Wifi extenders can reduce or increase speed based on your network topology. In this article, we understand two deployment scenarios where wifi extenders can either reduce or increase speed.
How Wifi extender can reduce speed
Assume a home network where a wireless router is installed. There are two users in the room where the wireless router is installed.
There is also a wifi extender which is installed in another room. There is another user sitting in the room where the wifi extender is setup.
If we compare the speed of the users connected to the router and the user connected to the wifi extender, the users connecting to the router directly would have better internet speed as compared with the user connecting to the extender.
This is because the wireless router is connected directly to the internet. But the wifi extender is connected to the wireless router. So all internet bound requests on the wifi extender should pass through the wireless router for internet access.
This would reduce the speed when the user is connected to the wifi extender, due to the number of devices it has to cross before reaching the router where internet is connected.
How Wifi extender can increase speed
Assume a scenario where there is a wireless router at home. There are two users at home, User 1 is sitting in the room where the wireless router is installed. User 2 is in a different room.
In this scenario, user 2 would have lower speed than user 1 due to the placement of the router. By installing a wifi extender in the room where user 2 is sitting, the wifi speed can increase significantly since the wifi signal is now stronger by having an extender.
Note that, user 1 would still be enjoing a better speed than user 2 , due to the closer proximity to the wireless router.
FAQ
Can we use two wifi extenders in a home and how does it affect speed
Yes. This is possible. You can have multiple wifi extenders setup in a home. But this may not increase the speed significantly since the number of wifi devices to reach the internet is also increased proportionaly.
Can wifi extender work on multiple bands and how does it affect speed
Yes. There are dual band wifi extenders which work on both 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz. This is especially useful in a scenario where you need to segregate your home network or have a dual band router.
The 2.4 Ghz radio on the wifi extender can be associated with the 2.4 Ghz on the wireless router and the 5 Ghz associates with the 5 Ghz on the Wifi router.
The 5 Ghz radio would be much faster than the 2.4 Ghz radio.
My network is slow because of extenders. What is the best option available to increase speed
Upgrade your network to mesh network. This would significantly improve the network speed as well as your overall internet speed. Mesh technology is designed to eliminate the need for wifi extenders and boosters.
It solves the problem of wifi dead spots by providing seamless internet connection to all rooms.