Tenda A18 AC1200 Dual Band Universal WiFi Repeater
Tenda A18 AC1200 Dual Band Universal WiFi Repeater, Broadband/Wi-Fi Extender, Wi-Fi Booster/Hotspot, with 1 Ethernet Port, works with all broadband providers, UK Plug
From the brand
Universality
Compatible with any WiFi router, it boosts WiFi 6 signal throughout your home.
| Weight: | 170 g |
| Dimensions: | 8 x 5.8 x 4.8 cm; 170 Grams |
| Brand: | Tenda |
| Model: | A18 |
| Colour: | White |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Manufacture: | Tenda UK Ltd |
| Dimensions: | 8 x 5.8 x 4.8 cm; 170 Grams |
I needed to add WiFi reception to an office that had an existing ethernet connection.
The A18 was easy to configure as a wireless access point rather than the default mode of a Wireless Extender where it connects to the existing wireless network and extends it.
The ethernet port on the bottom of the unit allows you to connect to your network and then just setup a WiFi spot which users can connect to and then all traffic is sent over the wired connection.
The connection has been rock solid and running for months now with great range and speed. I use a lot of Tenda kit and have not been disappointed.
Recommended
Having had a bad experience with another WiFi extender from Amazon, which had to go right back as it didn’t work at all, I was a bit worried this would be the same. However I needn’t have worried. I just followed the instructions and it took only about 5 minutes to set up. We had a dead zone in the house after having changed our broadband provider and installed a new WiFi router, but with this simple addition the whole house now has a great signal.
So easy to install. I have an old Victorian house which inhibits Wi-Fi signal. I have 130mps in the room where my router is but only 17mps in back bedroom which was also very unstable. Simply placed Devi vice half way ish. ( back kitchen) problem solved , now have 70Mps in back bedroom. More than enough for my grandchild to stream away.
Great product especially at this price and so easy to set up.
When I first tried this it didn’t work, but I checked with my broadband provider (Plusnet) who told me that I had a very old router which they would replace free of charge. Once this was done the Tenda extender worked fine.
So I opened this as soon as it came through my door as if your like me and have kids that want to spend there evey hour on there PlayStation then this was a must. Took me all of 30seconds to set up I then connected the PlayStation to the Wi-Fi extension with same password so that was nice. And boom I haven’t seen my kids properly since this day other than at dinner time. So thank you if I could give 10 stars I would
To be fair we plugged it in and it was ready in seconds; we have 2 Smartphones, 4 Amazon voice-controlled devices; 5 Smart bulbs & 2 Amazon tablets running from our Wi-Fi, and with this little repeater they’re all running great, previously it was a case of the router prioritising the newer devices, and slowing down the older devices, but now they’re all running like they’re new, and it’s great!
We highly recommend this little repeater, it’s made us decide to stay with our internet provider, as we had been seriously considering moving, but since plugging in the repeater our Wi-Fi is keeping up with demand.
Using WPS it was a ‘piece of pi.s’ to install.
However, even if you discount the fact it seems to run extremely warm/burning lots of expensive electricity it doesn’t seem to work very (at all?) well. Apart from two nice blue lights on the thing I can’t see it has extended any signal range.
Reading a couple of other reviews some people say it improves after a time so I’ll pop back in a couple weeks to ‘review’ this review but at this moment in time I wouldn’t recommend it.
OK 10 days later and obviously I’m going to be ultra fair and wait another week before finally rubbishing this product but so far it’s just got two pretty blue lights on and hasn’t increased range at all
Well well as you can see from the above I was all set to dismiss this product as dog doo doo but almost unbelievably after being plugged in for the best part of a month this thing seems to have shifted up a few gears and is working VERY well. My Virgin 3 Router barely covered the house but outside the front door where I have my coffee in the Morning there was no signal. Now 30 yards past the door and all around the property there’s a great signal. I would have left 5 stars but it has taken an age (nearly a month) to work properly/it was cheap though
Once installed, this basic wifi extender worked well. It took a while to set up since the instructions were very basic and a little unclear at times. The device can be used in different modes, but not immediately obvious. The LEDs were not entirely helpful since once installed where I wanted to use it, the display suggested that it should be located closer to the router. Ignoring this, once in operation it behave perfectly acceptably. Checking the device ‘on line’ confirmed that the signal was within an acceptable range, but some sort of confirmation on the device might have been better. Apart from these shortcomings, the device works well within its limitations and represented very good value for money!
My router is in an upstairs study and its coverage was sometimes insufficient to cover all the downstairs rooms, particularly when using Zoom. The Tenda wi-fi extender has overcome these problems.
Setting the extender up was far from straightforward for a non-technical person like me, however, and it would have been helpful if the instructions for doing so were more detailed. Once this hurdle has been crossed the device can be left to get on with its job.
My phone kept switching between mobile and wifi as the signal was a bit erratic. My computer wouldn’t connect at all. I plugged this in and everything worked with a strong signal. Able to stream on computer with no hang ups.
I set up the repeater using WPS – very easy – just press on router then on repeater. I then plugged the repeater into an extension lead and walked about to see how far I could get with a blue light. It only went about 6m straight and it turned red when I went round a corner. I was thinking of returning it but decided to try plugging it in in the bedroom where I had difficulty getting a signal. The red light came on but I was still able to connect on my iPad which asked for my router’s password. It uses my providers name and EXT. The repeater is still working well with a red light and I can now download books without having to get up!!
Peformance all depends on your home network environment and where you place it. I’ve tried a few placements and swithed between extender and access point mode.
Firstly in extender mode, it needs to be fairly close to your router. Imagine two bubbles over lapping. If those bubbles only just overlap the points touching would be small. The closer the extended is to the router the bigger the touching point is. Stronger connection = greater speed between router and the extender. I was able to get around 130mbps in this mode @5ghz. Not great, but for 20 you can’t complain.
Access point mode…again max I’ve been able to get is 130mbps however I’ve tried to different methods..poweline and running a cat6a cable directly to it. Powerline is hit or miss and I don’t recommend it as anything on that ring main can impact performance. Ethernet cable is the best for a stable and fast connection but I couldn’t get speeds of more than 130mbps. My VM package is an m200 and I get 240mbps at the hub. So obviously the 20 extender has some performance issues which a firmware might fix it in the future. However for 20 I’m fairly happy tbh.
It was easy to set up, following the instructions. We did have a bit of trouble finding a socket to connect it to that was in the right place to cover the black spot and it took a bit if time to show as available on my mobile. Once it connected it provided a strong signal outside on the patio, where there was previously no signal. I am sending this from there, with a full signal. It has been reliable since the connection was set up.
5***** I loved this wifi extender. Tenda A18 AC1200
Without the Extender On my upstairs bedroom I get 10 to 13 Mbps with this wifi extender I get 7o to 80 Mbps.
Easy to set up the extender
Remote working, Streaming online content, video calls are very good now with this WIFI extender- Worth buying
The Tenda A18 AC1200 is fine – it’s very easy to use and does exactly what we want it to in providing Wi-Fi in an area the router couldn’t reach. However, the TP-Link N300 does exactly the same job for us just as well, and costs 10 less. Unless you need the dual band/Ethernet socket, buy the TP-Link N300.
I concluded it probably wasn’t very good and would send it back, reverted to 4G data and largely forgot about it (but left it plugged in). About a week later I tried it again, and lo and behold my iPhone started streaming Netflix via wi-fi to my shed which is about twenty metres from my house. Amazon Prime streams now as well, so my man cave is coming along nicely.
Once connected to your own network the A18 interface can be accessed by entering the IP address assigned by your router to the A18 extender (you can’t access it via the tr.tenda.cn address, as this is only when you set up the A18 without WPS). You may need to access your router to find the required IP address. The interface is clean and simple, as can be seen in the attached screenshot. I used this interface to remove the extensions added to the SSID names, so that devices could choose to use the extender over the normal router without any manual intervention. This seems to work fine, even though not a true mesh system. I also noticed you can export log files from the device. From these it is clear the A18 uses Linux as the operating system and the RTL8192 chipset. Interestingly, the logs also contain your Wi-Fi password, so I hope you remember to set a password for the device and that the factory left no back doors in the firmware!
If you need to connect a device via ethernet, such as a TV without built in Wi-Fi, then there is one port located on the underside of the unit. You can see from the pictures a reset hole is located next to the ethernet port, to allow a factory reset if you forget the password or need to start the setup from new.
The speed using the extender seems little different to the speed when connecting wirelessly to the original router. The only thing of note is the signal strength of the A18 is lower than that of my router. Given it is designed to extend maybe this lower level, and therefore lower range, is intentional. For me the expanded coverage is sufficient for my needs but maybe don’t expect miracles! (It is small and low cost after all.)
The only down side I can find so far is that the unit runs quite hot. I used a non-contact thermometer and measured up to 45 degrees centigrade at one point on the front (room temperature was 20 C). This may mean the device will have a reduced life, only time will tell.
Overall then a good little high speed Wi-Fi extender for your money, with better speed performance than some of the typical low cost 300N devices available.
We weren’t exactly enjoying the internet experience as the router is a distance away from the living area so we ordered the Tenda A18 AC1200. It arrived today and is about the size of my palm. We plugged it into a wall socket in the living room and the connection has improved so much we now have reason to live.