The perfect Wi-Fi extenders in 2025

In case your Wi-Fi sign is struggling to achieve each nook of your private home, a sign booster — also referred to as a Wi-Fi extender — could be the repair you want. Whether or not you are coping with annoying lifeless zones, buffering video calls or laggy gaming classes, the appropriate 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. If you happen to’re merely trying to prolong protection into a selected room, a Wi-Fi repeater can do the job — however it might reduce your bandwidth in half. Extra superior extenders, nevertheless, may help preserve robust speeds and reliability all through your private home.

We have rounded up the very best Wi-Fi extenders to swimsuit completely different wants, whether or not you are on the lookout for an reasonably priced 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 below its umbrella, however the one that may probably 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 completely different design with pull-out antennas on both aspect. I examined the 705X, so I’m basing my advice 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 wished 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 need to manually select from two completely different bands when connecting issues like my cellphone or laptop computer. The machine will routinely pair your machine with the suitable band — for instance, connecting most sensible residence devices to the two.4Ghz community, which regularly helps scale back latency.

The everlasting location the place I moved the entire extenders I examined was in my basement, since that’s the place we will get the spottiest Wi-Fi sign. I first ran pace checks on my iPhone and MacBook utilizing Speedtest.internet and Speedcheck.org so I may examine them with the usual speeds I acquired when related to my router’s major community. Unsurprisingly, the speeds generated by TP-Hyperlink’s extender had been a lot slower than these from my router’s community, however that was the case with the entire gadgets I examined. Solely our high choose (see under) acquired near my router’s customary 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 checks, I used to be pleased 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 related to the extenders wi-fi community, answering emails, messaging in Slack, streaming YouTube movies and in any other case sustaining a number 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 just a little easy, as a result of that was my expertise with TP-Hyperlink’s sensible 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 that you may title wi-fi gadgets which are related to your extenders community like your cellphone and sensible TV. That makes it a lot simpler to know which issues in your house are continually paired with the extender relatively than your router’s default community.

One necessary factor to notice with these TP-Hyperlink extenders is that they each assist OneMesh, which is the corporate’s function that lets you create one seamless community when you’ve got a appropriate 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 function, but it surely works like this: when you’ve got a OneMesh router and OneMesh-compatible extenders, you may hyperlink all of them collectively below the identical community title. So relatively than having a router community and an extender community below the identical roof, every thing can be linked and filed below your major 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 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 will then try to reconnect to the extender community, when actually I’d have most popular it to default again to my router’s community. That fortunately didn’t occur with TP-Hyperlink’s RE705X, but it surely’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 might 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 a great choose. If you realize precisely the place you need to put an extender and it’s not in a clumsy or hard-to-reach location, the marginally cheaper, antenna-free RE700X may go simply high-quality for you. However if you need that further potential 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 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 gives 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 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 lately invested in a Wi-Fi 6 router. This mannequin does assist OneMesh, although, which is sweet 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 had 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 choose for anybody who needs a budget-friendly method to fill Wi-Fi lifeless zones of their residence.

Execs

Reasonably priced
Straightforward setup course of
Good efficiency for the value
Straightforward to make use of companion app

Cons

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

$20 at Amazon

NETGEAR

Having multiple Wi-Fi community in your own home is par for the course in relation to including an extender into the combination. However that’s not so with the Netgear EAX80 mesh community vary extender – it has “seamless sensible roaming,” which lets you set it up below your current SSID title. So as a substitute of disconnecting out of your major wi-fi community and reconnecting to the extender’s community if you transfer out of your front room to your basement, all you must 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 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 could have. It helps speeds as much as 6 Gbps and may have greater than 30 gadgets related 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 loads for small and medium-sized properties. It carried out nicely in our pace checks, coming very near the add/obtain speeds I acquired when being related to my major community earlier than putting in the extender.

There’s nothing out of the atypical in regards to the Nighthawk cellular app, which is what you’ll use to initially arrange the EAX80 extender. After that, you should use 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 every thing that’s paired to your router’s community as nicely. My solely gripe is that you may’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 selection of related 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 sensible roaming function – not having to change 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 continuously 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 immediately 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 residence as a result of it didn’t need to be chained to the wall proper above an outlet. Most individuals, particularly these tight on area, will in all probability want 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 stable choice for those who don’t thoughts dropping a bit of cash to get a bunch of handy options on high of stellar speeds and Wi-Fi 6 assist. Nevertheless it’s value noting that Netgear has a number 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 sensible roaming capabilities. The wall-plug model of that, the EAX15, is definitely a tad costlier at $140.

Execs

“Seamless sensible 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 helpful wi-fi gadgets do precisely what their title suggests: prolong your Wi-Fi community so it covers extra areas of your private 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 could not cowl nicely. As a rule of thumb, you’ll get the very best outcomes by putting the extender half manner 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 necessary factor to notice about Wi-Fi vary extenders (additionally generally referred to as “repeaters”) is that the majority 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 usually be your default community’s title with an EXT appended on the finish, until you modify it) and meaning you’ll have to hook up with completely different networks when in numerous components of your private home. Whereas that’s a small tradeoff in return for improved web connection, some can be extra inconvenienced than others.

If you happen to’d relatively have one, a lot bigger community in your house, you’re higher off upgrading to mesh networking techniques. Mesh techniques include a major 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 the very best Wi-Fi routers you may get, however that additionally interprets to costlier, and probably extra sophisticated, gadgets. Mesh Wi-Fi techniques are, by far, extra pricey than a easy extender, plus you could have to work along with your web service supplier to get your private home’s current community working in your new router.

What to search for in a Wi-Fi extender

Pace

Extenders at present can assist single, twin or tri-band Wi-Fi, and they’ll inform you the utmost speeds they assist on all of their accessible bands. For instance, one dual-band machine may 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 need to go along with a Wi-Fi extender that has the very best speeds attainable (and people, as you may count on, are likely to price extra). Some extenders even assist Wi-Fi 7, supplying you with the newest in wi-fi know-how for greater bandwidth, sooner web pace and decrease latency.

Nonetheless, it’s necessary to do not forget that Wi-Fi extenders usually are not true “sign boosters” since they aren’t designed to improve speeds throughout your private home. Actually, you could 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 private home, making them splendid for filling in lifeless zones. Some mesh extenders may 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 necessary. Relying on the scale of your private home and property, you could 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 a lot of devices will need an extender that may deal with them abruptly. If you happen to spend most of your time in your cellphone or laptop computer and possibly have your sensible TV on-line for a number of hours of Netflix every day, you may get by with a extra restricted extender. Sensible residence aficionados and tech lovers ought to put money into one which received’t buckle below the stress of some dozen related gadgets. That is particularly necessary for those who plan on linking the entire gadgets in a sure a part of your private 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 in relation to design within the Wi-Fi extender area. A lot of the ones you’ll discover at present are rounded rectangles roughly the scale of your hand that plug into a normal wall outlet. They often have a number of indicator lights that may present you when the extender is related, how robust its sign power 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. Usually, they’re fairly easy to put in and get related, however for those who’re scuffling with the right way 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 function you’ll discover on most Wi-Fi extenders is an additional Ethernet connection port (or a number 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, sensible residence hubs or sport consoles a hardwired connection to the web. Unsurprisingly, this wired connection often gives you with the quickest speeds attainable, so you could 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 completely different names for a similar factor. Beforehand, nevertheless, Wi-Fi boosters had 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 broaden the protection inside your private home’s Wi-Fi community, however usually you will notice 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 private home to create a bigger residence community. Basically, you have got a number of routers round your private home with these techniques, and that may hopefully present the very best protection attainable. Wi-Fi extenders, alternatively, are often only one machine that extends your current Wi-Fi sign, they usually usually require you to change 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 whole residence’s Wi-Fi.

Ought to I exploit 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 private home is massive or has lifeless zones in numerous areas. However for those who 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 all the time 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 could attain even farther, particularly in the event that they function exterior antennas or are a part of a mesh system with extra devoted wi-fi entry factors.

Nonetheless, remember the fact that real-world efficiency will depend on components like your private home’s format, wall supplies and interference from different gadgets. For finest outcomes, place your extender about midway between your router and the world with weak or no Wi-Fi connection. At all times test the producer’s specs — a few of our high picks clearly record their anticipated vary so you will discover one that matches your area.

Trending Merchandise