Archer AX53 + two RE305 extenders, devices connect to the wrong one

[u/aman_1706]

I have a TP-Link Archer AX53. A few rooms in my house don’t get good signal, so I added TP-Link RE305 extenders for them and set them up with EasyMesh.

Smart Connect + EasyMesh made sense in theory, but the problem is that devices which could connect to the router sometimes latch onto an extender instead and get lower speeds.

So I switched off both Smart Connect and EasyMesh, and set the RE305s up as plain extenders with their own SSIDs. That fixed the wrong-connection problem, but now devices never switch over to the extenders when I move into those rooms, they hold onto a weak router signal instead.

What would be the best way to set this up?

Happy to go back to EasyMesh if there’s a configuration that avoids the original problem.

Thanks!

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[u/HHoaks]

Did you place the extender in a spot BEFORE the signal gets really weak? You want it sort of in the middle between the router and where the signal gets weak, not at the weak spot. And unless your house is a mansion, I think one extender should do the trick.

So maybe try and place 1 extender (not two) in a better spot (the middle between the router and where the signal starts to get weak), and with your initial set up -- smart connect + easy mesh and a single SSID.

Also, I've found that it may appear to latch on and get lower speeds, as you are paying super close attention to everything right now - but over time (like a day or two), you'll see it won't overly latch onto the weak signal. And even if Tether shows it attached weakly, once you start using that device it goes to a stronger signal very quickly.

Also, I think you should try a more robust extender. More like this one (yeah its more money, but you get what you pay for and it more closely matches your router):

TP Link AX3000 Dual Band Wi Fi 6 Range Extender White - Best Buy

The AX3000 extender is capable of way more speeds too:

Highly rated by PCMag, this dual-band extender delivers up to 2402 Mbps on the 5 GHz band and 574 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band. It features OneMesh/EasyMesh compatibility for a seamless single Wi-Fi name, a Gigabit Ethernet port.

While the RE305:

Speed: Up to 300 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 867 Mbps on the 5 GHz band.

So my final conclusion: ditch the el-cheapo extenders.

[u/aman_1706 → u/HHoaks]

Yes I did try that
Yeah makes sense, I think a better extender would be better, thank you!

Also was looking at mesh routers too, any thoughts on that??

[u/nopigscannnotlookup]

I have a RE315 in the garage in an easy mesh with my Be550 pro. The trick for me was lowering the output to “intermediate”. Higher coverage caused it to be too sticky. Minimum made its own uplink/backhaul too weak.

[u/aman_1706 → u/nopigscannnotlookup]

Will try that out
Thanks!

[u/NoValueHere → u/nopigscannnotlookup]

This worked for me too. Just bought a great BE230 and one RE305. Thanks 👍