TP-Link AC750 Universal Dual Band Range Extender
TP-Link AC750 Universal Dual Band Range Extender, Broadband/Wi-Fi Extender, Wi-Fi Booster/Hotspot with Ethernet Port, Plug and Play, Smart Signal Indicator, UK Plug (RE220) ,White
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: | 200 g |
| Dimensions: | 11 x 6.6 x 6.6 cm; 200 Grams |
| Brand: | TP-Link |
| Model: | RE220 |
| Colour: | White |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Manufacture: | TP-Link |
| Dimensions: | 11 x 6.6 x 6.6 cm; 200 Grams |
questio
would it be possible to return this item, it was bought for a holiday home but it didnt work and we have just returned and we are just 2 days outside the return option.. the item is in its original box and packing.
thanks coli
Booste
Works well for my mother she is happy with this product boots Internet into her bedroom she was loosing wifi signal in the bedroom before I got this now it’s all good
My 14 year old gamer fanatic son was fiercely angry over the ‘trash’ wifi in his room, so he decided to purchase this device with some of his pocket money.
It was very simple to set up, and when testing it out on his PS5 he commented, ‘Mum! This is the best 20 quid I’ve ever spent!’.
Now I may not be able to get my son to leave his room much due to this, but if you’re thinking of purchasing this and your wifi is also ‘trash’, I can safely say it is gamer teen approved.
Actually does the job
I PURCHASED THIS tp extender because i have indoor cameras at the front of my home?
BUT because there are 5 doors in the way of the WiFi signal. The service was intermittent and kept losing the signal. I looked at reviews for a few extenders
And this one seemed reasonable price wise, I’ve had different makes before and wasn’t impressed at all? Anyway after trying to install the tp extender using the APP to no avail
I Googled how to set up the extender? I tell you what forget about using the tp extender app ! Just plug it in somewhere near to the ROUTER wait until the little green light stops flashing then press the W,P. S. button on the router wait a few seconds then press the W.P.S button on the extender then hey presto its connected
Does what it says
This range extender was easy to set up and solved all my problems with the poor WiFi signal from my SKY router. SKY wanted 10 a month from me to sort out these problems and supply me with extenders. Poor show from them!
It works!
I’ve been really pleasantly surprised as I wasn’t confident this would work. We had superfast broadband installed but as we live in a Victorian terrace with very solid walls it wouldn’t work across the house even tho it’s only a three bedroom property (not huge). I thought I’d just give one of these extenders a try and chose a fairly low budget one, and am so pleased as it works perfectly! Easy to set up and no problems at all in the couple of months we’ve had it.
Top job!
Unsure of who or why this product is being rated as 1 star?!
They must be plugging it in the wall, switching it on, and expecting their WiFi signal to improve just like that!
You need to do the above PLUS pair it with your router using the WPS button on both products.
When everything is green, you’re up and running with an amazing connection in the room where you have this new device plugged in. Not only am I receiving full/stable wifi connection – I’m getting the same speed as the main router with no lag at all!
For 20, this is an amazingly cheap fix for the dead half of my house.
Great produc
We bought two of these to make our WiFi connection stronger upstairs, they were easy to set up and we have noticed an our WiFi speed is a lot better now having used these. They also look quite nice plugged in as apposed to other connectors we saw which looked like eyesores.
Great WiFi extende
We now have great WiFi all over the house. It’s seamless as it auto connects when you lose your main WiFi.
However, I couldn’t complete the setup using the app. Wish I hadn’t bothered as pressing the WPS method set it up on seconds!
We’ve placed it near our Powerline adaptor and because it has a wired Ethernet OUTPUT we can use this if the Powerline should fail.
Great product and great value.
Great price
I bought this to improve the WiFi connection in my new extension. It connected to the router first time and is very to set up. TP link appears to be the easiest and most reliable product I have purchased when it comes to routers and tech. Highly recommend
It works!
I always have doubts with these sort of things – but it works! The setup is a bit of a faff (hence not 5 stars) between app downloads, passwords, log-ins and router tethering, but if you follow the in app instructions you get there in the end. Now I have full Wi-Fi coverage in what was a dead zone in the corner of my house. Tempted to get another one now for the other corner!
Great product great price
We have excellent broadband service and use it for TV streaming without any problems. However there were areas of the house upstairs where WiFi didn’t work but with the installation of this extender the problem is now completely resolved. Good clear instructions and an easy to use App to set the whole thing up. Does exactly what it says as long as you set it up properly. Very happy with our purchase.
How easy to use and 100% brilliant!!!!
I am gob smacked my router has brilliant signal trouble is our room and smart tv is 50 ft away from it and now this little smart looking!! extender has pride of place next to tv and I can’t beleave how good it is with out it I had very patchy wifi now its like I’m stood next to the router 50ft away in bedroom and the app who ever made the app wants a big pat on the back it’s a doddle to use for 25 it’s the dogs do das!! I’m blow away works for us!!
Bought this to avoid the extra charge from Vodafone to reach summer house and decking. It is plug and play bar pushing a few buttons on the app you need to install on mobile. Done in minutes. Strong signal now. I was a little nervous but needn’t have been. Works well if you follow set up instructions.
Exceeds expectations
Having always struggled with signal in our house (new build but fibre wasn’t installed in area), I’ve had to rely on mobile broadband. Previous suppliers signal was awful so recently changed provider and got a 5G router, the speed of the wifi downstairs is now on par with fibre but was struggling to get any signal upstairs. Having tried a 2.4ghz extender and struggling to get 10mbps I looked around and came across this extender. I was unsure whether it was the 5ghz I needed so I took the plunge but didn’t expect success as I was so used to poor speeds in the house. However, setup was extremely easy using the TP Link tether app and I now get speeds between 80-120mbps upstairs when connected to the 5ghz connection. Blown away that this has finally fixed my long ongoing issue of wifi speeds in the house. Highly recommend.
Pretty dece
Been using this thing for over a month I think and it’s perfect. The connection through ethernet rarely drops and was super easy to set up. But as for wireless, it is not very strong in that area. It could just be my wifi but my phone constantly drops out.
It works
I bought this for my son who was having trouble with poor wireless signal upstairs to his PS5. From what he’s said it seems to have done its job and was very easy to set up. The product seems well made and comes at a good price. It’ll definitely improve your wireless connection but I’m unsure if it boosts overall speed.
Good wifi extende
I simply wanted a device to extend the wifi signal from the router at the rear of my house to the front in order to update the software on my Ford Focus parked nearby. This does exactly what was required at very reasonable cost and with little difficulty in installation.
It works!
Not computer literate at all, plugged it in near the hub, used an app on my phone which said it wasn’t connecting. Quite frustrating then noticed all the lights were green on the extender, took it to the opposite side of the house downstairs and the phone picked up the WiFi perfectly, getting WiFi everywhere! Will update in a few weeks but so far so good
Nice self contained package
+ fast speed
+ compact size
– the shape covers usb ports above the socket rendering them inaccessible
– difficult to connect it to wired network. The setup process assumes extender mode and insists on connecting to existing wifi network.
TP-Link AC750 Universal Dual Band Range Extende
I am very pleased with my new TP-Link AC750 Universal Dual Band Range Extender as I was getting a weak Wi Fi signal in my bedroom on my TV, the cost of the extender was very reasonable & it arrived faster than I expected, now I have no problem with losing my Wi Fi connection while watching catch-up at night.
Seems to be working
We bought this extender in February after two previous ones, failed to connect, no matter how many times we tried. It’s now September and we finally took this out of the drawer, where we had stuffed it and forgot all about it. We live in a fairly small bungalow with the router in the lounge, with smart TVs in both bedrooms that are separated by the bathroom from the lounge. Both TVs and mobile phones would keep disconnecting from our internet, whilst in the bedrooms. This item has sorted things out. We have limited knowledge of connecting things up like this, but we managed it. We downloaded the app, but with hindsight I’m not sure we needed to. We pressed the WPS button on the router, then the button on the connector and we were away. We retuned the TVs and phones to the new network with the extender and now everything in working ok. Would recommend.
Very good
Brought this to help with Wi-Fi around the home. Really easy to set up via the app and the app has a lot of options. It even helps with dead areas so you can optimise your connection. For the price it’s a no brainer. Considering getting another one for upstairs. I personally would recommend. Wi-Fi on ring doorbell has improved as well. That’s what I mainly brought it for. Cheaper than the official ring extender. Like I said I have no issues with it. A well known company and excellent product.
Appears well made
Initial review, is it’s good.
Had it turned on for hours and so far has given a good wifi signal both for 2.4 and 5 GHz. It gets slightly warm but hardly noticeable and certainly nothing to worry about.
The setup is a little painful. The issue I had was after initially setting the device up very quickly and easily with the iOS app, I noticed it had a software update available. After applying the software update the app wouldn’t reconnect with the device to manage it. After turning the device off and on again several times it re-established a connection..
The WiFi Range Extender is an absolute game-changer! From the moment I started using it, my online experience has been nothing short of flawless. This device has completely eliminated all the frustrating connectivity issues I used to face.
First and foremost, setup was a breeze. The clear and concise instructions made it easy to get the WiFi Range Extender up and running in no time. It seamlessly integrated with my existing network, requiring minimal effort on my part.
The speed and performance improvements are nothing short of remarkable. My internet connection has never been faster or more reliable. Whether I’m streaming 4K content, gaming online, or attending video conferences, the WiFi Range Extender ensures a consistently smooth and lag-free experience. I can finally say goodbye to buffering and dropped connections.
What’s truly impressive is the WiFi Range Extender’s ability to extend coverage throughout my home. Dead zones and weak signal areas are now a thing of the past. Every corner of my house now enjoys a strong and stable Wi-Fi connection.
Additionally, I’ve noticed that multiple devices can now connect simultaneously without any noticeable slowdown. It’s a true lifesaver for a household with numerous smart devices, smartphones, tablets, and laptops.
Furthermore, the WiFi Range Extender’s sleek design blends seamlessly with my home decor, and its compact size allows for discreet placement anywhere in the house.
In conclusion, the WiFi Range Extender has transformed my internet experience, providing lightning-fast speeds, reliable connectivity, and comprehensive coverage without any downsides. If you want to supercharge your online life, this device is an absolute must-have. It’s a game-changer, and I couldn’t be happier with the results!
My son was having issues with connection to his Xbox in his bedroom so I spent quite a long time looking at Wi-Fi extenders to help with this. I’m glad I chose this as the solution as it was very simple to install and the problems have been resolved for my son and he no longer has lag or ping issues. As with other reviews the WPS connection button on my Virgin hub didn’t work for connection so I used the app installation solution which was very simple and worked first time. I highly recommend this product. Very happy son equals very happy dad.
Great Produc
So easy to set up and took 5 minutes at most, was very pleased with the simple to follow instructions using the Tether app. Great range extension covers all of my back yard and even into the shed. Highly recommended.
It works!!!
Having tried similar products and find that they were useless, thought I’d brave this one.
Glad to say that this one works perfectly! Simple, clear instructions written in proper English that lead you through the setup process. Nothing too complicated. Has been reliably working for over a week and does the job brilliantly
It was incredibly easy to set up the dual-band wi-fi extender to connect my new wi-fi video doorbell, which had a weak signal. As soon as I set up the extender, I was able to connect my doorbell to my new -EXT access point. Currently, the doorbell is working well and the signal strength is now showing in green. My opinion is that the device is reasonably priced, does its job well, and has a pleasing aesthetic appearance.
Bought this product to assist with Wi-Fi in the house. On reading the instructions I found the best place for the extender in my property and connected to the network. It was really simple and not had to reconnect since installing.
I have found the the signal range is not as I expected or advertised. There are still parts of the house without signal but we have all learnt where this is now. Also if all device were connected to the extender the speed drop dramatically where it’s almost like your not connected.
Brought this has the wifi connection upstairs is very poor, and causes a lot of issues if I am working from home.
This is so simple to configure took me less than 20 minutes, once done plugged it into a socket in the passage and hey presto the wife was excellent did a speed test and was getting 74mb when before I got this was not even getting 5mb.
Highly recommended
Seemingly a good product. It did manage to extend my home wifi but signal in the extended zone isn’t too great. But, our kitchen was a dead zone earlier and now it isn’t. So it solves the purpose. For some reason though, it is not extending the 5 GHz wifi. Only the 2.4 GHz one. Don’t know if it has got something to do with this product or with my existing router. So, benefit of doubt!!
For my purposes, this has been an excellent purchase. For months I’ve been having issues with respect to my Ring Video Doorbell singal strength as my WiFi signal only just reaches the downstairs hallway and isn’t strong enough to maintain a reliable connection outside.
In that respect the AC750 notably improved my Ring doorbell’s connectivity. The signal became more stable, resulting in clearer and smoother video feeds and for this specific purpose, the router proved effective and brought tangible value to my security setup.
It was also easy and intuitive to set up and configure through the TP Tether app. I was up and running in a few moments and I think most anyone could set this up if they’re comfortable enough using a smart phone.
However, it’s important to note its limitations. The router’s range is somewhat restricted, struggling to provide a strong signal in larger areas of my home. This might affect its ability to extend coverage significantly beyond a certain point and with that in mind I feel it would be suited to a smaller home. Additionally, while it’s a budget-friendly option, its speed may not match higher-priced alternatives. So users should set their expectations accordingly, especially if they have demanding online activities.
The inclusion of an ethernet port though at this price point is a great addition and this would make a great option for adding a pseudo wired connection to a bedroom or office for a PC or device with no or limited wireless capability.
The biggest problem I have with the product and this extends to all TPs products from light bulbs to routers is the requirement of a TP account for all their products. This isn’t an issue for me personally but it does raise some concerns with respect to privacy and the longevity of the product should TP online services be shut down in the future and is worth considering before you make a purchase.
I honestly dont know how so many people struggled to set this device up
1 – plug it in (and switch it on)
2 – wait 10 seconds
3 – in your phone settings connect to the extender’s wifi (then ignore any advice to switch to a different wifi)
4 – open a browser and type 192.168.0.254 in the address bar
5 – follow the wizard which is : enter a password
6 – select the main wifi point you want to use and enter its password
7 – there is no 7. Thats it. so easy. takes 2 minutes
There are app options and other options to install in the manual, but just plug it in, connect to it, fill in a few details in the webpage and its done.
It does an ok job. just move it to a socket physically just in range of the original wifi and it’ll give you a nice boost.
There are stronger signal repeaters out there – ones with external aerials work better than this, but it’s cheap and does the job
Product Name: TP-Link AC750 Universal Dual Band Range Extender
Pros:
Easy to set up
Reliable connection
Dual band support
Affordable price
Cons:
No Ethernet port
Not as powerful as some other extenders
Overall:
The TP-Link AC750 Universal Dual Band Range Extender is a great option for anyone looking to extend their WiFi coverage. It’s easy to set up, reliable, and affordable. The dual band support is a nice touch, and it’s even better if you have devices that support the 5GHz band. The only downside is that it doesn’t have an Ethernet port, so you can’t use it to connect wired devices.
Personal Experience:
I’ve been using the TP-Link AC750 Universal Dual Band Range Extender for about a year now, and I’ve been very happy with it. I was having trouble with my old extender losing connection, but the TP-Link extender has been rock solid. I’ve also been able to get better speeds with the TP-Link extender, especially on the 5GHz band.
Overall, I would highly recommend the TP-Link AC750 Universal Dual Band Range Extender to anyone looking to extend their WiFi coverage. It’s a great value for the price, and it’s easy to set up and use.
Here are some additional details about the extender:
It supports both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, so you can get the best possible speeds for your devices.
It has three internal antennas, which help to improve the signal strength and range.
It can be used to create a wireless bridge, so you can connect wired devices to your network.
It’s compatible with most WiFi routers.
I have mine connected to a BT Homehub 6 and it works flawlessly.
Overall very happy with purchase and would highly recommend . 5 stars
I have two of these, cascaded.
The house in which I live has 4 floors, and has underfloor heating. The underfloor heating includes aluminium heat spreaders which make it almost impossible to get a WiFi signal from one floor to the next. The access point is in the office on the 1st floor, and I want WiFi in the second floor bedrooms. Running a cable would be ugly as there is no convenient cable path.
The first RE-450 is on the first floor landing, outside the office and receives from the AP in the office.
The second RE-450 is on the second floor landing, outside the bedrooms and receives from the first RE-450.
This works, and works very well.
Now, I wanted the connection from the AP to the extenders to be 5G only, but the RE-450 (as with other extenders in the same range) makes this task difficult. The extender will connect to the AP on 5GHz, and relay to both 5GHz and 2.4GHz but when it is used in this mode is seems to always select channel 2 (not what I want) and to offer 40MHz channel width (also not what I want).
To get the RE-450 to do what I wanted, I used a little trick. First I set up my phone’s AP to be on channel 1 which is the channel I wanted the first RE-450 to use. I then set up the RE-450 to extend the 5GHz signal from the AP and the 2.4GHz signal from my phone. Once that was settled down (about 2 minutes) I turned off my phone’s AP. This leaves the RE-450 using channel 1 on 2.4GHz to extend the connection from the AP.
Similarly, on the second floor, I set my phone’s AP to be on channel 6 which is the channel I wanted the second RE-450 to use, also giving it a different SSID (name) so the first floor RE-450 wouldn’t connect to it. I then set up the second RE-450 to extend the 5GHz signal from the first RE-450 and the 2.4GHz signal from my phone. Once that was settled down (about another 2 minutes) I turned off my phone’s AP. This leaves the second RE-450 using channel 6 on 2.4GHz to extend the connection from the first RE-450.
So now channel 52 is used by the AP and both RE-450s on 5GHz. The AP uses channel 11 on 2.4GHz, the first RE-450 uses channel 1 on 2.4GHz and the second RE-450 uses channel 6 on 2.4GHz. Speed is good even for clients connected to the second extender as the AP to Extender to Extender is always on the 5GHz band.
Result. I’m happy with performance.
Reliability seems very good. I have not had to reset or power cycle either of the extenders for several months.
Configuration is irritating. There is no good reason why it should be impossible to simply configure the extender to connect to the AP on 5GHz and relay to both 5GHz and a user configured channel (and channel width) on 2.4GHz.
Status information is lacking. It is possible to get only a simple list of clients connected giving the device name (or UNKNOWN) along with a MAC address and which band (5G/2.4G) No indication of uplink/downlink speed is available. Likewise, there is only a very basic information for the connection to the AP saying the signal level is “Strong” but no indication of actual speed. This lack makes fine tuning of antenna angle or extender position a very hit and miss affair.
The OpenWrt/LEDE project offers alternative formware for some (but not all!) hardware revisions of the RE-450. Sadly, Amazon doesn’t tell us which version they supply so this a pot luck situation. The one I bought from Amazon turned out to be version 3 for which there is no OpenWRT/LEDE version. The other one (which I picked up from eBay) is version 2 for which there is alternative firmware. One day I’ll try it and see if it offers a better configuration experience.
Summary: For simple cases it just works. If you want to tinker it is not the ideal device.
I now have 2 of these extenders but the review section only allows me to review one even though I have 2 different model numbers.
So – how did I come to need an extender?
After changing from a broadband router to a SIM card router due to poor broadband connections (the to distance from the exchange to our house is far so service is poor and speeds were terrible) we found improved speeds to the majority of our house – However – the items in certain areas seemed to be experiencing issues such as steaming quality & constant disconnects as what the new router made up for in speed it seems to be lack in signal range/strength. Fine if your items are sitting on top of it, not so good if there are walls involved.
Our CCTV requires an Ethernet connection to be viewable on our phones, so now I was in a dilemma as the new router was set up in a different location to the old one so I couldn’t view the CCTV remotely without running 100 foot of Ethernet cable around the house – not happening.
TP-Link TL-WA850RE N300 Universal Range Extender
I purchased the N300 WiFi extender mainly to sort the CCTV issue (being as it has an Ethernet port on it) but also noticed it’s helped improve the TV in the same room which started experiencing streaming quality issues and dropping out constantly when trying to watch Netflix or Amazon since the change in the router. There’s been a noticeable improvement in our viewing experience which is now playing 4K without issue, buffering, lag or quality deterioration.
It is simple to set up – plug it in and the light displays red, press the WPS button on the router and then also on the booster and it connects.
My partner did this himself and he is a self-proclaimed technophobe. He was proud he didn’t need me to sort it for him & he set it up whilst I was away. Using an extension lead he set it up in the room where the router is and then once connected he moved it to the neighbouring room where the CCTV & other TV live.
When plugged in he said the lights show the signal strength so you can gauge if it’s going to work. He found it was a 3 in his chosen spot and it’s working perfectly.
I’m under the impression that you can set it up without the WPS button but being as we have one then I didn’t have to worry about working that out. It was pretty much plug and play in setup respects.
I have bought another one for down the garden to keep all our smart plugs in the workshops connected as the signal down there is intermittent (review below)
The light on it is quite bright so depending on its location you might consider a bit of tape over the light but be careful not to press anything as the centre is a button.
Very happy – would recommend to anyone needing to boost the signal around their router.
Just FYI – in response to some of the questions I’ve seen asked about boosters and extenders – you need a router with a live connection/service/subscription. This in itself is not a router so without the main router, this will not work. Think of it as an extension lead.
It’s signal based and doesn’t use the power lines so you don’t need to plug it into the same ring main as the router. As long as it’s paired correctly, then move it where you want it and plug it into any power socket or extension lead you want. Assuming the signal strength light on it shows it’s getting a signal from your router then it’ll work.
UPDATE – I have just found there is an app which I can use & this has the option to switch the super bright LED off during a set time. So now at 9 pm the lights go off & at 9 am they come back on. Great for bedtime as this extender is located in the bedroom. No more luminous blue walls keeping me awake at night.
TP-LINK RE220 AC750 Universal Dual Band Range Extender
This was purchased to cover an additional wifi dead zone but since my laptop etc runs on the 5G channel (not 2.4) I went for the Dual Band version this time.
Really simple to set up. I had the Tether App already installed from my router & other extender, so simply plugged the extender in near to the router (So it picked up a good signal), opened the app & followed the instructions to add a new one. It scanned, found it & added it.
I moved it around until I found the prime spot I wanted to position it, so it had a strong signal from the router but also provided a good signal to the office. It has lights on it that are red for poor signal & green for good. The first place I positioned it gave a green for 5G but red for 2.4, so I moved it a bit closer to the router & now it’s all green. Nice & easy.
Once that was done, I set about adding all my extra devices to it, such. as my Echo Dot. I scanned for the extender and added it as if it was any other wifi device.
It uses the exact same login info, so no need to try & remember additional codes etc.
Now I can work from my office as easy as if I’m sitting in the living room where the router is located, as the signal is now boosted to the garden, office & workshops whereas before things used to keep dropping off due to poor wifi signal.
The whole set up took less than 5 minutes – very simple & no need to be an IT expert.
5 Stars – would recommend these extenders.
I have to admit I struggled with this wifi extender, and maybe Ive misunderstood the function, because Im not an IT expert. In our rear TV room the wifi strength from our home Orange Router was fair to sometimes good. The purpose I bought this for was to improve this wifi signal, and improve my TV streaming quality. So, the setup is not as straightforward as it seems, to cut a long story short, I used the internet to connect, and I set up a separate wifi account, with its own name, but using the same pass word as my home router. There are good Utube guides on how to do this, because I found the included instructions not accurate for the internet set up. So, everything was good, I positioned the extender between my own home router and the rear TV room, I had three wifi bars showing, and the app said it was in an optimal position. And then some good news, the wifi signal went from fair/good to very good in the rear room, I was happy. But, when I streamed my TV, it was buffering as much as before, and going off all together intermittently?? This didnt happen when connected to the home router. So, I decided to do a Speed Test, and found my router WiFi was pumping out 16Mb/s on wifi to the rear room, and the extender was down to 12Mb/s,?? so I tried changing the servers, and also trying through my VPN link, still the same, 16 from home router, 12 from extender. So, this took me to the end of my expertise, and I would like to know why the extender cant at least boost the signal so it matches the router, and also why does the extender improve my wifi signal strength, but not the streaming speed? Ive sent it back, excellent service from Amazon as usual, but I still dont understand why it didnt improve my TV Streaming? So, in my case, didnt work. Ive still given three stars because it does boost the wifi signal, but didn’t appear to improve my tv streaming, good response from vendor, appreciated. Further update, after receiving very detailed vendor support, ive changed my router wifi channels to new settings, and the extender streaming speed has increased from 12Mb/s to 15Mb/s, and is now matching my Orange Router in the marginal wifi zone in our rear bedroom, Happy. The lesson ive learnt is that, for the price, its an amazing product, but you have to perceiver with the set up and testing. And certainly contact the vendor with any issues.
This is now working very well. There are numerous reports of dropped connections, and as this is only day 2, I’m hoping that does not happen, as I’m very happy with it.
However, it was not particularly straightforward to set up. I work in IT, and have good experience in Networking, so hopefully can write this from a position of some knowledge.I do feel that this is mostly a very good product, but where is the bug testing, and quality control? This is how it was for me, yesterday:
Firstly, even though I have the DGND4000 Netgear Premium Router (a current model at the time of writing), the TP-Link Extender did not want to co-operate with the WPS syncing procedure. After several goes of a complete failure to pair the two devices, I gave up and tried the Ethernet option, with cable and web browser.
This looked like it was too, heading for failure, and I started to think of product returns, and my disappointment started to climb! The reason? : The server address for the unit, instead of giving me the setup password login page, gave me what appeared to be a series of “extra” links to what were essentially adverts. There were even links to other items available on Amazon, and one of the links prompted WOT (Web Of Trust) to flag up the clicked item as of dubious nature!
But where was the green and white setup screens I had seen in the instructions? Where was the user login? None of that came up in Firefox, so I tried Opera and Internet Explorer. Exactly the same. A complete inability to get to the setup screen.
I went to a completely different PC, and at last, managed to get to the Login to set the thing up. I’ve no idea why the units setup page didn’t want to know on the other PC, which is very well set up and maintained.
Setup was then straighforward, and soon the unit was ready to plug into a wall somewhere, to try and test its’ signal. Good extension of signal was seen, with at least 4 lights lit up, and in a rather dead spot area of only about 78 to 82 dBm, this has climbed rather nicely to the low fifties, around 52dBm I would say. Generally, the signal was improved everywhere, and even outside on the patio, a signal could be seen that was usable, though pretty thick UV screen double glazing.
I wanted to get back to the setup screen, mainly to familiarise myself with what it offered, and see if anything might need a tweak. Basically to see what was there. But none of the PCs I tried (4 PCs, wireless and wired) would let me back into the setup screen. Unlike before, where I got these strange advert links (with TP logo at the top by the way), well….this time, I got even less. An almost unclickable screen that looked nothing like the setup pages.
So I tried my Kindle Fire HD. Amazingly, this gave me the setup screen through the Dolphin browser, and I was able to see what the various settings and options were. I thought “at least if I need to change anything, I’ll use the tiny screen of the Kindle”
Next, I noticed that all “wired” connected PCs had lost their connections to the Net. Meanwhile, Windows got a bit busy trying to determine new networks, and changed names (inappropriately) and even the Icon of the Network, as seen on the Windows Network and Sharing Centre.
After a re-boot of those wired PCs that didn’t want to know, to my horror, they re-booted with STILL no connection. Then I began to worry a bit, and started to think of taking the TP extender out altogether and being done with it all.
So then I reset the router too, and at last, the wired and wireless PCs were now seeing a connection, and the wireless PCs were getting good signals. Walking around with a wifi analyser on the Kindle, I was able to see just what I was getting all around the house, and quite a few speed tests revealed at least what I was getting before, so no great loss there, even though these units can halve your bandwidth in the process of extending it.
For some odd reason, on one PC, I can now use Opera to see the setup pages, where before I got the odd screen that would not let me set anything up. Yet Firefox and IE still don’t let me see that page. So at least if I want to change anything, I no longer have to use the tiny screen of the Kindle to do it, and I need to remember that Opera will now let me.
So while it now appears to be working very well, and settled in, it was by no means straightforward. Flaky things happened, which suggest to me a product that just has not been tested enough. I appreciate that some people are up and running in just a few minutes. That’s networking for you! Odd things can happen, and there are a lot of variables that can come and bite you on the backside.
But when you have a very well set up network like mine, with all recent gear, things like this should not really occur to this extent, and WPS should just work, shouldn’t it? Modern router, press….done? All the resetting, failed wired connections? All that suggests to me that some serious “real world” testing needs to take place on the part of TP Link.
Also, one other slightly strange thing. On wireless PCs, if I go to the “Currently connected to” networks using the system tray icon (the one that shows how many bars signal strength you are getting” and click on there to disconnect and then reconnect, it fails to! You just get the yellow triangle with an exclamation mark inside it. This never used to happen….you could connect to one network or another at will, wait a few seconds, and then you’re up. Since the TP Extender went in, this seems no longer possible : a disconnect followed by a reconnect will always then result in failure to see the network, and the only thing you can do then is to re-boot the entire PC. This is a pain, and effectively makes this feature in Windows useless.
So now, it’s great. Very happy with it. I just hope it stays that way and does not drop connections like many have suggested. I’ll soon forget all this tedium, and if it keeps working, then that’s all I want.
I should really give this two or even three stars, for all the hassle, but it’s now working well enough that four stars seems just about right. I hope this helps anyone.
Buy it, yes – but keep your fingers crossed for an easy ride!
** UPDATE ** – 21st February 2014
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Firmware update: so normally, I tend to like to leave a firmware at its initial factory setting, for at least a day or so, to see how it goes. That way, you’ve sort of got an idea of how it was out of the box, before you update anything. After all, Firmware updates can be a mixed blessing, and sometimes make things worse.
Before the Firmware update, I had no problems with establishing a wifi connection after a re-boot of Windows 7, but AFTER the update, I seemed to have inherited some strange effects, which I can only put down to the update, since they didn’t happen before.
Upon rebooting, although I got full bars for signal on wifi, no browser pages would load. It was as though the TP Extender gave Windows 7 to understand it had a connection, but there wasn’t one. I noticed when I went into the Network and Sharing Centre, that the “establishing connection” icon was going off and on and off. Something I’ve never seen before.
At this same time, the Kindle Fire had NO problems seeing wifi, so it was as though just Windows had been affected by the Firmware update. Very odd!
I decided to roll back the Firmware, and went to the TP Link site from a wired connection (which was fine) and downloaded the version I already had noted was the original the unit had shipped with. This easily rolled back, though I have to say that when the browser finished transferring the data to the Extender, it seemed to get stuck, and never actually gave the finishing “Success!” message that it had done on the time before. This left an uncertainty as to whether the Extender was “incomplete” or not, but no problems, it had rolled back fine.
Then a wifi reboot, and now the Firmware was the older one, the “lost connection” on reboot problem seemed to immediately go away again. I really haven’t yet bothered to “upgrade” again, to see if that behaviour creeps back in. Just these things can take so much time!
Interestingly, there is even a note on the TP Firmware upgrade page, that they knew of this issue, and they refer to it, AND they suggest they’ve fixed it in later releases. AMAZINGLY, at least in my case, quite the opposite is true.
Where is the testing?
I never leave long reviews, but just trying here to give as much information as I can about my experiences with this, in the hope it either warns or helps other people.
And having rolled back, all is now fine, and to be honest, I’m just going to leave it and hope it stays put and gives no other issues. At least be sure that you can successfully roll back a Firmware revision, if you have a problem.
Good luck!
** UPDATE ** – 22nd February 2014
Sadly, this has now had to be returned. It remained flaky, at best, and also (as is common of Extenders of this type) it truly slowed throughput to a crawl. In my case, as I live in an area far from the exchange, and at best, get a very lowly 1.6Megs, I was finding that a typical 5 meg download started to take as long as 5 to minutes.
This was almost like going back to 1992, and 14.4 dial-up modems!
I can’t recommend this, and would avoid staying clear, or perhaps just about giving it a shot if you have a really good broadband speed to begin with.
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