Extend Your Home Network With an Alfa Network Wi-Fi Booster
Wireless networks in homes and offices are sometimes prone to interference. These obstacles include traffic from other routers as well as phones, microwaves, metal coatings, and the obstructed line of sight of antennas. If such issues are affecting your network, there are accessories that you can use to boost signal quality and range like those made by Alfa Network.
How does a Wi-Fi booster work?Repeater or range extender is the technical name for this networking accessory. What a repeater does is take a signal originating from a router or access point and rebroadcast it. Networks are most prone to interference the further away the signal is from the source, and a range extender allows you to shorten in effect the distance between the source and the destination. You could boost Internet coverage in your bedrooms with a repeater in the hallway between them and your living room.
Is there a difference between a booster, repeater, and extender?These are all terms used by the industry for wireless adapters with antennas that are intended to improve network coverage by extending it, enriching it, or both. Be mindful, however, that not all of these devices work in the same manner or combine the same functions. Therefore, a repeater designed by Alfa Network may be quite different than an extender designed by ASUS or NETGEAR.
Can you combine multiple repeaters, access points, and others?As a rule of thumb, you want to limit the number of accessories to just what you need to achieve the optimal coverage for your home or office. If you need additional antennas, you can add these without limit. When adding adapters that rebroadcast, you can either configure them to rebroadcast from the primary source or from each other. When rebroadcasting from each other, you will need to assign unique IP addresses so that all of these devices can be distinguished from one another.
How do you attach a Wi-Fi booster to a network?Most repeaters and the like, such as those from Alfa, ASUS, and NETGEAR, are standalone devices with their own antennas. They can be powered using a wall outlet or even a USB port in some cases. Most have automatic setup or can be configured manually but do not require a physical connection to the network. They can, however, provide physical connections, and these include:
- USB
- eSATA
- FireWire
- Ethernet
- Antenna connections
If you have a dual-band wireless router, then you likely want a repeater that supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. If you choose a repeater that only supports the 2.4 GHz band, then you wouldn't be boosting the signal or range of information transmitted via the 5 GHz band.
Content provided for informational purposes only. eBay is not affiliated with or endorsed by Alfa Network.