
#Linksys wifi booster upgrade#
The Alfa SMA is a simple antenna upgrade that can breathe new life into old devices, and it's one of the least expensive tools for increasing range.
#Linksys wifi booster full#
And those who insist on making the very most of their bandwidth need to look at the Netgear Nighthawk Mesh X6S and Amped Wireless Athena RTA2600-R2, which should take full advantage of even the most high-performing routers and ISPs.įinally, there are two specialty items worth mentioning. For a bit more, the TP-Link RE650 and Linksys Max-Stream RE9000 provide good performance using wireless communication only. In places where there's a glut of Wi-Fi networks, these handy devices can help propagate a strong signal in spite of overcrowding. If you plan on gaming, streaming multiple 4K videos at once, or just being generally demanding when it comes to speed, you can probably get by with a mid-range device, such as the TrendNet TPL-430APK or the TP-Link WPA8630, which are two of the best powerline extenders. Although it doesn't technically use the 802.11ac standard, it does operate on both the 2.4- and 5-gigahertz bands, so it's plenty fast enough for streaming video.Īlternately, you might just need a stronger signal if your house is very large or if your walls obstruct the signal too much.

If you're okay with a comparatively unknown brand, check out the Rock Space AC1200, which is also pretty cheap. The TP-Link AC750 is remarkably affordable and praised by experts, but many users find it just doesn't hold up for very long in the real world. You may have a router that works but is beginning to age, and in this case, an inexpensive repeater might be your best bet, especially if you don't have an ultra-high-speed Internet package or an incredibly large house. There are two main reasons why you might want a Wi-Fi booster. This feature is especially useful if you are concerned about your children browsing the internet after lights out, or if you simply wish to limit their usage. The TP-Link app goes one further and allows you to control which devices can connect to your network and disable them at preset times.

Each of these new items utilizes mesh functionality, and each can be managed via an iOS or Android app.Ī dedicated app is a handy tool to have, as it assists in configuring the extender with your router, and helps you determine the optimal position where signal strength is at its highest. These are the popular TP-Link AC1200, which replaced the older TP-Link AC750 the D-Link DAP-1955, which is both affordable and compact and the robust, high-performance, Netgear EX7700.
#Linksys wifi booster update#
In this latest update to our ranking, we made three new additions.

In short, these devices create multiple signal sources, to help ensure a seamless connection within the network, and as the demands of wireless connectivity become more complex, this feature becomes increasingly important. One term we are increasingly seeing when discussing WiFi extenders is "wireless mesh network", and many of the units ranked here use this technology.
