Why are wifi extenders a waste of money?

If we have wifi dead spots in the home our first thought is to get a wifi extender. And why wouldn’t we, the name says it all doesn’t it? Well sadly no.

Once we go hunting for an extender there are too many options making huge claims that are simply unrealistic. When you consider the fundamentals of wifi the decision is made for you.

In our guide ‘why doesn’t wifi reach the whole house?’ we learnt that the fastest wifi frequency, 5ghz does not travel through many walls and floors before becoming weak or non-existent. We need this higher frequency to allow us to stream video, attend zoom calls and game online. A wifi extender or mesh system, comprises of components that talk to each other via wifi. Now if you have walls and floors in between these devices, that signal will be compromised.

If you plug in an extender and stand near it with your phone, you will see that you have full wifi bars, this gives the impression that the wifi is strong, however it is only showing the strength of the signal between your device and the extender, what you can’t see is the poor quality of the signal between the extender and your router, this is where the problem lies.

The only solution to ensuring 5ghz wifi signal is strong and reliable in every room and beyond is to install Wireless Access Points, commonly known as APs. This is the same technology that has been used to extend wifi reach in offices, malls and hotels for 20 years. Each AP connects directly to the router using an ethernet cable. This cable allows a direct connection without any loss between the router and the device. An IT company would never recommend an extender for extending wifi in an office environment.

With an experienced installer the cable can easily be installed out of site within the cavities of your home’s construction.