Boosting your home internet Wi-Fi

It all starts with your in-home set up

If you've noticed a bit of 'lag' in your home internet or that your Wi-Fi signal is weaker in certain rooms of your house, a Telstra Smart Wi-Fi Booster may help with that.  

But let's try problem solving it first. You can change up your in-home setup, quickly and easily to help improve your Wi-Fi signal which may be just the fix you're looking for. Some of our quick fixes include:   

• Doing an internet speed test  
• Finding out how old your modem is 
• Reviewing your Home Internet Plan 
• Moving your modem to a different part of your home. 

If you've tried the above things and they haven't improved your signal, we recommend diving into this article featuring a detailed checklist for further ways to improve your home internet setup:   

Read our 7 tips to improve your home internet

If the quick fixes don't work... where to next? 

If you've tried all the quick fix techniques in our in-home optimisation article, there are few extra things you can start thinking about. Ask yourself:

• What additonal Wi-Fi range do I need? 
• Do I have a household of heavy internet users? 
• How much coverage and speed do I need? 
• How many boosters do I need? This will depend on the size and layout of your home - and what it's constructed of. Generally, most Telstra customers need just one booster to extend their Wi-Fi signal. 

Telstra Smart Wi-Fi Booster 3

How does a Wi-Fi booster work?  

Telstra Smart Wi-Fi Booster 3 enhances and expands the reach of your existing wireless network. It captures the signal from your router or modem and rebroadcasts it to areas where Wi-Fi coverage is weak or inconsistent, helping to eliminate patchy zones by improving connectivity throughout your home or office. It offers: 

• Seamless integration with our Telstra Smart Modem 4 through mesh pairing, creating a mesh network. 
• A unified network name (SSID) for effortless device connection across your entire space.
• Smart signal optimisation, automatically connecting devices to the strongest available signal for faster, more reliable performance.

Learn about Telstra Smart Wi-Fi Booster

The main difference between a Wi-Fi booster and a Wi-Fi extender is how they interact with your existing network and how they broadcast the signal.

Wi-Fi extender

A Wi-Fi extender helps expand your network coverage, often using a wired connection. It connects to your router via an Ethernet cable and creates a new access point in another part of your home. Instead of reaching all the way to the modem, your devices connect to this closer access point.

Wi-Fi extenders usually create a separate network name (SSID), which means:

• You may need to manually switch between networks as you move around your home.
• It rebroadcasts your router’s signal to improve coverage.
• Setup can be less seamless, often requiring manual adjustments to keep devices connected to the best signal.

Wi-Fi repeater 

A Wi-Fi repeater extends Wi-Fi coverage by wirelessly receiving and retransmitting (or repeating) the signal, but it may result in your Wi-Fi speed slowing down, due to speed caps on the hardware. 

The choice is yours 

Now that you have the info to compare extenders, repeaters and boosters - like Telstra Smart Wi-Fi Booster, we hope you can make an informed choice about what suits your home Wi-Fi set up best.