Why is range extension so difficult?

[JMAIO]

I am trying to get specific information on how to extend the range of my Arlo Base station WITHOUT running a cable from my router to another area of my home. Had I known I needed to run a cable, I would have opted for a POE system and used hard wired (and better) cameras. Perhaps I'm spoiled, but Apple had this down pat. When I wanted to extend the range of my Apple Airport Extreme, it wasn't a problem at all, thanks to the Airport Utility program found on all Macs. I simply plugged in the second Airport Exretme in another room, the Utility found it, and with a few simple keystrokes, I was in business with a strong extended signal to my smart TV on the other end of the house. 

Been that way for years with Apple.  Why can't I extend the Arlo range without having to first hire a cable installer and then a network engineer?

I can't even find out which specific model number of the several wall socket Netgear range extenders are certified to work with the Arlo base station without the need for a long cable from my router.

Shame on you Netgear.

[jguerdat]

Can't tell you about "certified" extenders but any one that has an Ethernet port should work. The bandwidth of most extenders is 1/2 the capability of normal WiFi but that's plenty sufficient to pass Arlo streaming.  No holes/cabling/engineers involved...

Note that this only allows the base station to be moved to a better place.  The actual WiFi connection to the cameras can't be modified other than by positioning the Arlo hardware or by adding base stations.

[JMAIO]

Thanks much for the reply, but, as I thought, Netgear apparently hasn't thought this through very well.

If I understand you correctly, an "extender" still has to have a physical ethernet connection to the main router and then the base station plugs into it in a better-suited position to hit all the Arlo cams. Or as you suggest, a second base station, but its not clear if the second station will bridge to the first like the Apple Airports can. 

Again, if I understand you, I have to run an ethernet cable through a couple of walls.

Not very elegant in 2015.

[jguerdat]

An extender is a WiFi extender.  Anything else is a switch.  The extender connects to the router's WiFi network and essentially adds range at half the bandwidth (half is reserved for connection to the router and the other half for it's own connections). I happen to have a Netgear extender that is dual-band and allows the use of one band to connect to the router and the other band for the extension - whether that's useful for you all depends.  The Ethernet port on the extender simply allows a wired device (the base station, in this case) to be connected and ultimately use WiFi to get out to the router and Internet.  Fairly simple to install and can be useful.

[JMAIO]

Hmmm...

Wonder if the Arlo Base station would plug into the ethernet connection on my already installed extended Apple Airport. It's a full dual band Airport Extreme that I use with the new model Airport Extreme in another part of the house which is ethernet connected to the main router.

Worth a try - as long as it doesn't cause a disruption of the space/time continum.

[hgmobile]

The lan ports on an airport extreme are functional when it is used in extender mode. 

[JMAIO]

Yes!

I want to thank you for lighting the way for me! This morning I tried plugging the Arlo Base Station into one of the ethernet ports on my extended and more centrally loacated Airport Extreme and, after a couple of minutes, all lights came on and all 4 cameras are either 3 or 4 green bars. I'm mounting a 5th camera later today and after that I'M headed to a bar!

Thanks again!

John

[jguerdat · Accepted solution]

Glad it worked out even if it's not an Arlo-supported configuration. Sometimes it's just a matter of putzing around with what we have to work with... 😄