wader71•12d agoProlific Poster

Unpopular opinion: everyone sleeping on job site WiFi extenders

I keep seeing guys on here talking about 5G hotspots and mesh networks for their trailers. But I spent $60 on a basic wifi extender from Best Buy last year and it solved all my problems on a 3 story apartment build in Austin. No monthly fees and it reaches the basement parking garage every single day. Has anyone else just used a cheap extender instead of dropping hundreds on fancy gear?

3 comments

3 Comments

jake_patel12d agoMost Upvoted

You're gambling on signal strength every time you walk into a different part of the building. One concrete wall too thick and that $60 extender turns into a paperweight. I watched a crew try the same thing on a high rise in Dallas and they ended up buying a proper hotspot anyway after two weeks of fighting dropped connections. Extenders work until they don't, and when they fail it's always at the worst possible moment.

quinnm7712d ago

Man that Dallas story hits close to home. My buddy tried the same thing in an old warehouse building here in Portland, concrete floors and everything. He was so confident after it worked in the break room, then walked 20 feet into the storage area and it was like the thing just gave up. He spent like two hours moving it around trying to find a sweet spot. Ended up just ordering a cellular modem from T-Mobile the next day.

simon_carr12d ago

Wait, am I the only one who was totally on the extender's side before reading this? I used to swear by them for small jobs. Like, I set one up in my buddy's apartment last year and it worked fine for three months. Then he moved his desk six feet and it was toast. I thought he just had bad luck, but hearing about that Dallas high rise makes me think it's a pattern. I was so close to buying one for a remote job next week, but now I'm second-guessing. How often do you see extenders actually hold up past the first few days?