Opinions on wireless extenders?

[#1]

Are there any opinions for best wireless extenders? I bought 2 NETGEAR EX2700-100 a while ago (I have used Netgear before until they fail) and for a while they were okay but now periodically have times where iPads, iPhones etc., drop the connection and when re connected have full strength/signal but websites do not load. They definitely seem glitchy.
For info I have a Plusnet (Thomson) wireless router and 2 mains plug extenders which is the sort I need for house layout. They seem to vary in price quite a bit so I wasn't sure if that reflected performance etc.
Thanks for any advice

[#2]

Moderator's note:

Thread moved from Everything Else to Tech Help.

[#3]

Unless you are very lucky, the best you can hope for is "least worst" ethernet over your power supply.

I've got several of them. You will find ethernet cable (perhaps including a cheap ethernet switch) to be far faster and totally reliable (and quite possibly cheaper).

[#4]

My Dad has a TP-Link TL-WPA4220 wireless extender to improve wireless coverage in the upstairs of his house. It works extremely well and gets hammered when the family and grandchildren are around. As far as I am aware he hasn't had any issues with it and setup is a doddle - just press the WPS button on the router and then the front button on the extender and it'll clone the SSID and you're away.

I'm not sure what homeplug he's got at the other end i.e. whether it's another TP-Link or a different manufacturer. Whilst the base standard is open there are some proprietary extensions from different manufacturers and I imagine that best results are always obtained from having the kit all from the same. 

[#5]

I have the TP link AV500 wireless extenders, and despite having them installed as per instructions (i.e. not plugged into extension sockets), a day rarely goes by when they don't drop the connection, usually for a minute or so at a time

I moved the router so it could be hard wired to my Youview box for streaming, and used the extenders to connect to my PC upstairs, where the connection is mainly used for surfing and therefore not quite so annoying when it does get interrupted.

That's obviously a workaround rather than a fix - I do have a long cat 5E extension cable which would be a more reliable solution, but like many others I suspect, it would be difficult to install it tidily and without crossing doorways etc in my house. 

[#6]

Thanks for all your help guys. All very helpful. I've recently discovered that fibre to the door is coming very soon with Gigaclear and they have several options for different router location and wireless options so I'll pop along to the Event they're having 2 miles down the road on Tuesday and see how that goes. That would mean I can throw out these NG extenders and my crappy PS router. Thanks to all for your posts.

EDIT: It would be nice to know why Home wireless and extenders are so flakey though. It's presumably 'You get what you pay for.'

[#7]

Less than ideal home wiring and lots of switch mode power supplies running from it no doubt contribute to giving these devices a hard time - whether more expensive extenders are better at compensating for such issues is the $64,000 question (well, not quite that much but the experiment will cost you and may still not give you 100% reliability...)

[#8]

@Kryten

If you're going down the route of fibre with the router installed at a preferred location you might want to consider whether it's worth running some Ethernet cable around the house. Wired is always better (though less convenient). It would allow WiFi access points to be installed rather than Extenders if needed.

I always suggest the main TV be wired if possible (takes the strain off WiFi if anyone else is using it at the same time).

A short bit of disruption running cable for long term sanity!!!

Brian

[#9]

Indeed Brian, thank you. Although the wireless might be faster with FTTD, you're right of course. I will need at least 2 or 3 cables running to opposite ends of the house. One for my son's XBox/TV/PC and one for my printers/Macs and PCs.

Thanks for the reply.

[#10]

If you do run cables then you have the choice of Ethernet switches or WiFi access points (or both) to suite your needs.

I ran a cable along a skirting board, through a wall and then up and over door ways to get to my PC. Not particularly neat but it did what I required.

Brian

[#11]

Same here.