The perfect Wi-Fi extenders in 2025


In case your Wi-Fi sign is struggling to achieve each nook of your house, a sign booster — often known as a Wi-Fi extender — may be the repair you want. Whether or not you are coping with annoying useless zones, buffering video calls or laggy gaming periods, the correct Wi-Fi extender may help broaden protection and enhance connectivity with out forcing you to maneuver your router.

There are various kinds of Wi-Fi extenders to select from. Some fashions use exterior antennas to push the sign farther, whereas others, like mesh extenders, create a seamless, whole-home community. Should you’re merely seeking to lengthen protection into a particular room, a Wi-Fi repeater can do the job — however it might reduce your bandwidth in half. Extra superior extenders, nevertheless, may help keep sturdy speeds and reliability all through your house.

We have rounded up one of the best Wi-Fi extenders to swimsuit totally different wants, whether or not you are searching for an reasonably priced repair or a high-performance improve.

Desk of contents

Greatest Wi-Fi extender for 2025

TP-Hyperlink

Most switch fee: 2402 Mbps | Vary: 110 toes | Variety of antennas: 2 | Variety of USB ports: 0 | Wi-Fi 6: Sure | Variety of bands: 2 | Wi-Fi velocity: 5GHz (2402 Mbps), 2.4GHz (574 Mbps)

TP-Hyperlink has a bunch of Wi-Fi extenders below its umbrella, however the one that may probably serve most individuals one of the best is that this AX3000 mannequin, which is available in two variations: the RE700X and the RE705X. Each extenders have the identical specs, together with Wi-Fi 6 assist, however the 705X has a barely totally different design with pull-out antennas on both facet. I examined the 705X, so I’m basing my suggestion off of my expertise with that mannequin, particularly.

Organising this extender was as simple as plugging it in and following directions in TP-Hyperlink’s Tether cellular app. The entire gadgets I attempted adopted the identical fundamental setup course of: first, plug within the extender near your wi-fi router, comply with directions in a cellular app or on a setup webpage, and as soon as the connection is established, transfer the extender to your required location.

It took all of 5 minutes to pair the 705X with my Verizon FiOS router – in all probability probably the most time-consuming bit was deciding what I needed to call the brand new 5Ghz and a couple of.4Ghz networks. I went with the identical identify for each as a result of I didn’t need to manually select from two totally different bands when connecting issues like my cellphone or laptop computer. The system will robotically pair your system with the suitable band — for instance, connecting most good residence devices to the two.4Ghz community, which frequently helps scale back latency.

The everlasting location the place I moved all the extenders I examined was in my basement, since that’s the place we will get the spottiest Wi-Fi sign. I first ran velocity assessments on my iPhone and MacBook utilizing Speedtest.internet and Speedcheck.org so I might examine them with the usual speeds I bought when linked to my router’s fundamental community. Unsurprisingly, the speeds generated by TP-Hyperlink’s extender have been a lot slower than these from my router’s community, however that was the case with all the gadgets I examined. Solely our prime choose (see under) bought near my router’s commonplace speeds, however I anticipated this. Wi-Fi extenders aren’t going to make your connection higher – they’re simply going to present you a wider space of protection. From a spec perspective, each the 705X and the 700X are rated for speeds as much as 2402 Mbps on the 5GHz band and 574 Mbps on 2.4GHz band.

Regardless of the outcomes of my assessments, I used to be completely satisfied to find that I wasn’t held again by the 705X’s seemingly slower speeds. I labored as regular for hours with my cellphone and laptop computer linked to the extenders wi-fi community, answering emails, messaging in Slack, streaming YouTube movies and in any other case sustaining a couple of dozen tabs in Chrome, with none hiccups or noticeable slow-downs.

I used to be not shocked to seek out TP-Hyperlink’s Tether companion app to be simple to make use of, if slightly easy, as a result of that was my expertise with TP-Hyperlink’s good residence app. Tether is particularly used with the corporate’s networking gadgets, and also you in all probability received’t spend a ton of time in it after preliminary setup. I particularly like you can identify wi-fi gadgets which can be linked to your extenders community like your cellphone and good TV. That makes it a lot simpler to know which issues in your house are always paired with the extender fairly than your router’s default community.

One essential factor to notice with these TP-Hyperlink extenders is that they each assist OneMesh, which is the corporate’s function that permits you to create one seamless community if in case you have a suitable mesh router. Since I’m nonetheless utilizing the router offered to me by my ISP, I wasn’t in a position to check out this function, however it works like this: if in case you have a OneMesh router and OneMesh-compatible extenders, you may hyperlink all of them collectively below the identical community identify. So fairly than having a router community and an extender community below the identical roof, the whole lot can be linked and filed below your fundamental community’s identify.

It’s a small perk that turns into not so small if in case you have a spotty extender, and even simply an awkwardly laid-out residence. In my testing, I discovered my cellphone disconnecting from some extenders’ networks once I went upstairs to the primary ground of the home from my basement. It could then try to reconnect to the extender community, when actually I might have most well-liked it to default again to my router’s community. That fortunately didn’t occur with TP-Hyperlink’s RE705X, however it’s one thing to bear in mind when contemplating shopping for a Wi-Fi extender in any respect. If you may get one which has a function like OneMesh, it’ll make your life a lot simpler.

Coming in at $130 and $120, respectively, the RE705X and RE700X is probably not the most affordable Wi-Fi extenders on the market, however their protection vary, newest Wi-Fi assist and max speeds make both of them choose. If precisely the place you need to put an extender and it’s not in an ungainly or hard-to-reach location, the marginally cheaper, antenna-free RE700X may match simply high quality for you. However if you would like that additional capability to tweak antennas to fit your wants, the RE705X is the best way to go.

Execs

  • Straightforward setup course of
  • Good efficiency
  • Straightforward to make use of companion app
  • Integrates with TP-Hyperlink OneMesh

$130 at Greatest Purchase

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TP-Hyperlink

Most switch fee: 867 Mbps | Vary: 1500 sq.ft | Variety of antennas: 2 | Variety of USB ports: 0 | Wi-Fi 6: Not specified | Variety of bands: 2 | Wi-Fi velocity: 5GHz (867 Mbps), 2.4GHz (300 Mbps)

TP-Hyperlink’s RE315 Wi-Fi extender is bodily similar to the RE705X, however with decrease specs and that’s what makes it a $50 system. You’ll stand up to 867 Mbps speeds on the 5GHz band and 300 Mbps on the two.4GHz band, and it solely supplies protection for as much as 1,500 sq. toes. That received’t be as a lot of a difficulty for most individuals as max speeds will, however if in case you have a very massive property, you’re higher off going with a costlier extender that may cowl more room.

There’s additionally no Wi-Fi 6e assist on the RE315, which can be a dealbreaker for many who just lately invested in a Wi-Fi 6 router. This mannequin does assist OneMesh, although, which is good if you have already got a OneMesh system in your house.

I’m specializing in specification variations as a result of my expertise with the RE315 wasn’t that far off from the RE705X. Setup was simply as plain and easy because the RE315 additionally makes use of the Tether cellular app, and whereas speeds have been barely decrease in my testing, I didn’t discover an excessive amount of of a distinction in actual world use. For $50 usually, and infrequently nearer to $30 when on sale, the RE315 is a simple choose for anybody who needs a budget-friendly technique to fill Wi-Fi useless zones of their residence.

Execs

  • Inexpensive
  • Straightforward setup course of
  • Good efficiency for the value
  • Straightforward to make use of companion app
Cons

  • Solely supplies 1,500 sq. toes of protection
  • Doesn’t assist Wi-Fi 6

$20 at Amazon

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NETGEAR

Most switch fee: 4800 Mbps | Vary: 2500 sq.ft | Variety of antennas: 2 | Variety of USB ports: 1 x USB 3.0 | Wi-Fi 6: Sure | Variety of bands: 2 | Wi-Fi velocity: 5GHz (4.8 Gbps), 2.4GHz (1.2 Gbps)

Having multiple Wi-Fi community in your own home is par for the course in terms of including an extender into the combination. However that’s not so with the Netgear EAX80 mesh community vary extender – it has “seamless good roaming,” which lets you set it up below your current SSID identify. So as an alternative of disconnecting out of your fundamental wi-fi community and reconnecting to the extender’s community whenever you transfer out of your lounge to your basement, all it’s important to do is… transfer from one room to a different and let Netgear’s system do the heavy lifting.

That’s one of many premium options included on the EAX80, however its $250 price ticket might be attributed extra so to another perks. It’s a dual-band, Wi-Fi 6e mesh vary extender that may work with just about any wi-fi router you’ll have. It helps speeds as much as 6 Gbps and may have greater than 30 gadgets linked to it without delay. So far as sq. footage goes, it’ll widen your Wi-Fi’s protection by as much as 2,500 sq. toes, which ought to be lots for small and medium-sized properties. It carried out properly in our velocity assessments, coming very near the add/obtain speeds I bought when being linked to my fundamental community earlier than putting in the extender.

There’s nothing out of the odd concerning the Nighthawk cellular app, which is what you’ll use to initially arrange the EAX80 extender. After that, you should utilize the app to troubleshoot, test Wi-Fi speeds and see which gadgets are in your community. It’ll probably be a giant record because you’ll see the whole lot that’s paired to your router’s community as properly. My solely gripe is you can’t edit system names. For instance, my den’s TV exhibits up as “LGwebOSTV” and our soundbar in our basement exhibits up as “sonyaudio” — however there are a selection of linked gadgets with no identify in any respect, and we’re simply caught with that.

Other than its quick speeds and dependable connection, two issues set this Netgear extender aside from the opposite gadgets I examined. First is that seamless good roaming function – not having to modify between Wi-Fi networks when going round my residence was tremendous handy. I by no means needed to fear about my laptop computer dropping connection to a devoted extender community once I moved from my basement to my second ground, which is one thing I regularly needed to take care of when testing different gadgets.

The second differentiating issue is the EAX80’s design. In contrast to different vary extenders which can be chunky blocks that plug instantly into an AC outlet, Netgear’s mannequin appears to be like extra like a standalone router. Whereas that does imply it has a bigger footprint than different gadgets I examined, it was really simpler to seek out good spots for it in my residence as a result of it didn’t should be chained to the wall proper above an outlet. Most individuals, particularly these tight on area, will in all probability favor the usual extender design, however the EAX80 gave me a bit extra flexibility. I additionally appreciated that the EAX80 has 4 built-in ports for utilizing an Ethernet cable to bodily join issues like TVs, consoles and extra, plus one USB-A port for hardwiring a printer.

Netgear’s EAX80 vary extender is a strong choice for those who don’t thoughts dropping a bit of cash to get a bunch of handy options on prime of stellar speeds and Wi-Fi 6 assist. However it’s price noting that Netgear has a couple of choices which can be just like the EAX80, however with varied variations in velocity, protection and have set. Probably the most comparable is the $130 EAX20 extender, which incorporates 1,500 sq. toes of protection, assist for Wi-Fi 6 and as much as 1.8Gbps speeds, plus seamless good roaming capabilities. The wall-plug model of that, the EAX15, is definitely a tad costlier at $140.

Execs

  • “Seamless good roaming” enables you to use your current SSID identify
  • Twin-band Wi-Fi 6 assist
  • Widens protection by 2,500 sq. toes
  • Wonderful efficiency

$275 at Amazon

How do Wi-Fi extenders work?

These helpful wi-fi gadgets do precisely what their identify suggests: lengthen your Wi-Fi community so it covers extra areas of your house. Most wi-fi extenders plug into an AC outlet and hook up with your current router to allow them to then rebroadcast it to spots that your router alone could not cowl properly. As a rule of thumb, you’ll get one of the best outcomes by inserting the extender half approach between your router and the useless zone you’re attempting to repair or enhance your W-Fi connection and strengthen the wi-fi sign.

One essential factor to notice about Wi-Fi vary extenders (additionally typically known as “repeaters”) is that almost all of them really create a brand new Wi-Fi community when rebroadcasting your current one. That community could have a brand new identify (it’ll typically be your default community’s identify with an EXT appended on the finish, until you alter it) and meaning you’ll have to connect with totally different networks when in numerous elements of your house. Whereas that’s a small tradeoff in return for improved web connection, some will probably be extra inconvenienced than others.

Should you’d fairly have one, a lot bigger community in your house, you’re higher off upgrading to mesh networking methods. Mesh methods include a fundamental router and a wi-fi entry level or two that, by default, create one massive Wi-Fi system that ought to be accessible all through your entire residence. They are usually one of the best Wi-Fi routers you may get, however that additionally interprets to costlier, and probably extra difficult, gadgets. Mesh Wi-Fi methods are, by far, extra pricey than a easy extender, plus you’ll have to work along with your web service supplier to get your house’s current community working in your new router.

What to search for in a Wi-Fi extender

Pace

Extenders immediately can assist single, twin or tri-band Wi-Fi, and they’ll let you know the utmost speeds they assist on all of their obtainable bands. For instance, one dual-band system may assist 600Mbps speeds over its 2.4GHz band and as much as 1300Mbps over its 5GHz band, for a mixed most velocity of 1900Mbps. For one of the best efficiency, you’ll need to go together with a Wi-Fi extender that has the best speeds doable (and people, as you may anticipate, are inclined to price extra). Some extenders even assist Wi-Fi 7, providing you with the most recent in wi-fi expertise for larger bandwidth, sooner web velocity and decrease latency.

Nonetheless, it’s essential to do not forget that Wi-Fi extenders are usually not true “sign boosters” since they don’t seem to be designed to enhance speeds throughout your house. In truth, chances are you’ll discover that the extender’s community is slower than your router’s. As a substitute, extenders are designed to extend the sturdy Wi-Fi protection all through your house, making them perfect for filling in useless zones. Some mesh extenders may help create a extra seamless community, decreasing the drop in velocity and enhancing connectivity in bigger areas.

Vary, and variety of supported gadgets

With the identify of the gaming being protection space, paying attention to a tool’s vary is essential. Relying on the scale of your house and property, chances are you’ll solely want as much as 1,200 sq. toes of protection. However these with bigger properties will need to spring for an extender that may assist upwards of two,000+ sq. toes of protection.

Equally, these with numerous devices will need an extender that may deal with them abruptly. Should you spend most of your time in your cellphone or laptop computer and perhaps have your good TV on-line for a couple of hours of Netflix every day, you might get by with a extra restricted extender. Good residence aficionados and tech lovers ought to put money into one which received’t buckle below the strain of some dozen linked gadgets. That is particularly essential for those who plan on linking all the gadgets in a sure a part of your house to your Wi-Fi vary extender’s community, fairly than on to your current router. Some fashions with exterior antennas can enhance efficiency by offering stronger, extra directional wi-fi sign.

Design

There isn’t a ton of innovation in terms of design within the Wi-Fi extender area. A lot of the ones you’ll discover immediately are rounded rectangles roughly the scale of your hand that plug into a regular wall outlet. They normally have a couple of indicator lights that may present you when the extender is linked, how sturdy its sign power is and when there’s an issue, and a few will even have moveable exterior antennas that firms declare present even higher Wi-Fi sign. Usually, they’re fairly easy to put in and get linked, however for those who’re scuffling with arrange your Wi-Fi extender, there are many YouTube movies you may try.

Other than that, there are the scant few standalone Wi-Fi extenders that sit on an finish desk or a desk, and people look fairly just like common ol’ routers. However make no mistake, something labeled as an extender or a “Wi-Fi repeater” will want an anchor router to ensure that it to work.

One other handy function you’ll discover on most Wi-Fi extenders is an additional Ethernet connection port (or a couple of). This lets you use the extender as a wi-fi entry level for those who join it to your current router, or an adapter to supply gadgets like TVs, good residence hubs or recreation consoles a hardwired connection to the web. Unsurprisingly, this wired connection normally supplies you with the quickest speeds doable, so chances are you’ll need to use it to your most important gadgets.

Wi-Fi extender FAQs

What is the distinction between a wifi booster and extender?

These days, there’s actually no distinction between a Wi-Fi booster and Wi-Fi extender – they’re simply totally different names for a similar factor. Beforehand, nevertheless, Wi-Fi boosters have been gadgets that acquired indicators from wi-fi routers, broadcasting them to a different community. This primarily extends the vary of the sign. Wi-Fi extenders broaden the protection inside your house’s Wi-Fi community, however typically you will notice extenders described as boosters.

Is a Wi-Fi extender higher than a mesh router?

Mesh routers, or mesh Wi-Fi methods, use a number of gadgets (or nodes) throughout your house to create a bigger residence community. Primarily, you may have a number of routers round your house with these methods, and that may hopefully present one of the best protection doable. Wi-Fi extenders, however, are normally only one system that extends your current Wi-Fi sign, they usually typically require you to modify networks when connecting. Wi-Fi extenders are extra reasonably priced, although, and are nice for those who’re touring or want a Wi-Fi sign in harder-to-reach areas. Nonetheless, a mesh router can provide a greater long-term resolution to improve your total residence’s Wi-Fi.

Ought to I take advantage of a number of Wi-Fi extenders?

Some folks might have to make use of a number of Wi-Fi extenders, as an illustration, if your house is massive or has useless zones in numerous areas. However for those who do use a number of Wi-Fi extenders, there’s an opportunity of interference. You might also have to manually hook up with the extenders individually, which isn’t at all times handy.

What’s the most distance for a Wi-Fi extender?

The utmost distance for a Wi-Fi extender varies relying on the mannequin, however most can successfully lengthen your wi-fi sign between 800 and a couple of,500 sq. toes. Some high-end fashions could attain even farther, particularly in the event that they function exterior antennas or are a part of a mesh system with further devoted wi-fi entry factors.

Nonetheless, remember that real-world efficiency relies on elements like your house’s structure, wall supplies and interference from different gadgets. For finest outcomes, place your extender about midway between your router and the realm with weak or no Wi-Fi connection. All the time test the producer’s specs — a few of our prime picks clearly record their anticipated vary so yow will discover one that matches your area.



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