Seeking Help Suggest me a Wifi Extender for Airtel Xstream Fiber

[Neel]

I'm using Airtel Xstream Fibre, with a Zyxel Router (Bought in 2022). It is installed at the first floor of my house, and has a good network coverage in the upstairs. Earlier, it had a good-medium coverage in the downstairs too (Especially in the drawing room, with only 1 bar off.), but nowadays the signal coverage has decreased even in the upstairs, and at times 0 coverage in my drawing room, where I have a Smart TV...

I need Wifi at the downstairs to watch TV, so would you guys please suggest me a good wifi extender compatible with my router for downstair use? Also would you please tell me the steps to configure it as I'm completely new to this field (0 experience with routers and other network devices)

Besides I'm adding one more thing in this thread itself, is there a problem with my router? The internet speed is not always good as before (immediately after it was installed), it hasn't been relocated and the pack is still same....
Also my mobile phone ( Samsung A12) seems to be unable to get good signals from this router, like the signals are never full even when I place my mobile phone exactly below the router....So a problem with phone or router?

 

[Bapun]

If you want to be futureproof, I would recommend you to go for any of the TP-Link Deco Mesh wifi connectivity system according to your house size and budget.

You can have a look here:

Deco | TP-Link India

A whole home Mesh WiFi system that provides powerful WiFi to cover every corner of your home. Walk through your home and enjoy a truly seamless WiFi experience.

www.tp-link.com

And all these mesh wifi devices are available on both Amazon India and Flipkart.

It comes with 1/2/3 unit models and you can connect multiple units together to make your whole home wifi. I am using two TP-Link Deco mesh wifi devices so I vouch for these.

Also would you please tell me the steps to configure it as I'm completely new to this field (0 experience with routers and other network devices)

One main deco would need to be connected via LAN (ethernet cable) to the Airtel router. Rest of the Decos can be connected either wired or wirelessly.

If you can pass ethernet cable from one floor to other, you should prefer wired connectivity for the whole system because it provides maximum speed from your Xstream Fiber router. Otherwise, wireless connection can make some speed reduction and ping fluctuation.

there a problem with my router? The internet speed is not always good as before (immediately after it was installed), it hasn't been relocated and the pack is still same....

It can be that since your router has become old, it's range has decreased with time and usage. It happens with most of the wifi routers. However, if you are not getting speed as per your selected plan, you should raise a Service Request and the engineer may replace your router with a different one so you get better speed (and coverage).

Asking out of curiosity, may I know which Airtel Zyxel router you have (model number/photo)?

 

[Neel]

Asking out of curiosity, may I know which Airtel Zyxel router you have (model number/photo)?

Yeah sure, attaching a pic of the same below:

Model Number: PMG5617-R20B

 

[Bapun]

Yeah sure, attaching a pic of the same below:

Model Number: PMG5617-R20B

It is indeed an old model bro and you should ask them to replace it since you are facing speed issue.

If you tell them about range issue, they may ask you to get their own (Airtel) mesh extender which is substandard product similar to the Jio mesh extender so don't complain about range.