I figured there might be some guys on here that could help me out.....

I currently have an older Netgear N600 dual band wireless router.  I have it set up in my office that's in one corner of the house. It covers most areas pretty until I get down in the basement, then sometimes I lose the 5g and have to switch over to 2.4ghz.

I recently installed some ring cameras on the front of my house.....and for whatever reason, even though they are not that far from the router (maybe 50ft).... connection reliability with them is horrible. They are constantly going "offline" and then I have to manually connect them..and then 20min later they are off again.  I tried a cheap Netgear signal booster....it didn't help.

What's a good router I can get for my home that isn't crazy expensive, but will give me some more range over the N600?  I checked online, and there are tons of multiple antenna models from companies I'm not really familiar with....for under $100.

Suggestions??

Always try to locate your router in the center of your house.

A mesh set-up will not be inexpensive but will be the best option if you have the capability of running category cable to a couple locations.

Agree with this, but you'll need to up your budget OP. For example Costco has a TP-Link Deco M9 Plus 3 pack mesh system for $200 right now. That system will provide a lot of coverage if thought is given to the locations. It's a tri-band system with a dedicated backhaul on one of the two 5GHz bands so you may not need to run cable. A lot depends on site conditions, speed expectations etc.

I guess I could try moving my router closer to the center of my house.....but it's going to be a real pain in the ass, involving running cables through the walls and up into the attic and back down.  Not impossible.....just a pain.

I was hoping to find an easier option.

I was hoping the little netgear wireless range extender would bump the signal enough for the cameras, but for some reason....they kept dropping the signal from that also. Maybe it bumped the speed down too much?

None of them. Get a router and the correct type and quantity of hard wired access points.

I have no problem spending another $100+ to "buy once cry once". It's worth it to me just to not have to run cables through the walls and attic.

Sounds like you're dealing with some stout home construction materials that are blocking the wifi. 2.4ghz will penetrate further than 5ghz but both can be blocked by metal materials or water in pipes.

My suggestion - use a signal strength app on your phone to map out signal strength so you have an idea of where all the weak spots are. Consider adding dedicated access points instead of repeaters (every hop reduces bandwidth by half). You may need an outdoor access point to help with the external devices. I don't think you need true long range directional wifi since those point-to-point devices span miles but in a narrowly defined direction.

More info please.  Even if everything was hard wired....I still need wifi for the cameras, mobile devices, etc....

It's not like I have a mansion.....how is everyone else with wireireless ring cameras doing it?  My router is only 50ft (probably more like 35ft in a straight line) from the camera....

Thanks for the tip. I used the signal strength app, and out by my camera I'm down to around 40% with the 2.4 signal and 25% with the 5g.  

So I could run a dedicated ethernet cable out of the back of my router, and then hook it up to a wireless access point up in the attic that's closer to the camera?   Sounds pretty simple if that's all there is to it.

Any links to the hardware I need would be great!

Actually, I was just looking at the little netgear AC750 wifi range extender....and it's got the option to use it at a wired access point..

Mesh network.  I have a Deco system set up that has coverage from the front edge of my property all the way to the back of it which is about 150 yards.  I have 4 devices connected to it in the detached garage and about 15 in the house.  Works flawlessly.

Wrong.

If he can run ethernet cables to multiple locations he doesn't need mesh and should run wires dedicated AP's instead.  The whole point of mesh is for when you can't run cables.

It sounds like the little Netgear Wi-Fi extender that I have can also be used is a wired access point. I think I'm just going to order a hundred feet of ethernet cable, run it up through the wall into the attic, and then put that wired access point within a few feet on the other side of the wall of where my cameras are mounted. Hopefully that should work.

I have 3 hardwired Ruckus R310 Unleashed AP's in my house powered by my POE switch.  They are $100 each at Provantage. The switch connects back to my Untangle router.

Depending on your house construction you may need an AP in every room to get good coverage.