NetGear Nighthawk EX7000
Wifi range extenders are a cheap way to fixe these issues. They work by taking an existing signal and rebroadcasting it to create a second network. This second network is quite powerful and can extend your coverage area to up to double the initial range. Most wifi extenders have basically two wireless routers built in one. One router takes in the existing Wifi signal and the other boosts the signal and transmits it again elsewhere.
Wifi extenders have the same security levels as your traditional wifi routers. There will be some speed loss, but some wifi extenders are much worse at preserving speed than others. In particular, if your wifi repeater is single band, it has to receive and rebroadcast the signal on the same channel. This takes up a loto f bandwidth and slows up the performance of the extended signal. Dual band repeaters and dual radios get around this problem, but are definitely more expensive. So there you have it: not all wifi extenders are created the same.
Luckily, we already did the research for you and selected the best wifi extenders out of a large group of potential candidates. We took into account compatibility, portability, speed, performance, and cost when we tested these extenders out. Take into account that we tested all wifi extenders on the fastest possible router and configuration, so your results may vary depending on your router speed. Please see below for our recommendations.
Best Wifi Extender Reviews
- NETGEAR Nighthawk EX7000 Desktop WiFi Range Extender (Top Pick)
- TP-Link RE580D Desktop Dual Band Wi-Fi Range Extender
- D-Link DAP-1620 Wi-Fi Range Extender
NETGEAR Nighthawk EX7000 Desktop WiFi Range Extender
For those who care, it is able generate a throughput of close to 420 Mbps which is usually more than you need. It delivers consistent throughput that does not taper off much with distance. Even at 140 feet from the extender, the EX7000 pushes 280 Mbps. The Nighthawk EX7000 has a range of about 165 feet, which is incredibly far for a router.
The EX7000 has three external rotatable antennas to deliver signal. You can replace them with high gain antennas to improve the coverage area. It also has a USB connection and 5 wired Gigabit LAN ports so you can plug in other devices. Our biggest complaint with the Netgear Nighthawk EX7000 is the difficult setup and software. We had to call Netgear customer support to help us walk through the setup. We had to manually enable the 5 GHz band. Overall, if you simply looking for throughput, this is the best wifi extender you can get. Good luck with the installation.
TP-Link RE580D Desktop Dual Band Wi-Fi Range Extender
Unfortunately, the range on the TP-Link RE580D is not as good as the Netgear EX7000, as it falls in at 150 feet, which is 15 feet short of the EX7000. In the grand scheme of things, this is still a very good range to have. It is just not the best. In terms of performance and throughput, again, the TP-Link falls behind the Netgear Nighthawk EX7000. Its peak 802.11ac performance is only 327 Mbps at 5 feet vs 413 Mbps of Netgear EX7000.
However, where the TP-Link RE580D shines is in the soft things. It has a 2 year warranty, which many other wifi extenders do not provide. It is incredibly easy to install and took us just 5 minutes to set up the entire thing. We can’t say the same about other brands. It has a 5 wired gigabit LAN ports but no USB port unfortunately. So all in all, the choice to get the TP-Link RE580D comes down to sacrificing a little bit of performance and range for more warranty and a smoother installation process.
D-Link DAP-1620 Wi-Fi Range Extender
There is one LAN port and no USB. The throughput is about 290 Mbps at 5 feet, which is a good 30% lower than that of the Netgear Nighthawk EX7000. The range is only 90 feet, which is quite short compared to other more expensive extenders. So why do we like this wifi extender? Well, some people don’t really need crazy range or ridiculous throughput.
If you already have an old router or slow internet package, there is no reason to get a crazy expensive extender. You are just throwing your money away. The D-Link DAP-1620 is perfect for those who need a functional extender and don’t care too much about maximizing specs.
How to Improve the Performance of your Wifi Extender
You should place your wifi extender somewhere between your router and the dead zone. The signal and bandwidth coming from the original router will be immediately boosted and directed to the dead zone. You should also match the Wifi speed of the extender to that of your original router. If you router has a dual band, you should ideally choose a dual band extender as well to maximize performance and range.
Types of Wifi Extenders
What to Look out For When Buying the Best Wifi Extender
If you are using an old router (i.e. older than Wifi N) you should probably replace the original router first. Next, check what type of connection you have and make sure you are using a wifi booster than is matched. In other words, don’t get a 1500 Mbps AC wifi extender when your wifi router is only 500 Mbps N. If you get this fancy type of extender, the bottleneck will be your router and you will have wasted plenty of money on a premium extender.
Additionally, you want to look into an extender that has a built-in Ethernet switch. Although this is not a necessary feature to have on a wifi extender, it is a nice feature to have. This allows you to connect other wired devices to the booster. Some extenders will even have USB sockets so you can connect a hardrive or a fax machine. You can even plug audio devices in some wifi repeaters. The possibilities are endless, but the most important thing is compatibility.
When searching for the best wifi router, you should try to look for a system that supports both new and old technology. The last thing you want to do is buy a nice and fancy extender and find that it is not compatible with your outdated router. You should also look for a dual band extender in order to preserve as much performance speed as possible. Also your wifi extender should support two or more spatial/data streams on each band. Basically you want your extender to support at least the number of streams on your connected devices and wifi router.
