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How to pick
If it is only one room dropping out, try an extender before spending real money on a mesh system. It picks up your existing signal and pushes it further, and while it is not as tidy as mesh it often solves the whole problem for a fraction of the cost. Placement is everything: halfway between the router and the dead room, not in the dead room itself, which is the mistake everyone makes. Two alternatives worth knowing. A plain ethernet cable is faster and more reliable than any wireless fix, so if the room is reachable, run one. And powerline adapters send the network through your electrical wiring, which works surprisingly well in some houses and not at all in others, depending on how the circuits are wired.
What I recommend
The cheap fix for one bad room
If it is only one room dropping out, try an extender before spending real money on mesh. Placement is everything: halfway between the router and the dead room, not in the dead room itself, which is the mistake everyone makes.
TP-Link RE315 Wi-Fi extender
Picks up your existing signal and pushes it further. Not as tidy as mesh, but it often solves the whole problem for a fraction of the cost. Has an ethernet socket so you can also plug something in at the far end.
- Very cheap compared to replacing anything
- Plugs straight into a socket
- Ethernet port at the far end is genuinely useful
- Roughly halves the speed at the far end
- Often creates a second network name to switch between
- Placement is fiddly to get right
- Not a fix for a whole slow house
- Wi-Fi
- Wi-Fi 5, AC1200
- Bands
- Dual band
- Ports
- 1 ethernet
- Fits
- Straight into a wall outlet
The better answer if the room is reachable
A plain cable is faster and more reliable than any wireless fix. If you can run one, do.
UGREEN Cat6 ethernet cable
Wi-Fi is convenient, a cable is reliable. If your computer or TV sits near the router, plugging it in directly solves a surprising number of problems. Buy some slack so it is not pulled tight across a doorway.
- Faster and steadier than any wireless fix
- Never needs configuring
- Very cheap
- Immune to interference
- Only helps if you can physically run the cable
- Trailing cables are a trip hazard
- Fixed to one spot
- Category
- Cat6
- Speed
- Up to 1 Gbps
- Connector
- RJ45
- Lengths
- 3 ft up to 50 ft
Powerline network adapter
Sends the network through your electrical wiring. Works surprisingly well in some houses and not at all in others, depending on how the circuits are wired. Worth trying if a cable run is impossible.
- No cable run needed
- Steadier than an extender when it works
- Some models add Wi-Fi at the far end
- Performance depends entirely on your wiring
- Will not work across different circuits
- Must plug into the wall, not a power strip
- Genuinely unpredictable, buy somewhere you can return it
Related reading
Tried an extender and it did not help?
Usually placement. I can find the right spot with a meter rather than guessing, which is what most setup guides amount to.