Universal Wifi Range Extender.

I just want to know if these are actually beneficial, or problematic. I have to use WiFi, and I can't drag ethernet cords around the house. Long story short, a WiFi extender is all I am able to use to potentially get more out of my signal, but I am wondering if I should still use the one I have, or just put it away. I have read up on it in the past, but it got me wondering again so I started reading up on it once more, and I just read that it can halve the signal, which isn't good. I can of course look into it by testing PS4 or what have you to see if the download/upload Mbps is better (as opposed to just the speedtest site), but I don't know if it will, in the long run, be better or worse, so asking here would give me faster results I think. I should say that I am not necessarily having internet problems, but I want the best I possibly can with what I have is all. If you're curious, I use this, and I don't place it in the best place (between the PS4, and Wii U), but there's a lack of place I find I can put it. I was, just before coming on to type this, looking around the house to see where I could place it, but I figured I'd ask whether I should even do so. I know the ideal place to put it, but I can't really do it.

So I follow this guide anytime I think my signal is getting bad. Problem is, my house wasn't designed with WIFI in mind so I just have to deal with it most of the time http://lifehacker.com/5931743/top-10-ways-to-boost-your-home-wi-fi

@mhumphreys89: Nope. Anyways, I took it out, and it's fine (maybe faster). We actually just got a new router two months ago. I don't really need a new one. I said it was already fast, I just wanted to be sure I was getting the fastest I could get with what I have, so that's the reason I asked if I should utilize the extender I have, which I showed above. It's not hard to set up at all actually.

@mtfikhan: I read that before, it's not really dealing with my question though.

---

I am still curious, but like I said above in a reply, I put it away. Currently downloading Blood and Wine. It went relatively fast. 55 minutes isn't bad for 12.744 GB. At least it isn't for what it's usually at with that GB I think.

So I've been using a Netgear N300 Wifi Range Extender since Oct 2015 with very little issues. Also it was a very easy setup. It has a setup wizard built in that walks you through the process very easily. It's as simple as connecting your phone to a wifi network really.

I use it's ethernet port to connect my laptop to it because the builtin wifi adapter on my laptop sucks due to a design flaw with it's wiring. Anyway my download speeds are able to reach my max bandwidth (about 4mb/s on a good day) and I can even play some online shooters as long as no one else is using the internet for anything heavy. I don't play online much lately though so if that's a requirement for you I couldn't really say much on the subject. Other than that any internet related tasks work fine. Youtube, twitch, other live video, giantbomb.com/chat all works fine.

The extender is about 40-50 ft (i think) away from the router through about 3 or 4 walls. both on the second floor of a two story house and the router reads full bars (best signal).

Woah. I have pretty poor countryside internet and I'm lucky if I download 0.5gb in an hour! Close to 13gb in an hour sounds like witchcraft to me.

The only thing I have heard about wifi extenders is that people should put them halfway between their wifi point and where they actually want to use it. And that it is a mistake to place it where you want to use it because it often needs to be closer to the wifi origin point to actually have any signal to extend. Not tested myself though so who knows.

They work but they kinda suck i would recommend a ethernet powerline adapter for anything that can use a wired connection, or simply a better router for phones/tablets etc.

If you already have the extender, why don't you just use it and see for yourself instead of asking other people to theorize on whether it will be any better or not?

@mike: I assumed it'd be faster to ask whether extenders in general work or not, instead of testing it, as it's often variable in my experience. I wouldn't have asked if I already knew through the testing I've done in the past.

I've tried wifi extenders and power line in my home. It wasn't for gaming but for streaming my Blu ray rips from mkv, they work ok most of the time. Eventually I ended up drilling a hole through the floor and ran Ethernet to my home theater room. Now I can stream from my Nas with no issues.

You want a power-line bridge, not an extender. Power-line bridges are faster, faster than even Wi-fi, but it helps if the wiring in the house isn't terrible.