WiFi Extender or Mesh System: Which Fits Your Home
If the WiFi does not reach the bedroom, the mamad (the reinforced safe room) or the second floor, there are two families of solutions: a range extender and a Mesh system. This guide explains how each one works, when a cheap range extender is really enough, and when it is better to invest in Mesh or in a cable.
What is the difference between a range extender and a Mesh system?
A range extender picks up the router’s WiFi and transmits it onward, while a Mesh system is several units that work together as one network. The difference sounds small, but it affects speed and convenience.
A range extender (Repeater or Extender) is a small device that plugs into a socket. It connects to the router like any phone in the home, and transmits the signal onward. The router does not know it exists, and does not manage it. Many extenders create a network with a separate name (for example with the suffix EXT), and then the phone stays connected to the previous network even when it is already far from it.
A Mesh system is built from a main router and additional units that talk to each other. All the units broadcast the same network name and the same password, and the system hands the device over to the nearest unit as you move around the home. You manage all of it from one app.
Why does a range extender lower the speed?
A regular range extender loses about half the speed, because it uses the same radio both to receive from the router and to transmit to you. On a WiFi network only one device talks at any moment on a given channel. So every data packet travels through the air twice: once from the router to the extender, and once from the extender to the phone. The airtime is split in two, and so is the speed.
A detailed technical explanation and measurements of single-band extenders can be found in the SmallNetBuilder roundup. “Half” is a rule of thumb, not an exact number. The actual result depends on the signal strength the extender receives and on interference from neighbors’ networks.
Dual Band extenders reduce the problem: they can receive from the router on one frequency and transmit to you on the other. Good Mesh systems go a step further, with a separate channel just for communication between the units (Backhaul, the line that connects the unit to the router).
What is wired Backhaul and why does it change everything?
Wired Backhaul means the additional unit is connected to the router with a network cable and not over the air, so it loses no speed at all on the link to the router. This is true both for a range extender with a network port and for Mesh.
If the home has a network outlet in the wall near the far room, or an empty conduit you can run a cable through, this is almost always the best way. Most home Mesh systems support this kind of connection. Some of them can switch to a wireless link on their own if the cable disconnects.
When a cable is not an option, there are network adapters that run over the electrical wiring (Powerline, also called PLC). They carry the data through the home’s power lines. They work well in some homes and poorly in others, depending on the wiring. It is better to plug them directly into a wall socket and not into a power strip.
What do the ISPs in Israel offer?
All the major ISPs rent or sell extension units, and they are usually meant to work with that ISP’s router. Before ordering, it is worth asking whether the unit works with the router you have now.
- Bezeq: Be Mesh for the Be router, and Mesh Fiber for fiber customers with the Be Fiber router. According to Bezeq, the main unit is inside the Be router itself.
- HOT: HOT WiFi 6 MESH and HOT WiFi 7 MESH range extenders.
- Cellcom: Mesh Ultra WiFi, which according to the site is meant for Cellcom’s fiber router.
- yes: yes+Mesh.
- Partner: sells range extenders and Mesh systems, including TP-Link Deco kits in its store. Check with customer service for the exact model that fits your router.
The advantage of equipment from the ISP: support in one place, and if something breaks they replace it. The disadvantage: when you switch ISPs, you return it and start over. A Mesh system you bought yourself stays with you, but then it has to be connected correctly to the ISP’s router. How to do that without creating problems on the network is explained in the guide to connecting a second router as an access point.
When is a simple range extender enough?
A range extender is enough when there are one or two far rooms, the signal at the spot where you will place it is still good, and you do not need maximum speed there. For example: a three or four-room apartment, a bedroom at the end of the hallway, and ordinary browsing and streaming.
The important rule is placement: put the extender halfway, at a spot where the phone still shows at least three bars. An extender installed inside the far room itself receives a weak signal, and transmits a weak signal onward. This is the common reason people buy an extender and say “it didn’t help”.
How do you check exactly where the signal is weak?
Check the speed in every room with the same phone, and write down the results. Ten minutes of checking saves buying equipment you do not need.
- Stand next to the router and run a speed test on the phone (for example at speedtest.net or with your ISP’s speed test). Write down the number. This is the reference point.
- Go to each room, stand at the spot where the internet is actually used (the bed, the desk, the sofa), and run it again.
- In a room where the speed drops to less than half of what it was next to the router, or the test gets stuck, there is a real problem.
- Also check the spot halfway to that room. If the speed is still good there, that is the place for a range extender or a Mesh unit.
- In the mamad, test with the door closed. A test with the door open gives a result that is too good.
Does the WiFi 6 or WiFi 7 standard change the decision?
Less than it seems, because the standard does not go through walls any better. A new standard helps when there are many devices in the home, and when the phone and the computer support it too. It does not turn a single-band range extender into a good solution, and it does not carry a signal through a mamad.
Which solution fits which home?
The following table is a starting point. In practice, measuring in every room decides.
| Home type | Common problem | Reasonable solution | When to call a technician |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apartment up to 4 rooms, no mamad at the far end | One weak room | Move the router, and if that does not help, a range extender halfway | If a room still has no reception after moving it |
| Apartment with a mamad | No internet in the mamad | A Mesh unit or access point near the mamad or inside it, preferably by cable | If a cable needs to be run to the mamad |
| Large apartment or garden apartment | Uneven reception, disconnects when moving between rooms | A Mesh system with 2-3 units | If the units disconnect from each other |
| House or duplex on several floors | A whole floor is weak | Mesh with a unit on each floor, with wired Backhaul if possible | If cable runs between floors need planning |
| Home with a yard or storage shed | No reception outside | An outdoor unit or Mesh with a unit by the window | If the unit needs to be outside the house |
What not to do?
- Do not connect a range extender to a range extender. Every extra hop splits the speed again.
- Do not buy before moving the router. A router inside a cabinet, behind a TV or right at floor level loses much of its signal. A high, open spot, close to the center of the home, sometimes makes all the difference.
- Do not mix two Mesh systems from different manufacturers. They will not work as one network.
- Do not connect a second router to the ISP’s router without setting it up as an access point. That creates two separate networks and problems that are hard to track down.
What about the mamad?
The mamad is a special case, because the reinforced concrete walls and the steel door block most of the signal, and during an alert the door is closed. There is a separate guide on WiFi in the mamad for this, including what you must not do to the walls of the protected room.
When to bring the computer to the lab
With WiFi, the problem is in the home and not in the computer, so it gets solved at home. It is worth calling a home technician when you have moved the router and tried an extender in the right spot, and there is still a room with no reception. Also when a cable needs to be run between rooms or floors, or when a Mesh system you bought cannot connect to the ISP’s router. If only one computer is slow and the phones in the same room are fast, the problem is probably the computer, and then it does come to the lab.
Didn’t work?
Our goal is for you to solve this yourself: move the router, put an extender in the right spot, or choose a suitable Mesh. If you have tried and the home is still divided into rooms with WiFi and rooms without, we will come, measure in every room and install the solution. The details are on the WiFi that reaches every room page.