Do I need an Airport Express Wi-Fi Booster?

[puma1552]

I have a Time Capsule as my router. The wifi works great, except when one story below in the house. The wifi seems to work anywhere from ok to fine.

However the wifi signal on my MBP says it has a full strength signal when on that lower level.

So, if my wifi signal is showing as full strength when in that room, will an Airport Express help or will it just be a waste of money?

 

[waw74]

at this point, there are much better options out there than wi-fi extension.
wifi extension will cause a speed hit to your network, as the remote has to use the same radio to talk to both your device, and the main hub, plus it can only repeat the signal it receives, so if it gets bad signal, it repeats bad signal.

#1 - if you can run an ethernet cable down to an airport express, that's a pretty good option.

#2 - look up "power line networking"
with those, there are 2 boxes, one plugs in to an outlet near your main router, and gets connected via ethernet
the remote gets it's network signal over the power lines in your house, and then puts it out via wifi.

#3 - probably the most expensive option is one of the new "mesh networking" devices like eero or orbi
it's similar to using wi-fi extension, except it has an extra radio just for dealing with the connection back to the main router. but that radio it's a bit smarter in dealing with that connection than just plain wifi.

 

[puma1552]

Thanks, but would an Airport Extreme help given my devices show full wifi strength in the room where it isn't great?

 

[chscag]

An Airport Extreme is not going to be any better than your TC. The #2 recommendation above by member "waw74" is a good one, is not expensive, and would require the least amount of inconvenience - like running ethernet cables.

 

[Fishrrman]

One more endorsement of waw74's post above, particularly choice 3.

"Mesh networking" may be the way to go especially with multi-floor coverage required.
I suggest you spend 4-6 weeks investigating the various mesh options out there.
Read reviews on amazon, etc.

Some of them include:
- Linksys Velop
- Netgear Orbi
- eero
- google wifi
- Ubiquiti "amplifi"
... and others

Nearly all of these are set up using either iOS or Android (iPhone, iPad, Android device).
Velop and Orbi can also be set up using a web-based interface.

I have a Velop 2-node system, working fine.