Is My Wireless Repeater Helping?

Apols if this question's a bit ignorant - I've searched but haven't been able to find a clear answer.

I've get patchy wireless reception at home. I've bought a wireless extender & want to find out definitively if it's helping.

When I ping the router it makes little difference whether the repeater's on or not. However using netstumbler to measure the wireless signal I get a far better RSSI reading (stronger & steadier) with the repeater on.

Does that mean it's helping a lot - or is the ping test the key one?

Jedzi

Ping is the speed at which your network traffic travels. If you're logging into a repeater, one might expect a very slight decrease in speed (increase in ping time). If it's staying the same, then you're in good shape.
What does your pc say it's logged in to, the repeater? Does it show a stronger signal when logged in? (Using windoze information, not netstumbler).

Is Netstumbler unreliable / misleading in this situation?

With the Windows meter it improves a signal that's normally 3 bars up to 5 (speed is unchanged). I sometimes work in another room where the speed is unchanged but signal strength is slightly improved (it changes from 4/5 up to a steady 5).

Jedzi