BT wifi disc vs BT range extender signal strength

[Mr_Compromise]

Hi

Can anyone tell me whether BT complete WiFi discs actually provide better signal quality than BT range extenders?

I'm asking this because we currently have a BT range extender in the house and get nowhere near the 40 Mbps upstairs that the router sees downstairs off of just one range extender that's plugged in on the landing that's directly above the router. If the WiFi discs weren't so expensive I'd just get one and try it because it would be nice to have the superior meshing but they are so much more expensive than range extenders and so I'd need to be confident that we'd actually get decent speeds upstairs for that kind of money. It's a lot of money to pay out if the only advantage turned out to be nice seamless meshing!

[Keith_Beddoe · Accepted solution]

@Mr_Compromise 

Welcome to this user forum.

Range extenders reduce the throughput by about 50% as they have to receive, then forward the data on the same channel.

This is a better option.

https://shop.bt.com/products/bt-mini-wi-fi-home-hotspot-600-kit-084288-BVFF.html

It does not provide seamless roaming, but should give you a better connection speed.

If you want a proper wireless mesh, and do not want to pay the high cost of the BT solutions. then I use this system, which works very well, and is much cheaper.

https://www.tendacn.com/uk/product/mw3.html

Typically £70 for three nodes.

The BT solutions would be the BT Home Home system, (white discs) which you need a minimum of two discs and are a retail purchase. Or the BT Complete Wifi solution which needs the BT Smart Hub 2, and one or more black discs, which are all rented from BT.

As for the performance, you would have to read some of the treads on the BT Devices board.

[Mr_Compromise]

Thanks for your reply Keith. I was thinking about the possibility of a better range extender for half the price of a BT complete WiFi disc too.

The solution that you're using is interesting - 3 meshing repeaters for less than the cost of one BT disc!

[Keith_Beddoe]

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@Mr_Compromise wrote:

Thanks for your reply Keith. I was thinking about the possibility of a better range extender for half the price of a BT complete WiFi disc too.

The solution that you're using is interesting - 3 meshing repeaters for less than the cost of one BT disc!

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The hotspot solution is the cheapest, and is ideal if you only  want one area covered, and you are not concerned about seamless roaming.

I use the Tenda system with four nodes, as I need one in the garage at the bottom of the garden. My daughter also has a four node system in her old 1930s house with solid walls.

If uses in conjunction with an existing router, then it operates in bridge mode, and you would normally turn off the wifi on the home hub to avoid interference.

Its managed by an app. I use the Android app and this is what the display looks like. The one marked office, is in an upstairs room where my router is, and is the gateway node. I am not using a home hub, but a TP Link router instead.

The best thing would be to look at the specifications, and the Amazon reviews.

[Mr_Compromise]

Looks good and nice to see that there are options that don't cost a small fortune!