Wi-Fi boosters are designed to improve the Wi-Fi signal coverage throughout your home. Not all Wi-Fi boosters function the same way, and each kind has its pros and cons depending on your network set up and needs.

Types of Wi-Fi boosters

There are a few types of Wi-Fi boosters:

• Wi-Fi range extenders (also called Wi-Fi repeaters)
• Wi-Fi network extenders
• Wi-Fi mesh whole home systems

Keep reading for the pros and cons of each type to help you decide what you need.

Pros of using Wi-Fi boosters

The general pro of using Wi-Fi boosters is to get better a Wi-Fi signal throughout your entire home (inside and outside). Here are the pros broken out by type of Wi-Fi booster.

Pros of Wi-Fi range extenders:

• Added Wi-Fi signal coverage for your home
• Effectively eliminates Wi-Fi dead zones to boost Internet speeds
• Budget-friendly
• One device is convenient to set up
• Works with a traditional/regular router

Pros of Wi-Fi network extenders:

• Does not create a separate network like a Wi-Fi range extender
• Added Wi-Fi signal coverage for your home
• Effectively eliminates Wi-Fi dead zones to boost Internet speeds
• Budget-friendly
• One device is convenient to set up
• Works with a traditional/regular router

Pros of Wi-Fi mesh systems:

• Better coverage for your home, especially great for large homes
• Eliminates Wi-Fi dead zones to boost Internet speeds
• Smartphone network management
• Customizable to the size of your home
• Less interference and connection failure

Wi-Fi booster cons

Here are the cons broken out by type of Wi-Fi booster.

Cons of Wi-Fi range extenders:

• Creates a second network to bridge the gap and eliminate dead spots, so bandwidth may be halved because of the rebroadcasted signal
• Requires that you manually switch your device over to the new network

Cons of Wi-Fi network extenders:

• Can have some compatibility issues with some routers
• Not the best solution for large homes or homes with many floors
• Can be difficult to configure, and multiple need to be configured individually 

Cons of Wi-Fi mesh systems:

• Expensive
• Does not work with a traditional router (requires a mesh specific router)
• Requires more units (nodes, pods, modules, etc.) to scale up
• May lack some advanced features to run both a 2.4GHz and 5GHz band network like with Wi-Fi extenders

Now that you know the pros and cons, you can better choose the right one for you. Hitron’s offerings of Wi-Fi Boosters are easy to use and install and eliminate dead spots inside and outside of your home, whether that is through Ethernet, MoCA, or Wi-Fi. Ask your Internet service provider (ISP) about Hitron’s Wi-Fi boosters today.

Want more like this? Check out Hitron’s Learn Page for more.