Next, I turned on the RE220's High-Speed Mode that lets you choose either the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz radio to act as a dedicated backhaul band between the extender and main router. I re-ran the same tests with the 5 GHz band providing backhaul to the main router, leaving the 2.4 GHz radio open for connecting devices.
TP-Link RE220 range extender (5 GHz backhaul)
Location | Ping | Down speed | Up speed |
---|
Office (30 feet) | 10 ms | 108.04 Mbps | 15.80 Mbps |
Basement (40 feet) | 11 ms | 98.59 Mbps | 15.42 Mbps |
It's clear here that you'll get a huge increase in performance by reserving the 5 GHz band for backhaul traffic, but it also means you can't connect devices to the 5 GHz band. Again I ran the tests, this time with the 2.4 GHz band providing backhaul and the 5 GHz band connecting to devices.
TP-Link RE220 range extender (2.4 GHz backhaul)
Location | Ping | Down speed | Up speed |
---|
Office (30 feet) | 11 ms | 53.41 Mbps | 15.87 Mbps |
Basement (40 feet) | 10 ms | 100.44 Mbps | 14.74 Mbps |
Using the 2.4 GHz band for backhaul traffic doesn't quite deliver the same performance at the closer range, but it performs better at long range. If you have a medium-sized home and are concerned with extending one band or the other (reserving the other for backhaul), the RE220 should do an admirable job.