Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsEasy-peasy, lemon squeezy
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 May 2022
I recently encountered a situation whereby my router was being switched off by a terror-toddler which necessitated router relocation, and due to the placement of the Virgin Media cable this could only be to a far corner of our home.
During winter this was fine as we weren't spending much time in the garden at the other end of the house, but now warmer weather has arrived things have changed and I'm finding that the WiFi is dropping out when sitting outside.
This device was purchased for just over twenty Great British Pounds and is a bargain when compared to a new AX router or mesh system.
I'm a gadget-lover and have never had trouble with such things, that has to be noted.
From removing the product from its box, it was plugged in and the status light was flashing, a five second journey to the router and a push of the WPS button, then back again to push the same button on the device and one by one the lights for 2.4 and 5ghz also lit up and remained solid.
No more than 30 seconds and two (my RT AC 3200 has one 2.4 and two 5ghz radios) extended WiFi connections appeared in the list of available networks on my phone suffixed with _EXT and simply required entry of the existing WPA2 password. It automatically extended the 2.4ghz and the first 5ghz radios.
Signal is now strong in the garden, it has a Blink Mini camera, Netatmo, Blink Studio, Chromecast Ultra connected to it and its all flawless. It uses about two watts according to my IHD.
As for any bad reviews, I would say as with any networking equipment, know what your requirements are and research because it's not one size fits all.
If your house is mahoosive you're going to need more than one or a dedicated multi point mesh system. If your house has walls like Fort Knox, the 5ghz band from this won't pass through them any easier than the 5ghz band from your router. If you want OneMesh, you also require a OneMesh router. If you run a hotel, a small consumer device isn't what you require for your guest WiFi system.
For what I need, it's perfect, it's cheap, it took 30 seconds to get up and running without any apps or setup other than plugging it in and pushing two WPS buttons. I'm on Virgin 200mb, as per the photo I get almost full speed sitting a few metres away from the device.
If you have an AC band router, averaged size house and want to extend your network slightly, this is for you. If you live in Buckingham Palace and want to extend your network to the drawing room 400 metres away, probably not.