wifi-extender....

[Doug Garson]

Jim, no experience with extenders so I'll accept they don't all work but setting the specs aside, they either meet the OP's needs or not. What's the best way to determine that if not a speed test with and without the extender? Maybe just stream some videos at the extreme outside of the network with and without?

[Larry Frank]

Netgear has a WiFi analytics app for your phone. You can use it to measure signal strength at various places in your home. I compared signal strength for my extender and mesh systems. The mesh was a lot better.

[Chuck Wintle]

Doug, a "speed test" may or may not indicate actual performance and what speed test is chosen can also matter. A lot of the "extenders" just plain don't work very well which is why the discussion went the way it did.

Thanks to everyone for your responses. It works now and signal strength, although not great, suits my needs.

[Doug Garson]

Thanks to everyone for your responses. It works now and signal strength, although not great, suits my needs.

So what method did you end up using to evaluate how well it works and decide it suits your needs?

[Chuck Wintle]

using my laptop there is a program that can compare all signals in the area and indicate the power level of each.

[Jim Becker]

That sounds helpful, Chuck. Do keep in mind that signal strength from the extender access point to your computer may not represent the available throughput via the extender. It only tells you that your signal from that device is strong. The underlying key to performance is the repeating signal between the extender and the primary access point since it's wireless based on your earlier description. You'll want to also run speed tests that are from your computer to a testing server "out there" on the Internet.

[Doug Garson]

Hmmm , where did I see speed test before?

[Chuck Wintle]

That sounds helpful, Chuck. Do keep in mind that signal strength from the extender access point to your computer may not represent the available throughput via the extender. It only tells you that your signal from that device is strong. The underlying key to performance is the repeating signal between the extender and the primary access point since it's wireless based on your earlier description. You'll want to also run speed tests that are from your computer to a testing server "out there" on the Internet.

using my laptop i compared the numbers for a relative comparison. It worked in that i was seeing more "signal strength" with the extender connected.