I live in a one-story, two-bedroom apartment with one TV, two Chromebooks, a phone, and three tablets. I recently upgraded my Verizon Fios plan to 1 Gig, and the upgrade included a Wi-Fi extender. Since the apartment is relatively small and everything is on one floor, I'm wondering whether there's any real reason to set up the extender. Should I only use it if I notice weak signal or dead zones, or could it improve performance anyway?
4 Answers
If the TV is near the extender and both devices support Ethernet, connecting the TV by cable could sometimes provide a steadier streaming connection. That’s a situational benefit, though—not a reason to install the extender unless the TV’s current Wi-Fi connection is unreliable.
You could try the included unit, but first check whether Verizon charges a monthly rental fee for it. If it’s genuinely free, there’s little harm in testing it, though you should keep it only if it fixes an actual coverage problem. Put the main router in an open, elevated location rather than inside a cabinet or tucked near the floor.
If your router provides a strong, reliable signal throughout the apartment, you probably don’t need the extender. The best test is simple: walk around with your phone or use a Wi-Fi signal app and check the farthest rooms. If everything connects normally and speeds are consistent, leaving the extender unplugged is fine.
An extender won’t improve a connection that’s already strong. It mainly helps cover a dead zone, and wireless extenders can reduce available throughput because they have to receive and retransmit the data. If you ever need more coverage, a wired access point or a properly configured mesh system is generally better than a basic repeater.
In other words, extending a weak signal doesn’t magically make it faster—it just makes that weak signal reach farther.
A small apartment usually won’t need extra coverage, but thick walls, the router’s location, and interference from nearby apartments can still create a weak spot.