My macmini on board wifi hardware goes kaput. Now no longer can access wifi. The macmini ethernet port still working. Pulling a long ethernet cable from router to macmini is not ideal within the house. I prefer wireless. Also it must be able access to other PCs and devices on the same LAN (IP class C).

Searching online, suggestion would be wifi extender or bridge seems to be the solution. Most vendors sell wifi extender but not bridge. I am looking at TP-Link RE705X or similar with wifi connection to my tplink AX3000 router. The wifi extender connect to macmini via short ethernet cable.

Can anyone tell me, will macmini using wifi extender can connect/access to internet and local LAN (same IP group) ?

Thanks in advance.

mine BTU AND ROUTER place computer table haha my pc always use LAN Cable

first time unifi installing my house i tell tm no need install tv cabinet place
tm help fiber to place my room computer table so i happy use lan cable always
almost full speed 500mbps

I know about cables but it is not possible in my situation. Cable is also actually much cheaper than buying a device.

I just want to know if wifi extender extends LAN. Don't want to waste money if wifi extender does not work as intended.

Yes. Both LAN & WLAN

Yes, the term extender/wifi bridge if used to describe that. It's will use same local LAN or same subnet.

Another option to find usb wifi adapter but quick search seems its a bit hard since apple make it hard to developed the driver.

This post has been edited by aneip: May 11 2025, 09:39 AM

a mesh wifi usually can solve ur connectivity issues. like tplink deco wifi 6e or wifi7 should work.

now u got internet and lan connectivity via wireless in ur premises.

i get by with a single wireless AP, can cover my place easy. If you live in a bigger space, then a mesh 2 or 3 satelite nodes would be more than enough to cover wifi all over sufficiently.

The other pro for using the mesh, tplink has AI roaming. Not sure if its true ai, but its rather effective for switch over between mesh nodes to have a good wifi connection to the nearest mesh node. Seamless roaming for wifi

This post has been edited by Moogle Stiltzkin: May 11 2025, 10:04 AM

Just get an External Type-C USB Wifi Adapter/Dongle that supports MacOS, might be abit on the expensive side. Example (https://www.edimax.com/edimax/merchandise/merchandise_detail/data/edimax/uk/wireless_adapters_ac450/ew-7711mac/)

Save the headache of configuring Extender/Bridge... hahaha...

Hope this helps...

What you suggest is obsolete in terms of macOS support. I m using macOS 10.14. The intel macmini is upgradeable up to macOS Sequoia.

from edimax website,
Support OS:MAC 10.12
Languages:English
Please uninstall existing EW-7711MAC drivers before proceeding to upgrade. (Version : 1.0.0.7) 2017-04-18 ZIP 8.61 MB
Windows 7 Driver (Version : v1.0) 2016-10-19 ZIP 10.22 MB
Support OS:MAC 10.7 / 10.8 / 10.9 / 10.10 / 10.11
Languages:English

I did use dlink wifi usb before. It overheated and kaput after long use. Also it have similar issue, no new drivers for later OS. Having wifi extender may not be perfect, at least it provide connectivity and without drivers.

This post has been edited by CPURanger: May 14 2025, 07:42 AM

Router is better than wifi extender, which in turn is better than usb or pci-e wifi.

Router can just get any used AC asus, or the cheapest is ax53u. Configure as media bridge mode if you need only lan clients (like your mac) or repeater mode if you need lan + wifi clients (best connect 5ghz to main router, and use 2.4ghz for wifi clients, same for wifi extender setup)

As you did not mentioned which version of MacOS you are using thus the Edimax was just an example, you can search for any compatible USB Wifi Adapter that supports your current version.

Yes, Extender/Bridge mode is an alternative method & offers more flexibility. Considering you need to configure it & test it, its time consuming & troublesome. But its your choice.

As recommended by BTS1501, Asus router have "Media Bridge" mode maybe you can have a look at it.


Hope this helps...