So I was just reading an article about Iwata's comments on how far the range is in terms of the Wii U controller and playing it away from the console itself. Surely, wall thickness and all that will affect its range and such but then I got thinking...

At home here, I have an Airport Express wireless box from Apple for my iMac. I know for a fact that you can buy more and connect them wirelessly to give yourself greater range if you were in say, a big office, or something. So why couldn't Nintendo do this? A simple device that plugs into a wall somewhere that will help boost the range of your Wii U signal so you can go farther around your home? Shouldn't be too hard to do in theory... I can't imagine the lag would really be that much of an issue as long as you didn't string together a ton of those bad boys.

So what about you? Would you buy one to extend the length? I'm thinking I wouldn't just because I don't need to go far from my own TV... however... with this thing outputting HD graphics, I very well might want to put it downstairs with my home HD tv... it would be great to help boost the signal up into my bedroom... Thoughts?

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I think it would be far more powerful if it was networkable to be used anywhere. Nintendo's competitors might capitalize on such a system (something like OnLive crossed with Wii U).

U Extenz your Wii? Boost signal to your bedroom?

No,I really don't see the need.If I need to go out of the room my Wii U will be in I will stop playing for a few moments.

That would be great, as long as it doesn't introduce any lag.

Sorry for being a realist, but this will never happen.

Wireless HD tech just doesn't do wall penetration, it's meant for in room video sharing, and it does that very well. If you did have some kind of range expander, it still has to deal with wall penetration, at which point it's going to experience signal loss exactly the same extender or not.
Yeah, Nintendo hasn't announced anything about the hardware configuration, but I'd say there's a incredibly good chance that they will just be implementing an existing technology, like WirelessHD (Intel WiDi).
WiFi range extenders add latency to the signal Latency isn't a huge deal in normal networking, with gaming being a big exception. Plus WiFi is capable of wall penetration, you can;t draw parallels to unrelated tech just because it's wireless.

@Dapper Dick Maybe, although there is probably all kinds of potential exploitation this way.

If it was like $10.

@ObscureMotives

Buzzkill... lol. I'm just hypothesizing a hypothetical. A fun what-if poll. But thanks for the added information.

That's a cool idea, but it wouldn't be for me. I'm fine playing the console where it's at, because if indeed I need to give up the TV then it would be to my wife, and I'd rather hang out with her in the same room and continue playing than go off someplace else.

That sounds kind of cool, but I don't think I'd need it.

@DrFinkelstein

Sorry for telling it like it is.

achhibbar said:

That would be great, as long as it doesn't introduce any lag.

This.

My mind went places.

If the limit is one room I'd absolutely want one. My bed would be about 15-20 feet from my gaming area, and I'd kill to play games in bed. So, I sure hope the range is decent. It'd also be nice to take it upstairs as well. Same room range is almost useless to me.

I'm not sure if the technology is as simple as buying an extender (is that real tech?) though.

I would. If the main HDTV is used for whatever reason, instead of plugging the whole console on my next 4 free HDTVs, I would much rather carry the game on a 6" screen and move around my house, which is at least 2 floors up and 2 next door neighbors radius.

Excuse me for being lazy, but could someone tell me what exactly the range for this thing is? And not through walls... but I can keep the door open?

LOL, sorry, I'm just not familiar with HD WiFi at all. And, I'd really like to be playing on a tv, turn the tv off, and keep playing in bed.

I have no need at all for an extender.

I don't see the point. My Wii and Wavebird controllers work all over my flat, and I'm sure this wont be too different.

My Wii Remote works from my room upstairs. How much worse can it be??