Does a wireless repeater slow things down for everyone?

Question

I recently moved into a new apartment, and we've found that the wireless connection we've set up isn't accessible in all rooms. I'm thinking about buying a new router and running it as a repeater in bridge mode.

I've heard that running a repeater slows things down for computers using it. What I'm not sure of, though, is if it will slow down connections for everyone in the house. Will I still experience a slower connection speed when I am within range of the original wireless router?

Solution

A wireless repeater is slower for those connecting to the network using it. This is because it uses the same radio to accept incoming and outgoing packets from clients as it does to forward those packets on to the next wifi router and accept replies.

So effectively you get half the bandwidth, as each packet must go over the air twice - from the client to the repeater, then from the repeater to the wifi router.

It will not affect anyone directly connected to the original wifi router (other than from having to share it among more people).

If you are in range of the wifi router and so connect to it rather than the repeater, you will get normal performance.

Comments

[Paul]

Thanks for spelling this out for me! Couldn't find a clear explanation on whether or not it will slow things down for everyone online.

[aytunch]

@Paul What if the repeater uses the same SSID as the main router? Then the user does not have the chance to choose between connecting to the main router or the repeater. What happens to the answer of the original question considering this setup?

[Paul]

@aytunch The above only applies when connected to the extender. The SSID doesn't make a difference. If you have the same SSID on both, and happen to connect to the main router with a decent connection, you'd get the same speed as normal.

[Shishir Gupta]

What happens in this configuration: router @ 150mbps, repeater @300mbps, client connected to repeater gets 150mbps or 75mbps?

[Paul]

@ShishirGupta I am not sure. 300Mbps means two antennas / datastreams - but I don't know if you can use one for interacting with the client at 150mbs and one interacting with the next hop at 150mbps.

[Paul G]

@Paul You wrote that extender does not affect main PC that uses main router, but in my case looks like it does - or may be my main PC uses repeater and not main router signal? Same SSID: living room - main wifi router and main PC (30' to router). 50Mbps. Router didn't reach 2 other rooms so I placed repeater in one of them (behind the wall from main PC, but only 5' between them). My wife laptop in 2nd room now has wifi, BUT my main PC now shows only 12Mbps! Please advice.

[Paul G]

@Paul Forgot to mention that I see 10-12Mbs on my main PC when my wife's laptop is shut down.