TP-LinkN300 WiFi Extender(TL-WA855RE)-Covers Up to 800 Sq.ft, WiFi Range Extender Supports up to 300Mbps Speed, Wireless Signal Booster and Access Point for Home, Single Band 2.4Ghz Only, Black

I've had the TP-Link WiFi Extender N300 for approximately five years now, and it has proven to be an absolutely indispensable piece of my home network setup. This device consistently delivers on its promise, working flawlessly to extend my wireless network to even the most distant corners of my property, particularly for my security cameras. For its unwavering reliability and performance over such a long period, it easily earns a solid 5/5 rating.Before acquiring this extender, I struggled with dead zones and unreliable connections for my outdoor security cameras, which are crucial for monitoring my property. Standard WiFi simply couldn't reach them with a strong enough signal to ensure consistent live feeds and reliable motion detection. The extender stepped in and solved this problem entirely.Setup was incredibly straightforward, if I recall correctly. I believe it was a simple matter of plugging it in, pressing a WPS button on both the router and the extender, and within minutes, my network was seamlessly extended. Since then, it has required virtually no intervention. It just sits there, quietly doing its job, day in and day out, through all sorts of weather and power fluctuations.The extended coverage it provides is robust and consistent. My security cameras, which are located at a considerable distance from my main router, now maintain a strong and stable connection, allowing for clear video streams and prompt alerts. I've never experienced any dropouts or significant lag that could be attributed to the extender itself.

It's important to understand how this device is intended to work so that your expectations are properly set. An inexpensive extender of this type receives the signal from your main wifi router, and rebroadcasts the wifi data on a different signal, with its own SSID (the name for the signal you see on your cell phone when you search for a wifi signal in Settings>Wifi). This device creates that new SSID by appending _EXT to the name of your main wifi SSID. You'll often see both SSIDs; you should pick the one that will do the best for you depending on where you are in your house. Your phone might change between the two signals on its own, but you'll soon learn which signal covers best in each location in your house.Key to the operation of devices like this is that it be placed in a location that 1) allows it to receive a decent signal from the main router, and 2) covers the area of your house that is not covered well by the main router. If instead you locate the extender directly in the area with poor coverage, it will receive a poor signal from the main router just like your phone does. It won't be able to efficiently transfer data from the main router in that location. Think instead of placing the extender half-way between the main router and the area you want the extender to cover. You should experiment with different locations, bearing in mind how many walls, floors, or other obstructions lie between the extender and the main wifi router, and also between the extender and the area you wish to improve.The second important point to understand is that extenders of this type operate in a "half duplex" mode, meaning that at best, the data rate from the extender will be half of that provided by your main router. If you are already using most of the data capacity of your main wifi router to a certain device, it's unlikely that you'll be happy with the extender signal. In my case, I saw around 50 MBps from my main router when I was near the extender, and around 25 Mbps from the extender itself. This is more than enough for my casual web surfing, and youtube watching. Your results may be different.Of course, for significantly more $, you can change out your existing wifi router for two or more "mesh" routers. These routers are able to move full speed data between each other, and you can add units until you have the coverage you require. You'll see only one SSID, and your phone should move easily from unit to unit. But at this extender's price point, I got the coverage on my deck and in the corner of the family room that I needed.This item does not incorporate the fastest wi-fi specification. If your needs are more data speed intensive, you might go for a model with higher specs, for a modest increase in price.Setup was very easy. I used the PC method because I'm loath to put another app on my old 16GB cell phone. For that reason, I can't comment on the app.

I decided it might be nice to get a WiFi Extender for our house to improve the WiFi signal upstairs, with the whole family working and doing school from home right now due to the Covid 19 lockdown. This one had good reviews and was pretty inexpensive so I decided to try it. Set up was ridiculously easy and literally took about 2 minutes. Unboxed it, plugged it in near my xfinity router and hit the power button. Waited a few seconds until power light stopped blinking, then hit the WPS button on my router. Pushed the WPS button for a second or two on the extender and waited a few seconds for the light to stop blinking and turn solid. Took it upstairs and plugged it in and checked on my laptop for my network name with the _ext next to it. Connected to the _ext network. Typed in my password (same as my regular network) and done. It just took longer to type that than it did to completely set up this extender! Incredibly simple and painless.Works like a charm and definitely extended the range of my WiFi signal. I get a much stronger signal up on our third floor now (router is in the basement family room). I walked around and compared the signal from my regular network to the _ext network and found I could connect to the _ext network outdoors in the yard and in places where I couldn't get a signal from my regular network.The only reason I give this 4 stars vs. 5 is that I ran a bunch of speed tests comparing the regular network from my router to the _ext network from the extender. My tests showed download and upload speeds were only about 1/2 as fast from the extended network connection as they were from the regular network connection. I found this to consistently be the case in various rooms around my house where I could get signals from both the router and the extender. For example: My download speed from my wired connection to the router in my home office downstairs averages about 370 Mbps. Using Wifi on the main floor on my laptop it's about 35 - 50 Mbps on average from the regular network. Using the _ext network connection from the extender on my laptop in the same location it's about 16 - 20 Mbps. That said, I did get a signal from the extender and speed of at least 12 Mbps in places where I could not get any signal at all from my router alone.Conclusion - the extender provides greater range, but slower download / upload speeds than my router alone (but still adequate speed for my needs). Since what I was looking for was greater range for my network, I am quite satisfied with this purchase and it was well worth the $20 I paid. I definitely recommend it.I did not rate Tech Support for this product since it was so easy to use that I had no need for Tech Support.