The Wi-Fi amplifiers I have seen only amplify the transmitter part.
So what happens to the received signal strength?
Do I need to amplify the received signal?
The Wi-Fi amplifiers I have seen only amplify the transmitter part.
So what happens to the received signal strength?
Do I need to amplify the received signal?
You are right to be concerned about the signal strength in both directions.
As an analogy, if you can shout so loud through a megaphone that your distant friend can hear you, but they don't have a megaphone so they can't shout loud enough for you to hear them, then the two of you can't have a conversation. You either need to give them a megaphone like yours, or you need some kind of amplified listening device (like a parabolic microphone with amp and headphones) to use on your end along with your megaphone.
If you are trying to make an outdoor long-range point-to-point link, you should put Tx amplifiers on both ends of the link. This is the "both ends get megaphones" solution.
If you are trying to increase the range of an AP without modifying your client devices, you may need to improve both your Tx PA (Power Amplifier) as well as your Rx LNA (Low-Noise Amplifier). This is the "one end gets both a megaphone and a parabolic microphone + amp + headphones, the other end remains unchanged" solution.