The Best Wi-Fi Extenders You Can Buy

In 20 years, my parents have had two main issues with their home, at least that I've experienced with them: a freezing family room, and disappointing Wi-Fi. They fixed the temperature, for the most part. But the Wi-Fi. With the modem and router in the office on one side of the house, the signal in that now-warmer family room is weak enough that you every FaceTime conversation is guaranteed to include the phrase, “Wait, we lost you again," at least once. Now that those calls are to talk to their new granddaughter, we decided to do something about it.

They needed a Wi-Fi extender-a device that boosts your wireless signal to push it to areas of your house. (In houses larger than 3,000 square feet, or really old places with thick walls, you’d actually want a mesh network-a group of antennas that places mini routers throughout your house-such as eero, Amplifi HD, or Netgear Orbi. But in most average-size homes or apartments, an extender is all you need.) Here are the best options.