TP-Link AC1200 Mesh Dual Band Wi-Fi Range Extender
TP-Link AC1200 Mesh Dual Band Wi-Fi Range Extender, Broadband/Wi-fi Extender, Wi-Fi Booster, creates A Seamless Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System with One mesh Router, WPS, UK Plug (RE300)
From the brand
AV1000 Gigabit Powerline Kit
- HomePlug AV2 Standard – high-speed data transfer rates of up to 1000 Mbps
- Gigabit port
- Up to 300 Meters
| Weight: | 190 g |
| Dimensions: | 6.95 x 12.41 x 6.48 cm; 190 Grams |
| Brand: | TP-Link |
| Model: | RE300 |
| Colour: | White |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Manufacture: | TP-Link |
| Dimensions: | 6.95 x 12.41 x 6.48 cm; 190 Grams |
As typo is always ahead in WiFi boosters. You will get high speed signals with this model. I am getting 300 to 500 mb per second which is I think very good.
WiFi speed dropped dramatically to the back of my house. After installing this (which is super easy) my broadband speed doubled to what it originally was without the booster. Well worth the money.
Internet everywhere! I have full fibre 900Mbps. This device provides Internet to previously dead = no Internet) corners. Speed seems slower than my router, I get max 200Mbps, but that’s totally fine with me. Configuration was pretty easy though I had to connect via laptop. The app didn’t accept the default password.
Overall: Would buy it again!
Easy to connect to the TP link Archer 400 router which has One Mesh capability. All done via TP link’s Tether App. Good price for what you get, bought 2 to use in a 3 storey house, Router is on middle floor with each extender on ground floor and upstairs for bedrooms.
I have previous experience with TP-Link products and usually try them first for networking items.
I wasn’t disappointed this time either.
1 – plug it in next to the Wi-Fi router and let the extender do its stuff
2 – take the extender to a Wi-Fi desert and watch the LEDs on the extender
3 – If the extender is in range then you have succeeded.
Its not much more complicated than that but do what every engineer does – Read the instructions.
Straightforward plug in and connect design.
Only downside is WIFI isn’t as robust as I’d hoped. When it’s running, speed is good. However it drops out and is unstable from time to time. Better than not having it I suppose as I wasn’t getting a signal at all in the furthest places of the home.
My router is installed near the front door – which is far from ideal, but that’s where the service provider’s technician put it before he fled.
The WiFi signal in my living room and dining room have always been weak because the ordeal it faces in penetrating the walls between the front door and my devices, have attenuated it. After installing a couple of RE330 range extenders, the situation has improved. I have one in each room; both on the ground floor. If my WiFi analyser can be believed, the signal getting through to my internet radio which streams from Spotify has been boosted by about 30%. This is a pleasing outcome that exceeded my expectations.
This range extender is easy to set up, and the system easy to monitor with the Tether app.
I wasn’t sure this would sort the lack of signal in an upstairs bedroom but it has. Tried plugging in it in upstairs first but it couldn’t receive the signal, however plugging it in in the room downstairs directly under the bedroom, and I can stream television now using the 5Gz channel. Brilliant value!
I have a old WiFi extender (10 year old) and am not very knowledgeable about tech talk. OMG!! From 1-5 Gbps to 80-90 Gbps, wow. Like I said, I’m not a tech guy, but bloody hell this is in another level to extend the WiFi, awesome and thank you.
I really struggled getting WiFi from my living room to my craft room ( probably less than 10m). These has made it so much better. I can stream a video or play a game with no problems now. It was easy to pair and still remembers after being unplugged. I wasn’t disappointed.
I ordered this device to extend my broadband into our separate annexe building. I ran a 30 metre ethernet cable across to the annexe and fitted the TP Link unit. At first it didn’t work but I had to change a setting in the Tether App to classify the unit as an “extender”. Then simply plug the ethernet cable into the unit and I instantly have 30mbps broadband (same speed as the house). Very pleased with the result!!
I currently live on the second floor of a rented accommodation with the wifi router on the ground floor and the internet is constantly dropping or moving at a snails pace.
Connected this range extender in about a minute. Just pressed the WPS on the router and on the extender while close to each other (seemed the simplest method, so no idea how quick logging into the app works) and then moving the extender upstairs. Instant increase in speed (used an online speed tester for my laptop and my PS5s own internet speed tester) and not had any connection drops.
Was 40% off at time of purchase, so definitely good value for money.
Picks up 2.4/5Ghz signal and the use of the ethernet port on the side is perfect for what I need it for. Well worth the price (22) i paid for it.
Solid product. This has improved the consistency of the Wi-Fi in the upstairs of my home where some of the devices would drop off.
Since we have had this the problems have been resolved
After getting the booster, I now get around 90-95% of my actual download speed. The signal is strong and my ping has gone down significantly (now 6-15 ping which is excellent for online multiplayer) so there’s no more noticeable lag or jitteriness when playing online
It was easy to setup using the app and I have no complaints. I’ll update this review if anything bad happens to this
I moved house recently and my broadband speed went from 30meg to 70meg and I wanted to try and make the most of it when using my main PC, so bought this extender. It’s pretty simple to set up, plug it in to a power socket near to your router, press the WPS buttons on this and your router. Once all the lights are on, unplug it and take it to where you want it to permanently be situated. Simples. Once it’s plugged in where you want it, you can either connect your device to the Wi-Fi hotspot it creates, which is essentially an extension to your router’s existing Wi-Fi (the SSID is duplicated on the TP-Link device but a “_EXT” is added), or you can use a physical network cable because the TP-Link device has a single network port. I do the latter.
My PC is diagonally opposite and up a floor from where the router is so the Wi-Fi signal indicator light always shows RED (i.e. a ‘poor’ connection to the router), yet I’m still now getting 60meg when speed testing. That said, it has dropped out a couple of times since I began using it but a power off/on has resolved that pretty quickly.
Overall, a good solution if you want to connect a device which doesn’t have Wi-Fi to your existing Wi-Fi network, or if you want to get a stronger signal from your existing Wi-Fi in another part of your house. At 21GBP, it represents great value for money too.
Eventually connected and all lights on, as soon as I moved to a different location (as suggested) all lights went off and hard to start over. This time I left the extender where I wanted it to remain and moved the hub nearer to connect, then moved hub back to its original position! Bit of trial and error. I’m in an area with a poor signal so it struggles to work at times.
It sync’d the mesh system up and I can see and configure this extender within the main router portal.
Signed has been improved without a doubt. I chose this device for it’s low cost, low power consumption and being the same brand as our router.
There is a bug though, when devices connect to the extender, you are unable to name those devices so you know who is connected to it. It only shows MAC addresses and a device name, of which many will be unknown, or some random ID.
It would have been good to edit these to label them as who/what the device is.
I have to refer back to the main router set of devices to work out who connects via MAC address.
A poor show here from TP link. Firmware is up to date as of June 2023.
It does lose a star for this omission.
Apart from that, good.
I have a vr400 router which is onemesh compatible, once configured properly this device adequately improves WiFi in a 3 storey 5 bedroom house.
The only grumble is a current bug that means by default the extended network doesn’t inherit the main router password and cannot be changed from ?undefined?
It still works using this password but not very secure or convenient.
With the help of technical support we found a solution by changing the main router SSID and password, then reinstalling the re300.
A software fix is being worked on but workaround is simple enough although a bit of a pfaff changing all devices to a new SSID.
I`ve used phone app (android) and manual for setup – cannot say its smth complicated, will take you 10-15 mins MAX.
Would I buy it one more time? – NO. It can either receive 5G and amplify in 2.4G or vice versa. The thing cannot receive 5g and amplify 5G further but what do you want for the price?
Its not blocking 2nd power outlet on the wall socket, has slim nice looking profile and if your just working from home – its fine, you don`t need anything on top of it.
If its gaming/streaming whatever with load on IN/OUT bound – look for Mid-High tier.
Pros: Value for money, easy install, set and forget
Cons: functionality on a budget (no 5G -> 5G transition)
I noticed that these are again being sold for this amount down from 129.99.
I nearly bought another one and run another cable but decided to look into extenders.
I have a 3 bed semi-detached house with solid brick walls and the router was okay with its wi-fi signal in the house but utter rubbish going out of one window, across 20 feet of garden and into my single skin brick shed with with the door open and a large single pane window. The signal would be dropping constantly and at best receiving 24Mbps in the shed ie 3MBps so defo no streaming to the Google nest I have in there.
These RE300 have no RJ45 outlet which is the only difference from the RE315 and the extra 3. I didn’t need the outlet but for 3 extra certainly worth it.
I bought two of these as the shape of my house meant the nearest point to the shed from the house had very patchy wi-fi. Another socket had better reception, so I put the 1st extender there and the 2nd in the nearest socket in the house to the shed.
I now have 64Mbps in the house ie 8MBps, so worth the 43.98
Just to say I am okay with some tech, not good just okay. I understand that the signal to the extender has to be reasonable in the first place to “extend” it so to all those say they have put an extender as close to the dead spot with no result. RTFM
These extenders are good value but the usual simple setting up via the wps button did not work. The TP-Link Tether app did work though.
If you’re going to use two or more extenders once you have found a good place for the 1st one turn it off before connecting up the 2nd and if you have a 3rd etc make sure the previous ones are turned off.
Once you have each extender connected to the routers wi-fi then turn them on one by one waiting for the nearest to connect fully before turning the next on etc.
If you try to connect a 2nd extender to the routers wi-fi whilst the 1st extender is on the app will give an error.
That is the specific issue for me but here’s the good points. I needed a device to run as an access point (AP) and not a Wifi extender because I have a room in the garden connected by a fixed ethernet cable where I previously had a BT disk on a BT router. (In case anyone wonders why I changed, staying with BT would have cost 51 a month compared with 23 with Plusnet as a new user).
Setting this up was a doddle using the app and far less hit and miss with trying to pair with the WPA button. Once that is done, the device has to be put into AP mode. The downside of this is that unlike when it is in Extender mode and using the same SSID and password, it creates a new SSID with its own password. However, this is a very minor issue.
Interestingly you get two separate networks on this device for the two wavelengths. This can be useful getting some smart devices connected that only use 2.4. Having had to reestablish a connection for a heater and a light in the garden room, it was far easier pairing with this device.
Performance is good. Note however when first installed, the new networks from the extender have no security and are open. You need to fix that right away. There was a firmware update that installed first time and took no more than a couple of minutes.
To improve security for this device, you can switch off its SSID which is often a good idea for any home network to avoid unwanted clients.
In my case, I’ve limited the range of this extender and in fact only switch it on when I’m in the room. It takes about a minute to boot.
I then tested the AC1200 against the slightly cheaper but more recent and more elegant RE220. I used the excellent Net Uptime Monitor app on my PC for this, and where I had the extenders located, which was slightly beyond their ideal range, I got pretty perfect results from both, maybe averaging just one dropout of 2 – 12 seconds every 8 hours, and with no discernable difference between the two.
My conclusion was to go for the RE220. It also gains WAF – Wife Approval Factor – on account of its small size and elegance. And by the way, the TP link app is excellent.
Be aware that the Mesh only works if you have a Mesh router, which most are not. However, if you make the SSID (the identifer) the same as that of your router (usually, just by removing where it says _EXT, then it will glide seamlessly between router and extender as you move around the house, and adjust between 2.4 and 5 GHZ according to what gives you optinal signal and speed.
You can also run more than one extender off a router at the same time and just give them all the same names. In what way is that not mesh? Because if I understand rightly, true mesh allows the signal to hop from one to another in a relay, allowing a large building to be extended, whereas with what I’m describing each extender connects only to the main router and so must be close to it – fine for most houses. I give 4 stars for the AC1200 and 5 for the AC 750 / RE220, because I suspect the latter is just an older model and can’t find what it’s benefits are – though for high speed interet I think it’s capable of going faster, if you need that.
In the first instance if you need to extend your network and you are not professionally equipped, stick to the same manufacturer and equipment “series” that your router is for the best chance of problem-free installation. Routers may or may not feature “MESH” and something as fundamental as that is not a given. Mesh-ready equipment may run great Mesh services, but relies on proprietary software that only works consistently with that manufacturer’s equipment. Here, TP-Link uses its own environment. In time, MESH will standardize, but it isn’t a standardised protocol now especially for legacy equipment.
In the second instance, how your ROUTER is configured probably has more influence on the ease of installation than the repeater you just bought. Routers are complex machines and while plug and play might work “out of the box”, you only realize what plug and play really means after you have dealt with a few dozen disasters as an engineer. No matter how much spin marketing people put on plug and play, networking still depends on rigorous disciplines that are inescapable. In this case, stick to 1 above, and keep it simple unless you are prepared to swim in the deep end.
As for this unit – it works just fine. I used the TP-Link “Tether” app, and had it running in a couple of minutes. I changed the device name, moved it somewhere else and it works fine. I run this as a “guest” slave, so that means some things cannot happen that would happen with my secure network. If I was not expert, I can understand why this might seem to cause configuration problems. This is an issue of technology though, not the unit itself.
Does the AC 1200 do what a heavy duty Cisco AP does? Not a chance. At about 5% of the cost of heavy duty equipment it isn’t ever going to compete. Perhaps handovers aren’t invisible, but it services my mobile devices as they move around the house just as I would expect a device of this kind to, given that I am connecting it to a third party router.
Eight years later (Sep 2018) time to upgrade the tech and I bought a TP-Link RE200 V2, the 5GHz between the extender and the router was a little unstable but we could stream, make video calls, no issues. I then changed to Sky broadband and developed a second dead zone in the top floor rear bedroom (the most important room in the house, the daughters and a teenager with bad internet!) so I purchased a second RE200 V2 (Nov 2018, which was when the last firmware update for the V2 was released), All good.
Nearly two years on, the connection on the ground floor extender was getting less stable and the speeds very slow, there had been changes to the house, in particular a recent upgrade on the house intruder alarm and the control panel with the sim card which had been on the top floor front had been relocated to the ground hall between the ground floor extender and the router which I think may have had a slight effect on the network. The top floor was still functioning perfectly. I am also starting to move to smart home tech, so wanted a stable link for these products.
Anyway time to upgrade the tech again, yes finally we get to the product under review, so having been happy with the TP-Link products, I purchased a RE300 (AC1200). I set it up via the app and gave it the same SSID (3 APs, 3 SSIDs) and password as the one being replaced so no devices would need to be updated to connect. We have always connected manually from our phones to each access point so we know which one we are on, to get the best connection depending where we are in the house. Although the RE300 has Mesh tech to eradicate this problem, yes of course the Sky router does not support this tech, so manual selection was the way to keep going.
I set the RE300 from the app and all went well, at least for a short period when my phone lost connection and said it was “unable to obtain an IP address”. I rebooted the extender and it reconnected, a short time later the same thing. I work with security systems so I am use to remoting directly into devices and although I had never tried it with one of these extenders, I got the IP address from my router and gave it a go, success a much more comprehensive menu than the app. I applied DST, so the devise had the correct time and set a static IP address on the extender and assigned it on my router.
Fantastic problem solve, no more “unable to obtain IP address” but now after a period “connected without internet”. As I said earlier I’m starting to install smart home devises and these only use single band 2.4GHz so I tried using the high speed setting Router 5GHz-Extender-2.4GHz-Device but found speeds on a mobile extremely slow. It was at this point I turned to the internet and found this to be a common problem but no fixes available.
Anyway over the last week, I have tried the extender in different locations and different settings, the most stable I found was by disabling the “Connect to 2.4GHz Network” in the Wireless-Connect to Network settings and leaving the dual band active between the extender and devises, but as you will see from the System Log image I’m still getting the DHCP errors which are causing the issue.
The ironic thing is, that having learnt so much about the settings, I revisited the old RE200 and comparing it to the top floor one noticed it had an old version of the firmware, I’ve updated this and it is now stable and giving fantastic speeds!
It’s time to admit defeat and return the RE300 but I cannot give it a bad review as when it is running I get excellent coverage and high speeds, I just have compatibility issues which hopefully a future firmware update from TP-Link will resolve, so when it’s time to update the tech again, I will be looking at these.