WIndows 10 Does a Wi-Fi repeater actually work?

[T-Wrecks]

There's a device that you can plug in that is supposed to improve the signal of devices you connect over Wi-Fi.

I don't have broadband. I pay for a monthly £35 goodybag with Giffgaff, and connect all of my devices with the mobile hotspot feature.

I swear, I get so annoyed laying in bed and the connection is reading as H+ all of the time, causing video sites to freeze. It won't go back to 4G unless I restart my smartphone, but I think I just don't get a good signal in my second floor flat anywhere, apart from in the sitting room. Even then, it rarely displays 4G anyway. About the only time it says 4G is if I restart my phone outside.

In my mate's house, I can get a full 4G signal, as he's in a main door with stairs inside.

I find about the only thing I can try is putting my phone at a window while it's still reading as 4G. Should I just get it to where it changes to H+, it doesn't seem to return to 4G. That's so nippy, especially if you're playing a game online on a games console where you require a strong signal.

So does anybody use a 4G booster at home? Does it do what it's meant to?

 

[porterjw]

Is that price for true Unlimited data? As in, full speed, non-throttled data all the time, regardless of MB/GB used? Sounds like they are possibly scaling back your connection speed. Also, how many devices are connected at once? Using mobile data for online gaming of any sort other than on a dedicated mobile device is fairly unreliable from what I've found. YMMV.

 

[beers]

4G booster or Wifi repeater? You referenced two different things in your question.

Wifi boosters/extenders/repeaters 'work' and will improve far-reach areas of reception, but they also cause their own interference that degrades performance. Mesh type of setups use a dedicated backhaul radio on a different frequency and generally perform to a significantly higher degree, but we're still specific to wifi only.

It might be worth getting a better hotspot or one with external antennas if you're trying to leverage better cellular coverage. You also may see different coverage maps for different carriers.

 

[T-Wrecks]

Go to giffgaff.com, and they explain everything about their goodybags. But I cannot say I have ever been disappointed.

Although, yeah: I did notice the speed isn't great, after doing a test. On most sites, I don't really even notice that the pages load slowly, though.