I live in a 2BHK apartment and it’s a pretty good floor plan. We are a family of 4 and four laptops and 5 mobiles! Obviously, we need a good wi-fi connection. Given the pandemic situation and a new country, there are a lot of challenges. The topmost being having a good internet service provider who can help us all stay connected with our family and friends along with letting us work.
After getting the best plan available from our internet service provider, we still face a lot of issues, especially in my bedroom which is the farthest from the router and thus a lot of connection issues. The need of a wi-fi extender came in and I was boggled as to what the heck it is and how does it work?
The package arrived and the extender was this small little device with antennas. What the heck do I know about all these gizmos, I am not a nerd! But necessities teach you a lot more than you intend to learn. Let’s get started –
What is a Wi-Fi extender?
In its most simplistic terms, when the present router has low reachability or in other words when the signals coming from your router are interrupted, you get low connectivity. The internet speed is low, browsing gets affected and with online classes and meetings, poor network issues create a lot of havoc. A W-Fi extender helps to spread out the signals and make it available to the remotest part of your house. Doing so, the data lost and network issues would not be a problem.
Configuration
Configuring your extender is no cakewalk, you need to follow a set of rules and configure it, placing the extender and router in close proximity. It needs to be aligned and ‘extend’ the current signal. The extender in no way can create a new network, it will only extend the current one. And thus, the need to align. There might be individual ways to configure these extenders based on the brand and their models. But alignment is necessary and sometimes taking technical support from the makers of the model helps speed up.
Placement
Once the extender is configured, it needs to be placed in between the router and the remote (low signal) area of the house. My extender requires it to be plugged in. Once it has lighted up, the laptop needs to be connected with it. _EXT appears on your existing network name and voila! You have a great network even in the last room!
What is a repeater?
A network repeatedly creates a secondary network, and the device is connected to the secondary network. It broadcasts a fresh strong signal for adequate coverage. It sounds good but with a repeated signal, bandwidth actually cuts down to half. With multiple devices, it might not be a great idea.
A wi-fi extender is not a necessity. Depending on the network and service in your area, it seems to be a requirement. It does give you better coverage and a better connectivity. The best thing is that you have the convenience to move the extender in any room where you might think that network signal is poor.
The Extender still needs to stun me and I am eagerly waiting. After all, I have only got it and configured it. So far, it feels good and the kids do not have any problem in connecting with the classes.
A mother of two, Preeti Bhandari is a colloquial writer. She believes in simple living which reflects in her writings. As the Editor of Narisakti, she intends to use her vast experience to propel this platform to a cult status among entrepreneurial networks. When not writing she is quilling, both with paper and thoughts.