Can you use 2 NETGEAR Extenders?

Wi-Fi range extenders are high-performing network devices that have been designed to extend the range of the coverage area in areas that have weak signals or places around your home where the Wi-Fi signal doesn’t reach. NETGEAR is among the manufactures that make some of the top-quality and most reliable extenders to solve your connectivity issues.

Majority of the time, when you find yourself dealing with poor internet connection in a different room away from where your primary router is placed, the first thing you would do is to reboot your router. However, this isn’t always the best solution. The most advisable solution for you would be purchase a range extender to meet your respective network needs. Now that you have purchased an extender, you may find yourself wanting more coverage across your home. So, you ask yourself- can you use two NETGEAR range extenders?

Yes, you can use two range extenders concurrently as long as you use a few smart tricks and follow a few instructions that we will give in this write-up.

Before all else, what is a range extender? 

Have you ever been in a situation where your Wi-Fi connection is strong and stable in certain places around your house and extremely poor in other areas of the room? You may find yourself in this   situation often if you are heavily invested in uploading and sharing heavy files and documents across your network, online gaming and 4K video streaming.

That is where the NETGEAR range extenders come in. These, which are also known as wireless repeaters, have been designed to take the signal from your already existing Wi-Fi router and creates a second and more stable network that you can connect to. Your network is then rebroadcasted into a different wireless channel. However, you should note that extenders need to get a significant amount of signal strength from your Wi-Fi in order to rebroadcast it wherever it is needed. Otherwise, it will not work.

That said, we can simply say that wireless range extenders from NETGEAR are designed to accommodate the needs of homes and other small spaces around us, but are not the best option for large commercial use.

Can you have multiple NETGEAR range extenders?

We often thing that using two or more range extenders concurrently will limit the throughput speeds delivered by the first extender or tamper with our overall online experience, but this isn’t really the case. Most tech gurus have affirmed that using two or more range extenders at the same time actually ensures less network interference and does not affect your internet speeds.

Adding two or more range extenders to your network has several advantages, such as they ensure an enhanced video streaming and gaming experience, better Wi-Fi coverage throughout your entire home and office building, and gives room for extra device connections.

How do I add a second NETGEAR Wi-Fi extender/ How do I connect two range extenders?

Generally, the most ideal way to connect two or more NETGEAR Wi-Fi extenders to your already existing network is by connecting one of the extenders to your main NETGEAR router with distinct SSIDs. Once they are fully connected, the next thing you need to do is to deploy the range extenders to their anticipated destination.

The middle extender is always the one with the strongest signal, so the range extender at the farthest point should connect to it. Here are some important factors to consider when connecting two or more range extenders to your network.

First, you shouldn’t wirelessly connect one extender to another. This is mostly because the performance of the second or third extender will be completely unsatisfactory. To avoid such issues, therefore, ensure to connect each NETGEAR range extender to the main router.

Secondly, you need to make sure that all the NETGEAR range extenders in your network aren’t broadcasting the same SSID as the main router. We understand that this is the default setting, and it is clear that most people set up their range extender to broadcast the same SSID as the router to avoid programming network devices with 2 or more separate SSIDs. However, this can cause both extenders to connect to each other instead of connecting to the main router. That said; ensure to create separate SSIDs for each extender for a better online experience.

What are the features of some of the most popular NETGEAR Range extenders?

NETGEAR range extenders expand your network coverage through different ranges and each one of them operates with a different speed bandwidth. In the table below, we have highlighted some of the most popular and most advanced NETGEAR range extenders that you can consider for your network.

Conclusion

For your NETGEAR range extenders to work efficiently and successfully, you need to follow through all the instructions we have given in this write-up to the letter.

FAQs

1. Can I use the NETGEAR Orbi RBK852 range extender with the Orbi outdoor satellite?

No, you cannot. The two are not compatible so they will not work together.

2. Do I need to plug in my NETGEAR range extender close to my router?

Generally, when you are setting up your NETGEAR range extender, it should always be close to your router.  Once it is fully configured, you can now relocate it to the room which you would want the Wi-Fi signal to reach. Remember, however, that the coverage area depends on the recommended range coverage of that particular extender.

3. Will using a NETGEAR range extender automatically create a new SSID that is separate from my main network?

What happens is, the NETGEAR range extenders provide you with the option to choose whether you want to create a separate SSID or whether you prefer cloning the SSID of your already existing router. To change this, you should use the customize option on the web browser setup method.