With the RE650’s antennas folded out, the width of this extender’s footprint is bumped up to eight inches. At 6.5 inches tall and 1.5 inches deep, it’s one of the largest of the extenders that we looked at. It looks kind of like a brutalist teddy bear, with its four antenna arms outstretched to give you a hug. The TP-Link RE650 is fast enough for several people to browse the web at once, but it is not as fast as some of the other more expensive extenders we tested. This problem is easily overcome, however, by plugging the RE220 into the lower electrical outlet. Our only criticism of the RE220’s design is the location of the Ethernet port on the bottom of the device: when plugged into a wall socket, an attached Ethernet cable attached to the extender will block the socket below where the hardware has been plugged in. When streaming a 4K video, however, it stuttered several times as my laptop waited for more data to be downloaded over the extender’s slow connection. Although the speeds were only around 30 Mbps, it was adequate for casual web browsing and editing a Google document. We found that the speed of the network created by the RE220 was adequate for casual use. As such, we recommend that you invest in a router and extender which both support the same AC standard (more on this in a moment). Even if it’s connected to a router that’s capable of faster transfers, the RE220 can only extend the router’s network signal at pokey its AC750 speed. This extender only supports the AC750 standard, which is the slowest of the 802.11AC variants currently available. The TP-Link RE220 is an inexpensive, butacapable Wi-Fi extender that offers acceptable performance, is relatively easy to set up, and includes an Ethernet port for connecting a non-Wi-Fi enabled device.Īround the same size as a deck of cards, the RE220 features a number of small LED status lights and a tiny button for connecting the device to a network using WPS. However, it’s important to note that you’ll only see this kind of speed if the RE9000 is twinned with a router that supports the same AC3000 standard(we’ll talk about these standards, in a moment). That’s significantly faster than the other extenders in our tests. You get what you pay for, though: weWe also found that it was the fastest of the extenders that we tested, handling a 4K video without breaking a sweat and offering upload and download speeds of just over 200 Mbps during testing. It is expensive, though: it is the priciest of the models we looked at by a significant margin. That would make it perfect for something like an office or a garage with several devices in it that need internet access, as it can extend both wireless and wired connections. It supports the AC3000 standard, one of the fastest non-Wi-Fi 6 variants, and also includes four Ethernet ports. However, its main purpose is to extend a fast network from a powerful router. And, to be fair, it can be used as a full router. You’d be forgiven for assuming that the RE9000 was a full router rather than an extender, because of its large case, four antennas, and four Ethernet ports on its back. However, it is perfect if you just need to boost your Wi-Fi sign to reach an additional room or deck. This inexpensive router is slow and doesn’t provide as much range as our Best Overall pick. It can carry a fast signal long-distance from your router, effortlessly handling multiple 4K video streams and other data, so long as your internet plan and router already allow you to do this, at shorter distances.įor those with who subscribe to slower internet speeds, or want to extend their home Wi-Fi at a lower cost, the TP-Link RE220( available at Amazon) is a great option. The best Wi-Fi range extender seems to be the Linksys RE9000 It’s a piece of hardware designed to receive your router’s Wi-Fi signal and then boost it, so that it reaches every corner of your home. Happily, there’s no need to live with Wi-Fi dead zones, any longer: If your wireless network doesn't already include a mesh Wi-Fi system that you can add extra nodes to expand your home’s Wi-Fi coverage with, the best way to get your videos to stop stuttering and web pages to load quickly, is to invest in a Wi-Fi extender. Putting up with poor Wi-Fi signal strength because of your home’s thick walls or being far from your router used to be something we had to accept as part and parcel of connecting to the Internet, wirelessly.
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