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My home wifi consists of a D-Link DIR-655 router and two D-Link DAP-1320 range extenders. Coverage isn't great, and having different SSIDs for router and range extenders is annoying. I'm upgrading the system for better coverage, one SSID throughout the house, and automatic handoff among devices as I move around.

I'd planned to replace the router and extenders with Google WiFi, which seems to offer everything I care about. (I don't need anything fancy.) I was going to attach each Google wifi point to an ethernet jack (the house has several), but then I found out about access points, which seem to offer the same functionality as Google WiFi, but cost less and let me keep using my router.

Can I achieve my goals by just replacing my range extenders with APs connected to cabled ethernet (possibly adding more APs to get full-house coverage)?

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    The only wifi extender I've ever used used the same SSID as my main router. Is that not an option on your existing ones?
    – Darren
    Commented Feb 25, 2017 at 16:29
  • I tried giving them the same SSID, but there was no automatic handoff, and it was hard to know what you were connecting to, router or extender. So I can use the same SSID, but without automatic handoff, it's not very useful. At least that was my experience.
    – KnowItAllWannabe
    Commented Feb 25, 2017 at 16:52
  • No one use repeaters anymore! they use it back in the days because the router will cost you around $250, now you can setup Mesh network Zero Hand-off WIFI with 5G signal 150M, two powerful access points for only $150!
    – Narzan Q.
    Commented Feb 25, 2017 at 17:57
  • My question is whether I can just replace my extenders with access points and get seamless coverage and automatic AP handoff. If so, that's a cheaper way to go than something like a Google WiFi mesh.
    – KnowItAllWannabe
    Commented Feb 25, 2017 at 18:04

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Yes, multiple APs wired to the same router is the best option. That's why they're called access points after all. (Access point is the standard mode of operation – everything else, like "range extenders" and mesh devices, are built on top of that.)

Roaming should work by default as long as the ESSID and security parameters are the same, but it depends on the client – some devices reassociate after the signal drops below some threshold, others only when the AP disappears completely. (Depending on security parameters, the process might take a noticeable amount of time – you wouldn't want that to happen during a VoIP call, for example...)

Some of the centrally-managed devices have more advanced roaming modes (usually involving standards like 802.11r), but they need all involved APs to support this – and the client devices as well. See Apple's doc page for example.

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