Wi Fi Extender?

[caskin]

Would really appreciate some advice as to which brand etc of WiFi extender to purchase. I need to connect car Wifi to my WiFi system but car its unable to locate.

I'm using Virginmedia hub @200mps.......but due to circumstances hub is not in ideal place for car reception, but unable to move so I decided to opt for an extender.

Virgins own extender hubs don't get the best reviews, but then again there are so many out there, so many different opinions it makes choosing difficult.

So I thought perhaps the forum could once again weave thier magic and come up with the answer? Many thanks in advance caskin

 

[Rustys]

After a short google search the top rated is TP Link then Nextgear and here are the links I looked at.

Should You Buy a WiFi Extender? - Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports has tested more than a dozen popular WiFi range extenders and discovered that they do work—in certain circumstances. Here's what you need to know before you buy one.

www.consumerreports.org

The Best Wi-Fi Range Extenders for 2024

Looking to beef up your Wi-Fi network? A wireless range extender is a less expensive alternative to a new router. (Some can even turn your router setup into a mesh system.) Here are the top performers in our testing.

www.pcmag.com

The best Wi-Fi extenders in 2024

The best Wi-Fi extenders add more range to your home network without the need to upgrade your router

www.tomsguide.com

Best Wi-Fi Extenders of 2024

Find the best Wi-Fi extenders for your needs. Our team of experts evaluated Wi-Fi extenders and boosters to determine the best option for any use case.

www.cnet.com

 

[caskin]

After a short google search the top rated is TP Link then Nextgear and here are the links I looked at.

Should You Buy a WiFi Extender? - Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports has tested more than a dozen popular WiFi range extenders and discovered that they do work—in certain circumstances. Here's what you need to know before you buy one.

www.consumerreports.org

The Best Wi-Fi Range Extenders for 2024

Looking to beef up your Wi-Fi network? A wireless range extender is a less expensive alternative to a new router. (Some can even turn your router setup into a mesh system.) Here are the top performers in our testing.

www.pcmag.com

The best Wi-Fi extenders in 2024

The best Wi-Fi extenders add more range to your home network without the need to upgrade your router

www.tomsguide.com

Best Wi-Fi Extenders of 2024

Find the best Wi-Fi extenders for your needs. Our team of experts evaluated Wi-Fi extenders and boosters to determine the best option for any use case.

www.cnet.com

Hi Rusty Thanks for your info. Not wishing to undermine your good intentions I did go down the same path, and when you read the site reviews and then the publics reviews, some of these "best buys" do not feature very high in the favorable ratings. The TP unit plus netgear has a very poor rating when it comes to setting up.
Two others (£39) that came up with a 9 out of 10 was the rangeextender which had terrible public reviews, plus Wifitron which had ratings of 9.5 out of 10 (thats site reviews on google search) ,but again many of the purchasers stated it was hopeless at even receiving a decent signal from the master router!!!
So to come back home this is why I contacted the Forum, as the expertise here is to my mind the best, with word of mouth also the best, so hopefully someone will have used, or is using an extender which they can recommend???

 

[Bruce]

can we step back a bit here....
I'm confused as to why you want to connect your car wifi to your home wifi.
first up, maybe I'm way behind the times, but how long have cars had wifi capability?
do you mean the car's stereo unit?
and if it needs wifi, can you not use your phone as a hotspot.
and would you only need the wifi connection to setup the stereo, cause obviously when you are on the road you won't have access to your home wifi.

but to answer the actually wifi extender question, I used to use Netgear and found them excellent but lately I have been using Ubiquiti Unifi wireless access points and think I prefer these now.
I usually prefer not to use extenders in general, I know sometimes the situation lends itself to them, but I have also had great success in simply forking out the $$$$ and getting a really good modem/router, like the Nighthawk range, expensive but bloody great range.

 

[caskin]

First thank you for your in depth reply. yes my car has WiFi and with it I can access the internet, it can also access movies,(not on the move) (normally at home ,get back to that in a mo.)Besides being a full media system, it has sat nav, on board diagnostics, plus a great deal more besides.
Incidentally WiFi in cars has been around a long time and normally it works well,if you can obtain a signal!
Your other question why do I wish to connect to the net,its because I wish to change my sat nav and install Tom Tom which I can do from google play store,but it has to be accessed from the cars system which google play store will then recognize as the "Device" .
To be honest I never gave the phone a thought, but once again the phone has to be able to connect to my wifi whilst in the car, which I haven't tried?
I am old fashioned when it comes to phones, as I use them purely as a phone, I have an Iphone 8 ,only because it has OS12 which provides the app for my Blink camera security system, other than that and text, I stick to the Pc for all other tech requirements.
UPDATE: Have taken a walk out to car, turned WiFi on the phone and up it came, so I think you have solved my problem as it looks as though I can use phone as hot spot...many thanks...never too old to learn!!!

 

[Rustys]

Just be careful that if you have limited internet through you phone the car may use that up fast and then you will be hit with additional charges.

 

[caskin]

Just be careful that if you have limited internet through you phone the car may use that up fast and then you will be hit with additional charges.

Thank you for the warning. Im OK in that respect as Im contracted out to Virginmedia unlimited all devices 200mbps.How ever I still require an extender as I had no sooner sat in the car when the phone dropped the connection!!!!
So once again if anyone has come across a reasonably priced plugnplay extender I really would like to know. Thanks.

 

[Rustys]

You could place your phone in a happy medium temporary
(between the WiFi signal and the car)

Just a thought util you can get the extender.

 

[caskin]

You see it definitely helps to contact the Forum!! You guys think positively and me in particular in the negative. That was just a thought I never had, but on my way to have a play Many thanks.:notworthyy)