very weak or doesn't reach the ground floor. I'd like to get an extender to mitigate or fully fix this signal problem.

Where on the top floor is it located ? if you can locate it in the centre you might not need anything extra. Even the average ones these ISP's provide.

To get range downwards the antennas need to be horizontal, this wil reduce your side ways range but cover the bottom floor.

Antenna pointing up gives most sideways coverage. Assuming the router they gave you has external antennas that can be bent as required.

How thick in inches are your walls on average ?

Put up a rough sketch of the layout of your home as it gives a better idea.

I also need a dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) as some of our smartphones support only 2.4GHz. :/

How many devices will be usually connecting to the router at one time ?

I'll be leaving home soon so I want to set up everything and running before that and it will be problematic if the router/extender throws up a problem and I'm not there to fix it. You know how it is.

Another reason to use just one device. One point of failure. A power down and up fixes everything if you design it that way.

Once you add more devices, the order in which they power up might queer things.

I'd still leave a fallback option like mobile internet in case things don't come back as expected. Fail safe requires redundnacy.

Won't the signal strength be good as long as I use an ethernet cable to connect them?

If you're willing to use an ethernet cable then you have options.

I used to always recommend wired AP's but people would refuse saying could not lay cables, rented appt bla.

 

[iPwnz]

Where on the top floor is it located ? if you can locate it in the centre you might not need anything extra. Even the average ones these ISP's provide.

It's first floor and ground floor. My router and PC are on the corner room of first floor.

How many devices will be usually connecting to the router at one time ?

Right now we connect only 2-3 devices. One PC and others smartphones. Total would be 4-5 smartphones. My dad and brother always stay at the ground floor where the signal is barely available.

I want to put two AP's both wired, one in the middle of the first floor and the other in the ground floor.