Well i guess if you don't understand how range works then that is going to disable your ability to function in the game more than anything else.
Presumably you will not want to mess with designing ships at this stage, so the simplest option to extend range is to build starbases in the direction you want to extend range.... but be advised, the AI loves to destroy starbases, so you have to defend it.
Really the bulk of what you learn in this game is about improving efficiency, and increasing strength. So on low difficulty level you don't need to worry about all that, you can just plod along however you want and you will do just fine 
