Wi-Fi extender or access point
- Thread starter Alpine
- Start date
A wifi extender is essentially a repeater which connects to your existing wifi SSID and allows devices to connect to it in order to access your existing wifi setup. Most (if not all) wifi extenders are wireless and don't connect via ethernet. It doesn't necessarily result in great throughput, but can be used to extend the range of how far devices can be from your router yet still get a viable wifi signal.
An AP is designed to create it's own wireless network which is then connected to your existing network (typically via a physical cable).
Muddying the waters even further are mesh systems which typically will have a central AP hub which connects to your network via ethernet and creates a wireless network that is accessed by remote (wireless) satellite APs.
Extender will use a wifi signal from router to extend. Means it needs to be in range of existing WiFi.
Access point will have an Ethernet connection for downstream to switch / router. If you can run a wire to the device, this is absolutely what you want.
Access point will have an Ethernet connection for downstream to switch / router. If you can run a wire to the device, this is absolutely what you want.
gingerbee
Well-known member
no such thing as a dumb question, only dumb answers lol
I think a big difference is the latency increase using a wifi extender/repeater compared to an access point
I think a big difference is the latency increase using a wifi extender/repeater compared to an access point
In most cases though an access point can run as a wireless extender too. Probably why you might be confused 
Dwayne
Well-known member
One thing about some mesh systems, they use a separate radio and channel for communications. They refer to this as a backchannel. This is how they can provide better network throughput, they don't use the same radio for housekeeping tasks.
Yeah it can be muddy waters , and the fact that AP's can run in multiple modes (Repeater or Standalone).
Though for me, personally, Mesh is a really good option if you get the right system. My Orbi's have been Rock Solid for uptime, easy to setup and manage, and with a WiFi 6 Dedicated Backhaul Radio Band, absolutely fast wherever you are in my house.
With the amount of WiFi devices and Saturation my house has, there are few times were you can't push 400+ Down and 45+ Up.
And its an older set too lol, I want to get the new ones now when the fiber is run to the house this spring.
-ST
