The perfect Wi-Fi extenders in 2025

In case your Wi-Fi sign is struggling to succeed in each nook of your own home, a sign booster — also referred to as a Wi-Fi extender — is perhaps the repair you want. Whether or not you are coping with annoying lifeless zones, buffering video calls or laggy gaming classes, the correct Wi-Fi extender will help develop protection and enhance connectivity with out forcing you to maneuver your router.

There are several types 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. In case you’re merely trying to prolong protection into a selected room, a Wi-Fi repeater can do the job — however it could minimize your bandwidth in half. Extra superior extenders, nevertheless, will help keep robust speeds and reliability all through your own home.

We have rounded up the very best Wi-Fi extenders to go well with totally different wants, whether or not you are in search of an inexpensive repair or a high-performance improve.

Desk of contents

Finest Wi-Fi extender for 2025

TP-Hyperlink

TP-Hyperlink has a bunch of Wi-Fi extenders beneath its umbrella, however the one that may seemingly serve most individuals the very 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.

Establishing this extender was as simple as plugging it in and following directions in TP-Hyperlink’s Tether cell app. The entire gadgets I attempted adopted the identical fundamental setup course of: first, plug within the extender near your wi-fi router, observe directions in a cell 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 pair of.4Ghz networks. I went with the identical title for each as a result of I didn’t wish to manually select from two totally different bands when connecting issues like my telephone or laptop computer. The machine will robotically pair your machine with the suitable band — for instance, connecting most good house devices to the two.4Ghz community, which regularly helps cut 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 pace exams on my iPhone and MacBook utilizing Speedtest.internet and Speedcheck.org so I may examine them with the usual speeds I received when linked to my router’s primary 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 decide (see under) received 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 offer 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 exams, I used to be blissful to find that I wasn’t held again by the 705X’s seemingly slower speeds. I labored as regular for hours with my telephone 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 stunned 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 house 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 that you could title wi-fi gadgets which are linked to your extenders community like your telephone and good TV. That makes it a lot simpler to know which issues in your house are continuously paired with the extender relatively 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 characteristic that permits you to create one seamless community when you’ve got a suitable mesh router. Since I’m nonetheless utilizing the router supplied to me by my ISP, I wasn’t capable of take a look at out this characteristic, however it works like this: when you’ve got a OneMesh router and OneMesh-compatible extenders, you may hyperlink all of them collectively beneath the identical community title. So relatively than having a router community and an extender community beneath the identical roof, every thing could be linked and filed beneath your primary community’s title.

It’s a small perk that turns into not so small when you’ve got a spotty extender, and even simply an awkwardly laid-out house. In my testing, I discovered my telephone disconnecting from some extenders’ networks once I went upstairs to the primary ground of the home from my basement. It might 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 remember when contemplating shopping for a Wi-Fi extender in any respect. If you will get one which has a characteristic like OneMesh, it’ll make your life a lot simpler.

Coming in at $130 and $120, respectively, the RE705X and RE700X will not be the most affordable Wi-Fi extenders on the market, however their protection vary, newest Wi-Fi assist and max speeds make both of them an excellent decide. If precisely the place you wish to put an extender and it’s not in a clumsy or hard-to-reach location, the marginally cheaper, antenna-free RE700X may fit simply nice for you. However in order for you that additional skill to tweak antennas to fit your wants, the RE705X is the best way to go.

Professionals

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

$130 at Best Buy

TP-Hyperlink

TP-Link’s RE315 Wi-Fi extender is bodily similar to the RE705X, however with decrease specs and that’s what makes it a $50 machine. You’ll rise 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 when you’ve got a very giant 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 individuals who 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 for the reason that RE315 additionally makes use of the Tether cell 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 sometimes nearer to $30 when on sale, the RE315 is a straightforward decide for anybody who desires a budget-friendly method to fill Wi-Fi lifeless zones of their house.

Professionals

Inexpensive
Simple setup course of
Good efficiency for the value
Simple to make use of companion app

Cons

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

$20 at Amazon

NETGEAR

Having a couple of Wi-Fi community in your own home is par for the course relating to 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 beneath your current SSID title. So as a substitute of disconnecting out of your primary wi-fi community and reconnecting to the extender’s community once you transfer out of your front room to your basement, all you need to do is… transfer from one room to a different and let Netgear’s machine do the heavy lifting.

That’s one of many premium options included on the EAX80, however its $250 price ticket could 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 might 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 needs to be a lot for small and medium-sized properties. It carried out effectively in our pace exams, coming very near the add/obtain speeds I received when being linked to my primary community earlier than putting in the extender.

There’s nothing out of the odd concerning the Nighthawk cell 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 seemingly be an enormous record because you’ll see every thing that’s paired to your router’s community as effectively. My solely gripe is that you could’t edit machine 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 variety of linked gadgets with no title in any respect, and we’re simply caught with that.

Apart from 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 characteristic – not having to change between Wi-Fi networks when going round my house was tremendous handy. I by no means needed to fear about my laptop computer shedding 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. Not like different vary extenders which are chunky blocks that plug straight into an AC outlet, Netgear’s mannequin seems to be extra like a standalone router. Whereas that does imply it has a bigger footprint than different gadgets I examined, it was truly simpler to seek out good spots for it in my house as a result of it didn’t must be chained to the wall proper above an outlet. Most individuals, particularly these tight on house, will in all probability choose 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 in the event you 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. But it surely’s value noting that Netgear has a couple of choices which are much like the EAX80, however with numerous variations in pace, 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.

Professionals

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

$275 at Amazon

How do Wi-Fi extenders work?

These useful wi-fi gadgets do precisely what their title suggests: prolong your Wi-Fi community so it covers extra areas of your own home. Most wi-fi extenders plug into an AC outlet and connect with your current router to allow them to then rebroadcast it to spots that your router alone might not cowl effectively. As a rule of thumb, you’ll get the very best outcomes by inserting the extender half means between your router and the lifeless zone you’re making an attempt 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 generally known as “repeaters”) is that almost all of them truly create a brand new Wi-Fi community when rebroadcasting your current one. That community may have a brand new title (it’ll typically be your default community’s title with an EXT appended on the finish, until you alter it) and which means you’ll have to connect with totally different networks when in numerous elements of your own home. Whereas that’s a small tradeoff in return for improved web connection, some shall be extra inconvenienced than others.

In case you’d relatively have one, a lot bigger community in your house, you’re higher off upgrading to mesh networking techniques. Mesh techniques include a primary router and a wi-fi entry level or two that, by default, create one giant Wi-Fi system that needs to be accessible all through your entire house. They are typically the very best Wi-Fi routers you will get, however that additionally interprets to costlier, and presumably extra sophisticated, gadgets. Mesh Wi-Fi techniques are, by far, extra pricey than a easy extender, plus you might have to work together with your web service supplier to get your own home’s current community working in your new router.

What to search for in a Wi-Fi extender

Pace

Extenders at this time can assist single, twin or tri-band Wi-Fi, and they’re going to inform you the utmost speeds they assist on all of their out there bands. For instance, one dual-band machine would possibly assist 600Mbps speeds over its 2.4GHz band and as much as 1300Mbps over its 5GHz band, for a mixed most pace of 1900Mbps. For the very best efficiency, you’ll wish to go along with a Wi-Fi extender that has the very best speeds doable (and people, as you would possibly count on, are inclined to value extra). Some extenders even assist Wi-Fi 7, providing you with the newest in wi-fi know-how for increased bandwidth, sooner web pace and decrease latency.

Nonetheless, it’s essential to do not forget that Wi-Fi extenders aren’t true “sign boosters” since they don’t seem to be designed to improve speeds throughout your own home. The truth is, you might discover that the extender’s community is slower than your router’s. As an alternative, extenders are designed to extend the robust Wi-Fi protection all through your own home, making them best for filling in lifeless zones. Some mesh extenders will help create a extra seamless community, lowering the drop in pace and bettering connectivity in bigger areas.

Vary, and variety of supported gadgets

With the title of the gaming being protection space, being attentive to a tool’s vary is essential. Relying on the scale of your own home and property, you might solely want as much as 1,200 sq. toes of protection. However these with bigger properties will wish to spring for an extender that may assist upwards of two,000+ sq. toes of protection.

Equally, these with a number of devices will need an extender that may deal with them all of sudden. In case you spend most of your time in your telephone or laptop computer and possibly have your good TV on-line for a couple of hours of Netflix every day, you could possibly get by with a extra restricted extender. Sensible house aficionados and tech lovers ought to spend money on one which received’t buckle beneath the strain of some dozen linked gadgets. That is particularly essential in the event you plan on linking all the gadgets in a sure a part of your own home to your Wi-Fi vary extender’s community, relatively 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 relating to design within the Wi-Fi extender house. A lot of the ones you’ll discover at this time are rounded rectangles roughly the scale of your hand that plug into a typical wall outlet. They often have a couple of indicator lights that may present you when the extender is linked, how robust its sign energy is and when there’s an issue, and a few will even have moveable exterior antennas that corporations declare present even higher Wi-Fi sign. Typically, they’re fairly easy to put in and get linked, however in the event you’re fighting methods to arrange your Wi-Fi extender, there are many YouTube movies you may try.

Apart from that, there are the scant few standalone Wi-Fi extenders that sit on an finish desk or a desk, and people look fairly much 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 characteristic 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 in the event you join it to your current router, or an adapter to offer gadgets like TVs, good house hubs or recreation consoles a hardwired connection to the web. Unsurprisingly, this wired connection often supplies you with the quickest speeds doable, so you might wish to use it on 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 obtained alerts from wi-fi routers, broadcasting them to a different community. This primarily extends the vary of the sign. Wi-Fi extenders develop the protection inside your own home’s Wi-Fi community, however typically you will note extenders described as boosters.

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

Mesh routers, or mesh Wi-Fi systems, use a number of gadgets (or nodes) throughout your own home to create a bigger house community. Primarily, you’ve got a number of routers round your own home with these techniques, and that may hopefully present the very best protection doable. Wi-Fi extenders, however, are often only one machine that extends your current Wi-Fi sign, they usually typically require you to change networks when connecting. Wi-Fi extenders are extra inexpensive, although, and are nice in the event you’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 complete house’s Wi-Fi.

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

Some individuals might have to make use of a number of Wi-Fi extenders, as an example, if your own home is giant or has lifeless zones in numerous areas. However in the event you do use a number of Wi-Fi extenders, there’s an opportunity of interference. You may additionally have to manually connect 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 prolong your wi-fi sign between 800 and a pair of,500 sq. toes. Some high-end fashions might attain even farther, particularly in the event that they characteristic exterior antennas or are a part of a mesh system with further devoted wi-fi entry factors.

Nonetheless, remember the fact that real-world efficiency depends upon components like your own home’s format, wall supplies and interference from different gadgets. For greatest 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 house.

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