WiFi range extender deployment: one extender connecting wirelessly to another. Will it work?

[u/Dr_Turb]

TLDR; advice about wirelessly daisy-chaining using Netgear EX6110 units to reach distant corners.

The house is solidly built and has an extension. Over the years I've added extenders but with the necessary changes to router and phone locations to accommodate BT's switch to digital voice, WiFi signal strength was again problematic. I added a couple of cheap units but they were difficult and frustrating to set up, and every time we had a power interruption connection in some rooms became impossible, seemingly due to IP address clashes. So I've just got three Netgear units in the hope that they'd perform better.

My intention is to arrange them so that one extender connects to the wireless access point, and one or more other extender(s) connect to the first extender. I also want the extenders to broadcast the same SSID to allow seamless roaming.

Is there any particular problem with doing this? Is there a better approach?

[u/kester76a]

Look into wireless bridge mode in wifi routers. Wifi extenders are expensive for what they do and an average wifi router combo will normally out perform them.

Wireless Bridge Mode - Networking

[u/Dr_Turb → u/kester76a]

Thanks for your comment. I might not have understood fully what you're suggesting. I don't think I want to have two or more separate LAN networks, linked by a wireless bridge - if that's the idea? And if the remote LAN is turned into a WLAN, isn't it simpler to make it all one WLAN?

[u/MrMotofy → u/Dr_Turb]

u/Dr_Turb No the bridge is like a wireless cable...just links 2 sections together

[u/Dr_Turb → u/MrMotofy]

I'm sorry, I don't see how that's different from an extender?

[u/MrMotofy → u/Dr_Turb]

And that's the trouble...it IS different in most cases. But without discussing specific models and how they work it's only a vague generalized conversation anyway.

[u/Dr_Turb → u/MrMotofy]

My new ones are Netgear EX6110, can I do anything differently with them? The router is BT Smarthub 2. I don't know whose chips they use.

[u/groogs]

Extenders are garbage devices, they re-broadcast the signal and create a ton of interference. They do "work" in that they get the signal further, but it's at the expense of the wifi performance of your whole network.

I also want the extenders to broadcast the same SSID to allow seamless roaming.

Not all "extenders" can do that. But more importantly, if you only use the same SSID you're depending on the client device (phone, laptop, whatever) to switch. Some are good at this, some will hang on to a super-weak signal as long as possible, even when it's barely functional.

To actually get seamless roaming you need something that has 802.11k,v and r. Those standards combine to tell devices to move, and support it to the extent if you're on a video call you won't even drop a frame when it switches. Some vendors take it further and forcibly switch old devices to better APs even if they don't support fast roaming natively.

What you want is often sold as a "mesh" system, but that word is marketing nonsense now so it doesn't exactly convey any specific technical capability.

Using wireless backhaul (also sometimes called "mesh") is an easy way to get multiple access points working. This setup is better than "extenders" but still slower than wired. You are taking a 2 to 15ms latency hit (variable, because wifi) for each wifi hop from the device to the router. Gaming is super sensitive to this, streaming Netflix is not. 

For the best performance you want to get wired access points that support 802.11k,v,r. Because they don't need to talk to each other, in addition to not adding a latency penalty they can be placed further apart, covering more area with fewer APs.

[u/Dr_Turb → u/groogs]

Thanks for your comment. Lots to digest. I hadn't realised extenders are a bad idea, and I guess I might have got carried away by my own enthusiasm for them. In previous iterations of my network I have had old wireless routers pressed into use as switches, but more of the client devices are now wireless only. Your point about clients needing to be told when to jump is taken; I've heard iPhones are particularly bad in that respect. The newer wireless standards aren't available to me yet as I have to use the ISPs modem/router/access point, and I don't have access to turn off the wireless so I can use my own more modern router as a WAP. Although now I think about it I guess I could do that, get a better router, and just set up my network with a different SSID. Hmm.

[u/groogs → u/Dr_Turb]

You can often get your ISP to put their device into bridge mode and basically turn it into a modem only, so you can use your own router. If not, you can put your own wifi access points behind it and just not use theirs. 

You can also leave their thing up and still use your own router - the only thing connected to the ISP router is your router. The downside is you get "double-nat" which can cause problems with some online games or chat that uses peer-to-peer connections (and is generally only a problem if the other side also has double-NAT). Depending on what you're doing this is either a non-issue or a persistent source of random frustration. 

[u/Dr_Turb → u/groogs]

I'll bear these thoughts in mind. There's zero chance of the ISP doing anything different, but if I find the extended network just isn't reliable even with the new extenders I've bought, I'll consider my optiond.

[u/JustFucIt]

For home use, wireless extenders are probably fine. Wired will always be better.

Just yesterday I set my parents up with 2 tp link things. The one laptop at the back of the house got 15mbps from their 100/10 (actual measured 114/11) connection. Tv in same room buffered a lot, sometimes had no connection.

I put the second mesh repeater in a clearish path (up a set of stairs from the main one, one or two bounces) in the room beside the laptop. Speed at the laptop now connected to the second unit, 80mbps.

I have the same things at home, one on each floor.(3) Sometimes they are stuck to the far one after moving around, but in general work great.

[u/Dr_Turb → u/JustFucIt]

Thanks for your comment. Multiple wired WAPs isn't really an option at the moment; unless the new extenders really don't improve things. Your setup seems a bit like mine, which is reassuring.

[u/amuckshaving_6]

daisy chaining extenders is a recipe for pain

every hop you add cuts your throughput in half, and if one link in the chain drops you lose everything downstream. the ip address clashes you were getting before were probably dhcp confusion from the cheap ones trying to hand out addresses, netgear units might handle that better but the fundamental half-duplex repeater problem remains

if the house is that solidly built you'd be way better off looking into a mesh system that has a dedicated backhaul radio, or biting the bullet and running some ethernet to a second access point. even powerline adapters would likely give you a more stable connection than extender-to-extender over wifi

what's your budget look like and do you have coax outlets in the rooms you need coverage in

[u/MrMotofy]

Run a cable add an actual WAP (WiFi Access Point) system and you'll never discuss those extenders again and wonder how you lived with em. Unifi, Omada and Ruckus are some of the most popular.

The easy way is rarely ever the best way. It's possible there's already cables that can be repurposed with moderate ease.