Extender compatibility

[snb008]

My main router is an Asus RT-AC87U which is located in room A. I want wireless as well as wired signal support in room B.

I have considered setting up another AC87U as an Access Point. But this option requires laying a cable from room A to room B and this is not possible.
I have also considered setting up another AC87U in room B in Media Bridge mode. But this option provides wired signal support only and I need WiFi there.
I have also tried Homeplug/Powerline and this yields unsatisfactory result.

So, it seems it boils down to using an extender/repeater.

Is Netgear EX6200 or EX7000 a good choice?
Anyone has experience running one with an RT-AC87U?
As I am a noob, I imagine either one would be compatible with the Asus AC87U?

Thank you.

 

[netwrks]

I would pick the EX7000. It's an AC1900, and it also supports AP mode, which you may be able to be use in the future. I recall reading something about Tx radio control. That would allow you to adjust radio signal strength, if needed.

 

[System Error Message]

Your AC87U has MU-MIMO. If they've enabled MU-MIMO in firmware than you should go with another MU-MIMO for performance reasons.

 

[stevech]

Got TV coax in room A and near room B?
MoCA

 

[snb008]

Got TV coax in room A and near room B?
MoCA

Yes, what option do I have with Tv coaxial?

 

[coxhaus]

I have never seen a repeater I was happy with. It cuts your bandwidth in 1/2. My standards are high. I run 3 Cisco APs to cover my house. Wiring can be done. I have one power adapter and it is faster than my old repeater I had for a very short while. I plan to replace the power adapter this fall with Cat5e. It is a difficult job so I have been putting it off.

 

[snb008]

I have finally decided on an extender and got a Netgear EX7000.

Without the extender, Room B has problematic Wifi signal strength, with speed varying between 2-10 Mbps. Now, with the EX7000 in place, the initial result gives me 70-80 Mbps. By itself, this speed is not huge but when compared with previous numbers, this is satisfactory to me.

The next is to hook up the coming Samsung smart tv and see how it performs. And for the time being, I need to finetune to see if any improvement can be made.

 

[roldogg]

I just picked one up yesterday. Attached is a snapshot of my connection speed on both the 2.4 & 5Ghz channels. It also comes with an option they call Fastlane, which increases the speed even more by setting it to connect to your main router using either the 2.4 or 5Ghz band and connecting to clients using the other band.

 

[stevech]

If the extender (repeater) is run cross-band, i.e., clients on 2.4GHz and backhaul link to router is in 5GHz, most of the speed penality (about 1/2 per hop) is gone.
In both bands, speed is of course a function of signal strength two-directions, not one. And busyness of the spectrum (3+ channels) due to competition for air time between SSIDs.

 

[Klueless]

It also comes with an option they call Fastlane, which increases the speed even more by setting it to connect to your main router using either the 2.4 or 5Ghz band and connecting to clients using the other band. View attachment 5280

Did you try out this feature? What did you think? Got any benchmarks? This is exactly what I want to try out at the car lot. Very excited to hear more about your experience! (Very good description by the way.)