The Wi-Fi works reasonably well in the living room, but the signal is very weak in my bedroom. My phone only shows about two bars there, and my PC gets roughly one bar of Wi-Fi. I'm going to install the external Wi-Fi antenna that came with the PC first. If that doesn't help, I'm considering buying a Wi-Fi 6 extender or mesh unit and connecting my PC to it with Ethernet. Would that noticeably improve the connection, and where should the extender be placed?
3 Answers
Install the PC’s Wi-Fi antenna first—it’s intended to be connected to the antenna ports on the back of the computer, and leaving it disconnected can severely reduce reception. Also, the signal bars on your phone may refer to cellular service, which is separate from your home Wi-Fi.
The best-performing setup is usually Ethernet from the router to the extra access point or mesh node. If that isn’t possible, use a wireless mesh node placed in a stronger-signal area rather than right beside the PC. Wi-Fi 6 alone won’t overcome a weak connection between the node and the router, so check the node’s signal quality and compare speeds before and after installing it.
A wireless extender placed in the bedroom may not help much if it receives a poor signal there. It would simply repeat a weak, slow connection. Put the extender or mesh node somewhere between the router and the bedroom, where it still gets a strong signal. Connecting the PC to that node with Ethernet can improve the PC’s local connection, but the node still needs a good wireless link to the router.
I can’t move the router, but the device I’m considering is a mesh Wi-Fi unit. I assumed putting it in the bedroom and using Ethernet from it to the PC would be the best option.
I wasn’t sure whether the antenna was optional. I’ll connect it to the ports on the back of the PC and test the connection again.