The WiFi networks they are already essential in our digital lives. They allow us to connect to the Internet and its many services when we are at home and we do not want to use data from our mobile operator or wired connections. But nevertheless, their performance inside the home is not always optimal, having slowdowns, connection cuts, areas that are left without coverage or simply increases in the delay of the packets that prevent us from playing online.
Normally the connection is usually good when we are close to the router, but in the most remote rooms it is generally difficult for the signal to reach us well, a situation in which it is convenient to resort to some help in the form of additional routers, access points, signal extenders, Mesh systems or PLC networks, as we have already seen in this article in more detail.
Today we are going to focus on pointing out the differences between two of the simplest and cheapest alternatives that we have at our disposal, the WiFi extenders and PLCs with integrated WiFi, to see what they offer us, their advantages and disadvantages.
WiFi extenders: what are they, advantages and disadvantages
The simplest, fastest and cheapest way to improve wireless coverage inside the home is a WiFi signal extender or amplifier. These are small teams that we can connect directly to a socket or power strip and are capable of amplify the signal of an existing WiFi network.
For it detect the signal of the WiFi network that we already have at home and amplify it so that it reaches further, thus expanding the coverage radius through the rooms. The resulting network will usually have the same name or identifier than the original and the password will be copied automatically, serving the extender as a kind of two-way bridge between the old network and the new one generated by itself.
In some cases, in addition to expanding existing networks, the extenders also create their own totally independent WiFi network, with a different name and another password. This has the disadvantage that you will have to reconfigure your devices to connect, although if you are always going to have those devices connected to the extender, it is a lesser evil in exchange for better performance.
Its main advantage is simplicity. Just plug in the adapter and little else. It does not matter if we do it to a power strip, UPS, electrical outlet thief or similar, since it will not affect the performance. In most cases, the configuration is done automatically, perhaps only having to change some parameters if we want, for example, a new password.
In addition, WiFi extenders are characterized by being relatively cheap equipment, at least if we compare it with the rest of the options available in the market.
Their drawback is that they do not usually have the latest features on the market or if they do they are not so cheap anymore. They also do not know how to analyze the general state of home wireless networks and if we want a very wide coverage area we will have to resort to installing several of these teams that may not get along very well with each other, reducing the maximum speed offered.
Its performance will also depend on the shape and dimensions of the house as well as the distribution of the partitions and configuration of the rooms. Thus, for example, if we want to take the connection to a room very far from the router down a long corridor without plugs to connect the extender, the original signal may not reach the back room correctly to be amplified by the extender and we will not be able to good results.
That is, in order to extract its full potential we will need that is located somewhere between the router and the room where we want to take the connection, and also that the original signal from the router reaches it with an adequate power level. Otherwise we will not achieve much higher connection speed.
What’s more, We will not be able to take advantage of the connection in its entirety if the home router is not very powerful, since we will be limited in a bottleneck to the maximum speed that the router’s wireless interface is capable of managing. For example, it will be of little use to us to buy an amplifier with high-speed WiFi 6 if the router whose signal it amplifies is only capable of working with WiFi 4.
PLC adapters with integrated WiFi
Another option available on the market are PLC adapters with integrated WiFi. These are very simple systems to install that they use the home electricity grid already existing to carry the connection in a wired way to the different rooms.
They consist of a first PLC adapter usually without WiFi interface It connects to the operator’s router via Ethernet and to different additional satellite nodes or adapters scattered around the rooms.
The main adapter sends the data signal through the housing electrical cables to the different rooms of the house. Once there, the WiFi-capable satellite PLC adapter picks up the data signal from the electrical outlet and set up a wireless access point to which our devices such as mobile phones, computers, etc. will be connected.
They are usually a very good option and offer excellent performance in relatively modern electrical installations, although they are not exempt from problems and possible situations of cuts and fluctuations in speed that can result in a real headache.
Its main advantage is that they are very simple to install and configure. Simply plug them into a free outlet on the wall and little else like pairing them on some models or adjusting some parameters through a mobile application. In addition, we also usually offer built-in Ethernet ports to connect wired equipment in rooms.
Its disadvantage is that they are more expensive solutions than simple coverage amplifiers. If we are looking for models with the latest in connectivity standards and that are even compatible with mesh networks, then the price goes up quickly.
Also, its actual performance it will depend on the state of the electrical network of the house, of the electrical appliances that we have plugged in and of whether the two nodes they are under the same electrical circuit in the light box. This can make, depending on each particular case, the performance is excellent or very poor, something that we will not know until we have bought and installed them at home.