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WiFi Extender vs. Mesh

  • serafina
  • August 25, 2022 at 2:44 PM

There are 36 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 6,635 times. The latest Post (May 28, 2026 at 8:48 PM) was by aficionado.

  • serafina
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    • August 25, 2022 at 2:44 PM
    • #1

    Last year I brought here a TP Link Range Extender (model RE445) because our Telecentro router's signal doesn't reach well the bedroom upstairs (where we have a smart TV), also because we have steel frames in the stairs leading upstairs.

    I didn't buy a mesh device because they were more expensive and because it was my understanding that you need more devices to create a mesh.

    Do you have a mesh in your house?

  • GlasgowJohn
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    • August 25, 2022 at 3:01 PM
    • #2

    We have mesh and it works well

    Our house is about 220sqm on two floors

    the modem is on the ground floor and the first mesh device is placed next to the modem and the second is placed upstairs - as a result we have great coverage upstairs.

    It's fairly easy to set up and fairly inexpensive.

    How big is your house?

  • serafina
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    • August 25, 2022 at 9:49 PM
    • #3

    Not very big, just 90 sq, but it is on two levels and with those iron bars running along the stairs and below them, plus other iron bars on the ceiling of our bedroom.

    I have moved the Wi-Fi extender today because sometimes it loses the connection to the internet. It seems to be working okay now. Before it was a struggle!

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    UK Man
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    • August 25, 2022 at 10:15 PM
    • #4

    The missus moved her Spanish Consulate office from the centre of town to the converted garage/room in the house we own next door. I fitted a TPLink extension from our main router and it's working fine. Has to be sad I know fuck all about it despite the missus thinking I do!!

  • serafina
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    • August 25, 2022 at 11:39 PM
    • #5

    UK Man you make it Sounds like you hit the jackpot with the missus! 😉

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    UK Man
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    • August 26, 2022 at 8:57 AM
    • #6
    Quote from serafina

    UK Man you make it Sounds like you hit the jackpot with the missus! 😉

    She can be a pain in the arse at times. Just as well I'm a :saint:

  • Rice
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    • August 26, 2022 at 11:55 AM
    • #7

    Ha! She must be VERY patient. From the photo you posted, I’d say she has a nice sense of humor, too. Always helpful when you live with a saint, eh?

    Does your wife work at the Spanish consulate, UK Man? Is she from Spain?

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    UK Man
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    • August 26, 2022 at 12:39 PM
    • #8
    Quote from Rice

    Ha! She must be VERY patient. From the photo you posted, I’d say she has a nice sense of humor, too. Always helpful when you live with a saint, eh?

    Does your wife work at the Spanish consulate, UK Man? Is she from Spain?

    She's Argentine born but has Spanish nationality. She's the Honorary Spanish Vice Consul for the area....which means she does it for nothing!! Doesn't even get the cost of a postage stamp returned. Tight-fisted sods!! ^^

  • Rice
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    • August 26, 2022 at 1:11 PM
    • #9

    But it’s great for the résumé!

    Until a few years ago, I never knew that US Ambassadors to smaller countries have to pay for the privilege by personally footing the bill for entertaining, though required by the State Department. Bizarre.

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    UK Man
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    • August 26, 2022 at 1:41 PM
    • #10
    Quote from Rice

    But it’s great for the résumé!

    Until a few years ago, I never knew that US Ambassadors to smaller countries have to pay for the privilege by personally footing the bill for entertaining, though required by the State Department. Bizarre.

    She took over the position when her mother gave it up. Thankfully, it doesn't take up too much of her time.

  • serafina
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    • August 26, 2022 at 2:22 PM
    • #11

    A friend of mine lived far away from the local consulate, and he became the honorary consul. From what I gather, it is an unpaid position with no advantage except that of being invited to official parties at the main Consulate, in exchange of a number of inquiries by people who have no idea how to navigate a second country's bureaucracy. In Argentina, these are usually people who have never lived in the other country, so they are totally clueless as to the documents, procedure and stuff. If I were offered the position, I would run in the opposite direction as fast as I can!

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    • August 26, 2022 at 5:00 PM
    • #12
    Quote from serafina

    A friend of mine lived far away from the local consulate, and he became the honorary consul. From what I gather, it is an unpaid position with no advantage except that of being invited to official parties at the main Consulate, in exchange of a number of inquiries by people who have no idea how to navigate a second country's bureaucracy. In Argentina, these are usually people who have never lived in the other country, so they are totally clueless as to the documents, procedure and stuff. If I were offered the position, I would run in the opposite direction as fast as I can!

    She's had to deal with some strange calls....even a few from Italians with no connection whatsoever with Spain asking if they can get Spanish passports. She also gets the odd inquiry regarding Iberia Airlines flight schedules!!

    What she likes doing most is helping the oldies who receive the Spanish pension....every so often they have to prove they're still alive. I reckon if it wasn't for them she wouldn't do it. She's busy enough doing other things as it is.

  • GlasgowJohn
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    • August 26, 2022 at 5:14 PM
    • #13

    Serious question - does she have any contacts at the Spanish Work/ Labour consulate in Viamonte? I have a Spanish pension question- Always good to go in with a recommendation...

    Maybe I should call you?

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    UK Man
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    • August 26, 2022 at 5:26 PM
    • #14
    Quote from GlasgowJohn

    Serious question - does she have any contacts at the Spanish Work/ Labour consulate in Viamonte? I have a Spanish pension question- Always good to go in with a recommendation...

    Maybe I should call you?

    She does. She's not in the now so send me a message with what you want info on and if she desn't know she'll pass you on. The main Consulate in BA was shut for a year or two and had a skeleton staff. Not sure if it's fully operational again or not.

  • GlasgowJohn
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    • August 26, 2022 at 9:21 PM
    • #15

    I was down at the big Spanish consulate on Monday ( prior appointment necessary) to renew the passport of GlasgowJohn Jr, who has three passports - UK , Spain, and Argentina.

    I was talking to one of the security guys about football and life in general and asked him who should I talk to about pensions ( eighteen years working in Spain) . he said I had to go to Viamonte.

    Just want to make sure I am going to the right place.

    Will give you a shout on Sunday. Tomorrow , snowed under moving boxes around the place.

  • Online
    UK Man
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    • August 26, 2022 at 11:11 PM
    • #16
    Quote from GlasgowJohn

    I was down at the big Spanish consulate on Monday ( prior appointment necessary) to renew the passport of GlasgowJohn Jr, who has three passports - UK , Spain, and Argentina.

    I was talking to one of the security guys about football and life in general and asked him who should I talk to about pensions ( eighteen years working in Spain) . he said I had to go to Viamonte.

    Just want to make sure I am going to the right place.

    Will give you a shout on Sunday. Tomorrow , snowed under moving boxes around the place.

    Yes Viamonte....

  • serafina
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    • September 2, 2022 at 1:34 PM
    • #17
    Quote from serafina

    Not very big, just 90 sq, but it is on two levels and with those iron bars running along the stairs and below them, plus other iron bars on the ceiling of our bedroom.

    I have moved the Wi-Fi extender today because sometimes it loses the connection to the internet. It seems to be working okay now. Before it was a struggle!

    Just a follow up on yet another tech struggle. Moved the TP Link repeater and worked fine for a few hours, then it was intermittently connected to the Internet. However, this seemed to be an Internet issue and not a Wifi signal issue.

    I was considering buying a mesh set of repeaters, but when also the Fire Stick downstairs was struggling, I convinced my husband to call Telecentro to change the modem/router. Mostly because our current device has no RJ port to connect via cable the TP Link repeater (I was thinking to use the TP Link device as an access point instead of a repeater, and get over with it).

    Surprisingly, Telecentro had availability for today and also said that our contract was for 100 MBps, but that it was working at 20 Mpbs. They say that the current minimum speed is 150 Mpbs and that they would give us a free trial month @ 300Mpbs with the new modem/router, and then they would bring it down to 150 Mpbs.

    Maybe they want to see if they can lure us into subscribing a higher contract for $300 more.

    Our needs are not that much, but let's see if the new router and a 300 Mbps connection are that fabulous. We are waiting for the Telecentro guy in a matter of hours.

  • Splinter
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    • September 2, 2022 at 3:30 PM
    • #18
    Quote from serafina

    Just a follow up on yet another tech struggle. Moved the TP Link repeater and worked fine for a few hours, then it was intermittently connected to the Internet. However, this seemed to be an Internet issue and not a Wifi signal issue.

    I was considering buying a mesh set of repeaters, but when also the Fire Stick downstairs was struggling, I convinced my husband to call Telecentro to change the modem/router. Mostly because our current device has no RJ port to connect via cable the TP Link repeater (I was thinking to use the TP Link device as an access point instead of a repeater, and get over with it).

    Surprisingly, Telecentro had availability for today and also said that our contract was for 100 MBps, but that it was working at 20 Mpbs. They say that the current minimum speed is 150 Mpbs and that they would give us a free trial month @ 300Mpbs with the new modem/router, and then they would bring it down to 150 Mpbs.

    Maybe they want to see if they can lure us into subscribing a higher contract for $300 more.

    Our needs are not that much, but let's see if the new router and a 300 Mbps connection are that fabulous. We are waiting for the Telecentro guy in a matter of hours.

    Hopefully you'll get a modem/router with 4 ethernet ports. That's pretty standard nowadays.

    A Brit In Buenos Aires

  • serafina
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    • September 2, 2022 at 6:47 PM
    • #19

    The guy came and set up a new router. This one being a SAGECOM F@st 3890 v2 TLC.On 5G the download speed is very close to 300 Mbps (280-290) downstairs with maximum coverage. Upstairs I am getting sometimes less because of the distance. On 2.4 GHz i am getting 22 Mpbs. It still seems incredibly faster than before.

    The 5G antenna is not very steady, imho, and my TP Link repeater can't seem to connect to the 5G, just to the 2.4GHz network. The Telecentro guy did several attempts and eventually gave up. No problem in extending the 2.4 GHz network, tough.

    I think it must be a Telecentro thing because there are many Telecentro, Arnet and Fibertel 2.4 Ghz wifi networks that are seen by the TP Link repeater, but no Telecentro 5G is detected, which is odd.


    Como mudar o canal do modem Wi-Fi para melhorar a sua conexão | Sagemcom  F@st 3890 | Claro

  • Splinter
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    • September 2, 2022 at 6:50 PM
    • #20
    Quote from serafina

    The guy came and set up a new router. This one being a SAGECOM F@st 3890 v2 TLC.On 5G the download speed is very close to 300 Mbps (280-290) downstairs with maximum coverage. Upstairs I am getting sometimes less because of the distance. On 2.4 GHz i am getting 22 Mpbs. It still seems incredibly faster than before.

    The 5G antenna is not very steady, imho, and my TP Link repeater can't seem to connect to the 5G, just to the 2.4GHz network. The Telecentro guy did several attempts and eventually gave up. No problem in extending the 2.4 GHz network, tough.

    I think it must be a Telecentro thing because there are many Telecentro, Arnet and Fibertel 2.4 Ghz wifi networks that are seen by the TP Link repeater, but no Telecentro 5G is detected, which is odd.


    Como mudar o canal do modem Wi-Fi para melhorar a sua conexão | Sagemcom  F@st 3890 | Claro

    How many ports has it got? probably four.

    A Brit In Buenos Aires

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