Side by Side Comparison of: Netgear

I was a bit skeptical about trying a range extender, due to all the negative reviews out there about how difficult they were to set-up. However, the Netgear N600 was a piece of cake. I read the instructions (minimal), picked a good spot to set up the unit, plugged it in, and it worked ... right out of the box. No issues. Reception is good, throughput is good, but a bit reduced as you would expect. All in all, very pleased. Mine was even a refurbished unit, but the folks at ExclusivesDirect did a good job at a fair price!

Very good extender and very easy to set up. All you have to do is connect your laptop or computer to any of the four ports on the back then open your browser and enter [...] in the address bar. Then just follow the step by step instructions. It will offer you the opportunity to change the ssid but I have found with customers that it is best to leave these settings unchanged. It will take your ssid and add ...ext to the end. Be sure to follow the set up process all the way to the final step. I can't imagine why anyone would need to talk to anyone at tech support, there are only 5 steps and the unit does everything but enter your router's password for you. This unit is a must when dealing with weak wifi signal in an environment where tablets or smartphones are used. One thing to keep in mind when setting this unit up is that you do NOT want to place it at the point to where your router's signal is already very low. You would want to place it closer to the router's location so it is dealing with a stronger signal. If your router's signal rolls off at 100 ft then you would want to place this unit somewhere around 50-60 ft from the router.I installed one of these for a customer the other day, they had built a large metal building about 60 ft from their house and the router's signal was greatly impaired by the metal siding. I placed one of these in one of the second floor ( I said it was a LARGE metal building ) windows and the signal on my iPhone's wifi was full strength anywhere I went in the building. I tested by downloading a song from my Amazon Prime music and it downloaded in just a few seconds.

This is a great repeater and it works perfectly with my WNDR3700v2 Router that's running on Gargoyle-Router.com's custom firmware. I went through several different repeaters before I found one it liked.I just had to disable all my MAC Filters to learn the translated MAC Addresses and ad them to my router settings in addition to the original hardware MAC Addresses and she was running smoothly in no time. It has and impressive range and more importantly it can handle more than a half a dozen Cell Phones at once with no trouble at all.If your running custom firmware this can save you a lot of hardware testing and it works well when you need it!!!! ^_^

If the model I receive isn't brand new, I can't tell. It was shipped securely and came in the plastic scratch-protective cover that new items do. It worked perfectly right out of the box, exactly as described.The range is fair, not amazing, but it picked up what was a nearly dead signal and boosted it to great strength. My normal network speeds are around 50Mbps and this somehow boosted a 95% deadzone room to about 10Mbps. I've been using it for the past week primarily for streaming HD video on my Amazon Fire Stick and it works great. Given how incredibly weak the signal is from the main router, I'm very pleased with the speed. It provided about the same speed when it was near to the router, however, which is somewhat confusing. I would absolutely recommend this for a low cost way to cover a few to several rooms in a far area of your house, providing enough speed to stream video or play video games without a problem.

Very good extender and very easy to set up. All you have to do is connect your laptop or computer to any of the four ports on the back then open your browser and enter www.mywifiext.net in the address bar. Then just follow the step by step instructions. It will offer you the opportunity to change the ssid but I have found with customers that it is best to leave these settings unchanged. It will take your ssid and add ...ext to the end. Be sure to follow the set up process all the way to the final step. I can't imagine why anyone would need to talk to anyone at tech support, there are only 5 steps and the unit does everything but enter your router's password for you. This unit is a must when dealing with weak wifi signal in an environment where tablets or smartphones are used. One thing to keep in mind when setting this unit up is that you do NOT want to place it at the point to where your router's signal is already very low. You would want to place it closer to the router's location so it is dealing with a stronger signal. If your router's signal rolls off at 100 ft then you would want to place this unit somewhere around 50-60 ft from the router.I installed one of these for a customer the other day, they had built a large metal building about 60 ft from their house and the router's signal was greatly impaired by the metal siding. I placed one of these in one of the second floor ( I said it was a LARGE metal building ) windows and the signal on my iPhone's wifi was full strength anywhere I went in the building. I tested by downloading a song from my Amazon Prime music and it downloaded in just a few seconds.

Netgear is the company that has gotten the difficult process of Wi-Fi Range Extension right. Strangely, many people have commented that all the others have gotten it wrong. And after several other experiences, as well as recommendations to others (I have been a software engineer for decades), it's one of those rare obvious recommendations. I have two of these, both of which work far better than well praised competing products. The simplicity of relaying the original with a separate and unique SSID, in order to avoid conflicts, seems so obvious that I have no idea why everyone else isn't doing it. As good as it gets.

Wow I had never read the 1 star reviews. I likely would not have bought one. But I did... works GREAT except I tried direct LAN connection to my laptop and that doesn't work. (maybe user error? might have to configure it in settings)? I'll look into that.

I run a observatory in my yard. 300+ feet from my router. I have 5G and 2.5G on the router. (cable internet). I could BARELY connect to the 2.5 300+ feet away. I got this for 1/2 way... but first time I tried it I just plugged it in next to the laptop 300+ feet out. It picked up good signal and was giving the laptop 5 bars. Works great. MY PROBLEM is my laptop is old and has slow wifi. So I want to try direct LAN connection. I got 50mbs in the house and 10 at the laptop. I may have to get a faster/newer laptop. Many reviews say it died in a couple months. I'll report back if mine does.

UPDATE OMG! I worked on the LAN connection. Seems I had a bad cable. It's now working, My speedtest.net went from 15mbps to 66 mbps!!! Now that LAN is working - I'm going from 4 to 5 stars!

PS - I think the 1 star reviews are user/error.

I had terrible wifi reception in my bedroom. I'd have five bars in the front of the house but in my bedroom/bathroom at the back of the house I had one, maybe two bars at most. I don't have cable tv so all my entertainment/news/internet is done over wifi. This product is amazing! Very easy to install, took less than five minutes start to finish and now I have five bars in my bed/bath all the time! If you need an extender I highly recommend this one. It is fantastic. Just follow the instructions, no wire/cable necessary for installation. I live in a 1,200 sq ft condo for reference.

This review is for NETGEAR N300 Wi-Fi Range Extender, Essentials Edition (EX2700)
by Netgear
My friend asked me to solve his networking issues because his house had been added on to and the back wall to his living room is brick which leads to the rest of his house which prevents the wifi signal from being very good just on the other side of this wall.
Luckily he had an outlet in the hallway leaving the living room and so this was what I got him to solve his issues.
This was very easy to configure, after plugging this is and letting it power on completely, the power LED on the device will be green, I logged onto the local website to configure it and it was up and running. It took longer for my friend to decide what he wanted as the security questions / answers then it did for any other part of installing this.
Great item with easy install and that is why I give this five stars.

I really hope that this review was helpful to you, if it was, please take the time a click yes below, thanks.

I've used this for a month now, and am very happy with it. It replaces a Diamond range extender that had become unreliable; it would lose connectivity every time the microwave was used for more than a couple of minutes. I would have to reconnect the satellite box, the Blu-ray player, and the Roku box several times each week, and suffered occasional buffering when the Diamond slowed down. I have a 20 MPS connection through Centurylink DSL (fastest available in my neighborhood), so I didn't have a lot to spare once an extender cut the speed in half.

This has proven to be both reliable AND more effective. The receiver portion seems to be more sensitive, so I was able to put the extender in a more convenient location and still receive an excellent signal from the router. All three of my internet-capable video devices show a stronger signal and faster downloads. Amazon went from a 5 MPS average to an 8 MPS average, and Netflix went from 3 MPS to 6 MPS. I can now watch Netflix HD without down-res or buffering.

Setup was extremely easy using WPS. Simply plug in, wait a couple of minutes for the unit to boot, then push the WPS button on the extender. You then have two minutes to push the WPS button on your router, and the extender connects. You can then go to your devices and do a search for Wifi networks -- there will be at least one and possible two showing: one will have your original network with a "2" suffix and the other will have your original network name with a "5" suffix. Both will use the same password as your Wifi router. Pick the one with the stronger signal or the one that best meets your needs. The "2" band has a longer range but may suffer from more interference from microwaves or fluorescent lights; the "5" band may have a weaker signal at long ranges but will be less prone to interference.

Very happy with it so far -- the extender is about 40 linear feet from the router, through one ceiling and floor, one wall, and several cabinets. It is about 25 feet from the AV cabinet, and all of the devices report a strong signal with acceptably fast downloads.

I purchased one of these for my technology-challenged parents who have a rather large house and their wifi router upstairs. Lots of duct work, pipes, wiring, etc. between the router (in the FAR upper left corner of the house) and the devices in their kitchen, on the deck, in the garage, etc.

The extender was up and running in less than 5 minutes, WPS setup with their TrendNet router could not have been easier. Wifi signal downstairs immediately doubled, or better. Devices that were registering Poor signal with 1-5MBps connections now show excellent and 65MBps+.

I highly recommend this device for anyone who has dead spots, routers upstairs or in the basement or anyone who just needs to extend their G/N wireless signal.

This guy was easy to hook-up and has extended the range. I looked at several products and by no means am I an IT expert. This just works and if you have an existing net-gear router then I say this is the best for the price.

WiFi extenders do not generally work well unless you use a dual band setup. In single (2.4 Ghz) band, all the WiFi extender does is rebroadcast the base signal on the same channel (frequency). If you place the WiFi repeater in exactly the right spot (wherever that might be, given your configuration and environmental surroundings), you can get limited extra range. The real benefit comes when you use a 5 GHz link between the base router and the extender, and then step down the repeated signal on the 2.4 GHz band. When you do that, you can often position your repeater in the same room as your target devices, and get excellent connectivity.For an easy-to-read detailed discussion of WiFi networks and repeaters, and how to set them up, see my article here:[...]When I configured the NETGEAR N600 Dual Band Wi-Fi Range Extender in dual band mode, and set it beside my Chromecast receiving dongle, all my annoying Netflix buffering delay problems went away . I mean zero buffering. Ever.If you are not going to set up this WiFi repeater in dual band mode, don't waste your money. But if you the time to learn how to set it up, it is well worth the investment.

I purchased version one of this product in 2013. After moving to a larger place which needed more signal, I purchased this to increase second floor coverage. At first, I was using the extender in a normal fashion and extending both my 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz networks. When the speed seemed too slow for NetFlix and even web browsing, I realised that my performance issues were due to the extenders repeating the 2.4Ghz network on 2.4Ghz, which meant more than 2 times the traffic just on the one extender. After switching to the FastLane mode which moved all of my 2.4Ghz traffic on the extenders over the 5Ghz network to the router, my performance improved so drastically that I no longer noticed any increased latency when using the extender networks. I have since purchased two more of these (although they were refurbished v1 product) and implemented them as media bridges by utilising Fastlane on the 5Ghz network and disabling the local extender 2.4Ghz network. This helps to minimise 2.4Ghz interference in my home by redirecting the extra traffic from ethernet devices on the 5Ghz network without adding more 2.4Ghz extender networks.The connection speed from the extenders to the router show a link rate of 300Mbps in all locations (30ft thru 2 walls; 45ft thru 2 walls; 60ft thru 3 walls; 90ft thru a ceiling and 2 walls)... speedtest.net shows that I have almost all of my 50Mbps TWC connection speed available on all of my 2.4Ghz networks at the router and each extender.While the four ports are nice and allowed me to connect AV devices, it limited my placement decisions to behind my TVs -- unless I wanted to buy even more units. Eventually, I migrated one of the units to my office (as a Wi-Fi extender and printer/server hub) and another to the kitchen (as a media bridge) and I implemented a powerline device network to provide more bandwidth for my most frequently used AV locales in the bedrooms and the TV room. This arrangement seems fast enough that the next upgrade should be adding central ethernet lines throughout the house if I ever have to upgrade.Highly recommended if you just need a media extender or a Wi-Fi extender for up-to 300Mbps...

Very good range extender, was easy to set up with my router, the only problem I am having is this range extender drops off don't know why this happens because I am showing all the bars on the unit so it is making good connection with my router, why it drops off don't know? Other than that great extender.

Our internet service is provided by a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP). We needed internet connectivity extended to a new shop located about 100 feet from the house. In that building we run multiple computers and a WiFi enabled printer. Our options included (1) extending our current WiFi service from the house to the new shop, (2) running underground cable,or (3) setting up a wireless bridge between buildings. We started with WiFi extension. Researching Wi-Fi extenders on CNET, realized that our best option would be the NETGEAR N600 dual band extender. Why? Because of its dual-band capability it would not automatically cut in half the performance of the WiFi connectivity, as a single-band extender would do. So, we set it up in the corner of the shop closest to the house. And it has worked great. Though the connection to our router (a dual band Belkin BC4) sometimes shows Yellow instead of Green, performance has been good. Wi-Fi signal inside the shop is high, and connectivity between buildings works just fine. Is this the best overall solution? Well, most likely a wired connection would be faster and more stable, but the ease of installing this device, and the fact that it includes a 4-port switch for wired connections has made it great to work with. I tried it side-by-side with a regular NETGEAR WN3000RP single-band extender, and the WN2500RP gives, by far the best performance. Thumbs up!

I have it connected to a netgear N600 WNDR3800 router. This extender works as a charm. I wish I could say the same for the router.Pros:Supports wired clientsEasy to set up.Provides both 2.5G and 5G channels.Extends the range of the WNDR3800 into my work area (I was getting weak signals).Reliable - I have not rebooted the device since I purchased it and it continues to work like a charm.Can operate standing vertically or horizontally. I have it on a book shelf, so the vertical orientation is space savingCons:Though it supports both bands, Using both simultaneously will greatly degrade performance. I am operating in single band mode where clients connect to the extender through the 2.5G band and the extender communicates to the router in the 5G band. For the price this is acceptable, though it greatly reduces the benefits of supporting both bands.Unlike the WNDR3800, this device does not talk to the Netgear GENIE program. This makes it difficult to use the device in DHCP mode. I had to assign a static IP so I could connect to it when necessary.Overall, this is a great device. I haven't tried it with other routers, but I am pretty sure it would work the same.

I was at a loss in the wifi dead zone of my room. I did some research and this extender seemed to fit my needs the best. I gave it four stars because it was not easy to set up. It took two hours of troubleshooting to finally get it to obtain the IP address in order to use the device. Now I went from a fair signal, dropped signal and rebuffering on a regular basis to an excellent 5 bars and no more rebuffering frustration. The instructions were of no assistance so you will need to bring your patience along to take on this task, but the product itself has made me very happy indeed. If you are extremely tech savvy you might not have the same difficulties. I can find my way around computer stuff and am tech proficient...but this was a challenge and I could see someone less tech savvy having difficulties in getting this to work.

This little unit has really helped my wifi reception in my back yard and shop. Where I was not getting good signal or any at all, I am now getting a strong signal and speeds seem to be fine. The only thing I don't like is that it operates on a different network than my main wifi, so when I walk back into the house, if I get too far away from this range extender and need to be back on the original network, I have to manually switch back. But for the price, I can't complain.

Following the instructions was easy but being an expert I was a bit miffed at not being able to go into advanced/expert setup immediately. The device insisted on hand-holding me through the setup. That docked star is also for the device being completely stupid about username and password... it wanted an email address (blah@blah.blah) for the username and it wanted two recovery questions/answers. Ridiculous for a small device like this which one can reset to factory defaults with the push of a button.Once I got through that mess I was able to login in again, go to setup, and turn off the wifi relay function since I only want to use the device for its hard ethernet port to connect to an old TiVO. And that port works quite well, thank you.-Matt

This wifi extender is very good and a solid choice. The instructions were well written and the setup was extremely easy. It extended my wireless signal another good 50+ feet through two more walls. The signal strength was excellent for that 50 ft and didn't become weak until about 75ft from the extender. I was pleased with the extenders wireless coverage and extending ability and it definitely served its purpose. I would definitely recommend.

I purchased this to replace a rather horrible solution I'd tried in order to use wifi with my computer that only had an Ethernet port. For the most part, it works rather well. My data speeds are great, plus I've got a much better signal for use on this side of the house.However, the one issue I've experienced is that the dumb software pops up and asks you to log in occasionally. The manual shows how to use without the online UI, which is how I chose to deploy the device. After seeing the UI pop up too many times, I created an account. Except it can't remember me and still pops up when it feels like it. Beyond that, I love this thing!

Works well. Easy set up, but no advanced options.Less than five stars because I was irritated by the fact that the router requires filling out security questions like my mothers maiden name. Those things are never secure and I certainly don't want personal information like that stored in a wifi device that may or may not be secure now or in the future. I know how to manage my passwords. Of course, you don't have to fill these fields out correctly, but you better make sure that what you do fill out is not easy to guess. I dislike being forced to use security questionsWhat I like very much on this device are the status lights. Their meaning is very clear and they work.

it is not a modem but it works great as a range extender.

It increased the range slightly, not by much. I wasn't really sure what to expect from this product, so I went cheap and refurbished, so I got what I paid for...?

I have intermittent connection problem. Sometimes the 5G band disappear and I had to turn on and off to reset in order my devices to find it.

Item was purchased used came in above average packaging for a used product, with instructions from the seller but no actual Netgear instructions or manuals. Item serial number was blacked out for some reason (although you can still read it if you really wanted too), but in fair working condition. Easy setup of the router itself.

The speed of my wifi went from 30 to 3mbps with this but my devices for this are connected with a wire

Although the range extender seems to be working fne, the instructions that came with the item are for a different product.

Took me about an hour to configure and I'm pretty good at networking. It's finicky at one point after I get the wifi on the 2ghz then 5ghz not working. Took me a bit to figure it out (dont bother with the phone support they are useless if you have done the basics) The wired connection works well on the 2ghz but on the 5ghz it was timing out or all the packets were not transferring (using a wired printer) so it was a hassle once I switched it to the 2ghz no problems since. For the price it does what it needs but does exceed expectations

Downgraded to 3 stars AFTER Using it for a while.After using this extender for a while I downgraded my review to 3 Stars.All the things from my initial review is true BUT What I discovered is this thing is keep dropping the connection. I have to keep turning it on and off at least once a day and that blows.Yessssss I have internet in my garage.When we moved to our new L shaped brick home my garage was strategically located in the worst possible spoT for WiFi. I got this extender in. took 3 minutes to set up (plug & play) BAM ! I got internet. SPEED! That i don't know. I got super slow speeds where I live so not sure if the extender slowing things or not.

Set up was easy and unit was working but in less than 60 days it stopped for no apparent reason. I tried to reset and troubleshoot but just no lights or any indicator it works. I've been a loyal Netgear customer... 5-6 routers and other devices over 10 years. Hope this is a fluke in quality control. Will reach out to Netgear to see if they would provide a replacement.Update: Netgear support kindly sent a replacement and since April I've had no issues with the new unit. Overall the unit works as advertised although every so often it needs a reboot.

My wireless router is on the first floor of my house but the signal isn't strong enough to keep a decent connection for my Xbox One on the second floor other side of the house. After reading other reviews I ordered the product and bookmarked a review with step-by-step instructions on how to set it up since others said the instructions were lacking. Once the product arrived, I had no problems getting the extender configured and running using those instructions posted in that review. After placing the extender on the second floor of the house the Xbox shows '3 bars' of signal strength for the wireless router but '5 bars' of signal strength for the extender. The extender delivers a solid signal to all of the wireless devices I connect to it but there are times where the Xbox drops the connection or has some lag. For the price of the product, it functions well.

The product is functional. It does do some off on type things occasionally. It might be related to the range to the gateway. But that is the whole idea of getting one right? The house is average size about 2100 sf and the gateway is at the back corner in the closet. That is where it came installed. The extender is about half way to the front so it should be sufficient to reach the front of the house. Notice those little antennas on the side- they rotate so I rotated the one on the right side down toward the gateway and it seemed to clear up the signal loss. What sparked me to even buy this was because my Canon printer says it is wifi to my PC and its signal would not reach back to our gateway. Canon would not supply the usb cord to hook to PC.

The way to connect this extender is by using a Kindle Fire, Android Tablet, iPad or other mobile device. The instructions are not very clear on what you need to install the device. So if you assume you can install this device using your desktop computer and that you'll be able to find the "wireless manager," you probably will have difficulty. In fact, some of the online questions for Netgear and Microsoft are where do you find the manager and how do you make it work. Unfortunately, the answers are typical techno-speak and basically difficult or impossible to follow. So for those who cannot read between the lines of the instructions, the way you install this is:1) Plug in the device. It will probably take several seconds, sometimes minutes, before the power light registers green. Do not despair. The instructions won't tell you that this will take some time, but it does.2) Get out your iPad, Kindle Fire, or other WIRELESS tablet or device. DON'T EXPECT TO USE YOUR DESKTOP computer to make the connection. Go to the "Settings" of your wireless device and wait for it to recognize your router name plus a suffix ___EXT. When that appears, choose that wifi connection. You will be asked for the same password you use on your real router. Enter that password.3) You will be taken to a website for setting up the extender. If you try to access this website from your DESKTOP computer, you'll get an error message. Once you get to this website, the instructions in the package will start to make sense.4) When you've finished the set up, unplug the extender and take it to the location where you want to boost the wireless connectivity. Again, using your mobile device (or other computer), use the "Settings" menu to find the widi connection. Choose the network connection with your wireless name PLUS the ___EXT suffix. The password will be the same as your regular wifi network.The devices in proximity to the extender will receive a better wifi signal. I think the device is fine, but the instructions were not very well done. I think it would be helpful if the writers had made it clear that you need to use a MOBILE device (not just a computer, tablet, etc.) to set this up. In other words, you cannot set this up (at least not that I was able to discover) with your regular desktop computer. With an iPad or Kindle Fire, the process is very easy and provides decent boosted wifi. I gave this a the three-star because this installation process could have been so much clearer with more precise instructions or even a quick little video.UPDATE: Well, we just had to upgrade our router/gateway. I am sorry to say that this extender was just as bothersome to set up using the reset as before. My instructions still worked BUT you cannot do this on an iPhone. For some reason even after you enter the correct router password, the latest iPhone OS will not let you access the continue button. I was able to set this up using my Kindle Fire HDX. I have since purchased this router: MSRM US750 750M Dual Band Wi-Fi Range Extender Wireless WiFi Repeater With Dual External Antennas and 360 Degree WiFi Covering, which was much simpler to set up and seems to be providing the same level of access. (I did use an iPhone to set it up.) I tested both extenders using a dead spot/download speed app, and they appear to work about the same. (There also are less expensive versions of this MSRM router that others say work well.) So, I've turned off my Netgear router...for now, but am keeping it as a back-up.

worked great at first but after a couple weeks, the 5ghz was essentially unusable and the 2ghz could only support minor things such as IP cameras or low quality streams. Could be because the item i got was refurbished but, quite convenient for them that it would break right out of the warranty range. I've tried factory resetting and everything to no avail.

I bought it to cover my back yard with wifi coverage , its working well as long as no rain or wind .But unfortunately it keep disconnecting once it starts raining. We live in Florida & it rain like 2-3 days a week .Hope my comments will helpsThanks.

The wi fi extender seems to work fine. What i did not know when i purchased a refurbished netgear product is that the warranty does not support netgear technical support. Since i was unable to set the extender up with my router i had to reach out to netgear technical support to complete the process. I was held hostage by netgear to set up the extender that i purchased since it was refurbished and had to pay a 40 dollar fee in order to get the extender to function properly. I would suggest a buyer to purchase the item new as the refurbished discount ultimately ended up costing me more money.

It's an extremely easy setup and works, but the other version (white N600 w/o 4 extra lan ports) actually delivers much better speeds. I tested it both devices at the same outlet to compare their quality.Speedtest by ookla:Main lan: 92ms ping, 1.39mb/s download, 0.52mb/s uploadThis device: 248ms ping, 2.56mb/s download, 0.48mb/s uploadWhite version: 49ms ping, 4.55mb/s download, 1.78mb/s upload

I received the product and was not able to connect with my Linksys router. The problem was the password to my router would not work. I did several attempts and no luck. I returned the Netgear Extender and purchased a Linksys RE4000w range extender which connected fine. Several neighbors use Netgear which work for them.

Slow Speeds for 5GzI'm with Comcast, and the signal is very strong, about 90Mbps, except for one room. I especially bought this modem because of its 5GHz capabilities, but even when I located it right in front of the Comcast modem, I only got a maximum speed of 23Mbps where I should be getting over 80Mbps.When I moved it closer to that essential room, same thing. I'm actually getting a much faster connection connecting straight to the Comcast modem.I only gave it two stars because it at least gives me about 20Mbps, the Netgear N300 only gave me 5Mbps.I can NOT recommend this extender.

I'm an IT tech guy (20+) years. I purchased two of these. One for me and one for a customer. The instructions were not exactly straight forward but I did figure it out. In both cases the wi-fi signal actually dropped mps considerably. When I removed them, the signal, while not what I wanted was actually stronger. I am aware of how the structure of a house and distance can affect these things and I accounted for that possibility by moving them around, closer to the wifi router for example. Results were disappointing. If I could send them back and try something different, I would.

This is the sort of product that would expect to work flawlessly but it does not. There are a few problems with this sort of device: 1) I have a gigabit connection at my place with two bands 2.4GHz and 5GHz. This thing would not connect and extend the 5GHz band, which delivers faster internet speed than the other, Visited the website, spoke with a representative but no matter what I did, it would not connect to the 5GHz. It would show the 5GHz SSID but would not connect to it. 2) the base speed, without a wifi extender on the 2.4GHz is around 220 Mbps with the extender 6Mbps 0_o, Did not make sense to me why there was such a huge drop I would have expected a drop of around 50% but not so much. Probably better off with a separate router if speed is an issue for you.

I've purchased Netgear items like the over the years and each time I convinced myself that technology has advanced to remedy all the old issues. Alas, not so again. This thing kinda works. Sorta !It an open system. That means NO security. Zero.They claim you can link it to your existing and get it that way, but it's a lie.Set up is supposed to be automatic.I spent 4 hours screwin with it. Had to contact them several times.Had to register it before it would link then had to make an account.Then it took several hours more. They say you can rename it to match your system. Not so. It keeps it's name. You make another to match yours. Both are open. And your existing system looses power because this steals it from your existing.It's a huge waste.

The connectivity did improve with the use of the WIFI booster (extender), however the setup instructions are poor at best. I was able to get mine connected and set up properly but it's a good thing I understand how networks/routers are set up or I would have been lost. My sister also purchased one and was unable to get her working. So, she called Netgear support and after the technician followed the setup instructions and was unable to complete the set up, he tried to sell her firewall software. When she refused to purchase the software, he ended the call. That is VERY POOR customer service and extremely bad support procedure. That's the reason for the 2 stars. If you can do the setup that's good, but don't expect assistance from Netgear support.

It's ok when it works. My setup was kinda rough as I had to reset(to factory default) the device about 5 to 6 times before it finally with through all the steps without messing up somewhere along the way. Now that it's up and running it often has to be turned off and on again to regain connection even though it's well within range of the router. Works great when it actually works but what can you expect out of a $30 range booster I guess. On the fence buyers should consider spending more on a better built device.

This thing just doesn't send out a strong enough single and will loose my connection on occasion. I only have it about 25 feet from my main unit so not sure why this would not work properly. Would not by again based on issue.

The product arrived quickly and seemed to set up within minutes using WPS. It was too good to be true. I wasn't able to connect to the extender's admin interface or get a reliable connection the SSIDs it was broadcasting, even when the extender was 2 feet from my router (a Netgear WNDR4500). I tried a factory reset and WPS reconfig, but still no joy. A third reset and a manual configuration looked promising. but the symptoms were the same as before: The lights for the 2.4 and 5 gHZ channels and the up/down lights indicating a connection to the router all cycled red/yellow/green/off/on every few seconds.Maybe a brand new version of this extender would work, but the refurbished one was a dud.

DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!I bought this product mainly because it has multiple lan ports, unfortunately I never even got that far. This product never got it past the set up, it never actually connected to the internet. Should be easy to set up, plug it in in the same room as the router ( I put it inches next to it). Then you connect to it on your pc, you'll see it on your wifi. From there enter your network, both 2.4g and 5g. Then it will take you to another page and it will ask you to enter your password. If you are of the small percentage that get past that page, you should have played the lottery instead because you wasted your luck on this piece of s***. Pardon my language, either way for me, it said it couldn't connect to the internet, that either it was too far (it was literally touching it) or that if i had ACL(access control list) enabled i need to access my ACL and add the MAC address. Called verizon, was disabled and they said I should call the manufacturer, I even plugged the extender into the router directly, which allowed me to bypass security and still encountered the same problem. I can access any device via lan without any such problem. Tried connecting via WPS also but no success. So I called netgear, which asked me for the serial number, which is blacked out because it is refur shed (they all are) so he said he couldn't help me unless I paid the fee of 125$ I wasn't paying that. Returning for refund this was absolute nonsense. If you want to take a gamble, then it may work fine, but if you ever have a problem with this look forward to having to pay 125$.

My room is decently far away from my router, to the point where i get about 15 to 20mb down (35~) on a good day. I wasn't expecting a big change but was definitely expecting at least a small improvement...From this extender I got a whopping solid 1MB down and .03mb up, not added to my original speed, that WAS the speed... That doesn't even almost make sense. Best thing I can say about this purchase Is that my refund was posted the same day I sent it back.

It didn't work for me. I live in a rather large 3500sq ft home. My WiFi signal was poor in certain areas of the house. Setup was very easy using the WPS function, but instructions were not included. I placed the extender about 75' from the router on the 2nd floor. It broadcasted the signal flawlessly at 5 bars across the house like its supposed to do, but my 50MB/s speeds dropped to 2-4MB/s range. I used speedtest.net to verify these numbers. I tried changing the various option without any luck. I actually had better performance with 1 bar of signal strength straight from the router. Do your research and be aware extenders are actually a slower option as it is having to relay the information to the router acting as the middle man. I decided to take the cheap route at boosting my signal, simply to provide internet for my phones and tablets upstairs. Lesson learned, I will be applying for a refund and use the credit to buy a more powerful router instead.

Bought a refurb because I didn't mind not having a retail package or something brand new if it worked fine. Serial number is blank, but as noted on Netgear's site, refurbs can be that way (not the seller's doing). Got this things set up, good signal, then it randomly stops communicating. The device itself is up, but the wireless link is not working, Shows connected, other devices can connect, just not this thing. Had to reboot it a couple times and it is becoming a pain. Got a hold of Netgear and they claim there is no hardware support on their refurbs and try to direct my to premium support. Support does not seem to get hardware fault and still tried to force a useless paid service on me.

Bought this for my daughter for Christmas. It's pretty much impossible to set up. I have tried the button, tried the website, tried to find support,etc.... The website is basically an elaborate system of more links for you to click. The serial number is blacked out so I cannot connect it to the netgear wifi router I already have with the netgear genie. It's a great paperweight though. I'm usually pretty good at this stuff, but this is not for a basic user. You need to know a lot about setting up a network, or be a 12 year old nerd. Remember, tech support is not free with this refurbished extender. Just buy it new! I wish I would have.

Giving it a full star is a bit of an oversell. First off, the instruction manual they sent with the Wi-Fi extender was in French with no English instructions to be found. Second, the Wi-Fi speed was cut to about 1/4th of my router's typical mps. This is WHILE the extender itself shows it having a "perfect signal" with a solid green light. At this point I thought, "okay, fine. All I want it for is to browse the web from different parts of the room. So I guess I can live with it."About an hour into use, the wifi extender cuts out every thirty seconds for an entire minute. This has continued from the beginning of my usage until the time of writing this article, which has been roughly six hours. I've tried restarting it, reconnecting it, rebooting the modem, the router, hardwiring it to the router, and rebooting the computers and devices I've connected. Nothing changes. If anything, the amount of time the extender can't seem to get a signal has only increased. This is while all green lights are on and solid on the device, indicating that it SHOULD be working properly.This is the first time I've written an Amazon review, because generally, I'm easy to please. If a product does its job, even if the job is subpar, I don't mind. But in this case, the Netgear N300 wifi extender isn't even doing a "subpar" job. It does "subpar" around one-third of the time, and absolutely nothing the other 2/3rds. I haven't tried any other wifi extenders yet, but I can't imagine them being this useless. Spare yourself the trouble and look elsewhere if you need a better connection.Oh, and heaven forbid you try to use it with Steamlink. If you enjoy 1<FPS in games or are just into wifi masochism, this product is for you. Otherwise, steer clear.

This was purchased for my smart thermostat as the wifi signal to the dining room is slightly lower than the manufacture wanted.I set this unit up directly next to the thermostat and at first seemed perfect. It is set up as instructions recommend using an EXT for my network. Strong 98-100% signal and good connectivity to the vendor server.However I have recently noticed my thermostat just disconnects from the internet. The latest gots on the extender show connected but the thermotstat has no connection. Try to reconnect... nothing.Pull the extender from the wall, plug back in all good for a week or so. This has happened twice now, the unit is junk and doesn't fit my needs.Anyone who gives it perfect railings is either lying or doesn't realize it's not working

Works, but needed help getting it going. In my case, the the "quick start" did not work. WPS button never achieved connection. The link for support repeatedly gave a DNS error which brought up my internet providers search page and creates a chat box which I accessed. The chat bot had me call a support number - which in my case was an Indian service company - Soft Tree. Very hard to understand the tech because of the accent. They ended up fixing the problem, which was a device address conflict - but I ended up paying them $149.99 for this. It was sold as a one year tech support service contract. The Netgear device creates an extended "named network" which is your network name with EXT on the end. If I knew this in advance I would never have bought the extender.

Amazon has wonderful customer support and is a good reason to buy with confidence. Installed this unit and it made a little bit of a difference but just enough to not bother returning. Then I took it with me out of town and the unit self destructed. Everything seemed OK, green lights on after booting up but no connection. Called the manufacturer whose customer service is in India. After telling the gentleman on the phone that I have a MacBook he said I could not connect without him. The polite gentleman seemed inexperienced and was puzzled about the standard installation procedure. He asked for control of my computer which I gave to him and after a short time online with him he started repeating that he could not move my curser. I turned the phone recorder on at that point. He sounded not normal and I was worried about what access he had to my computer. Over and over again he could not figure things out and then went silent. After a long time of silence I asked if he was still there. He started attacking saying why are you in a hurry. Are you in a hurry. You are in too much of a hurry. Call someone else to fix this. He was obviously frustrated at his inability to figure out what the problem was and looking for an excuse to walk away. then he started repeating that he could not move my curser. I asked for his boss and was put on hold. After a while I hung up and called back and oddly got another guy who identified himself as a secretary type of phone operator because all lines were busy and that he would connect me when someone became available. Then he connected me to the same guy who could not figure things out. Really weird. Then while on the line with the first guy again I got a call waiting signal and flashed it and it was a new guy in India and seemingly in the first guys group, a friend of the incompetent guy. All on my recorded line. He told me that the first confused guy said that this could be fixed if I give them $60 per hour. I have that on a recording that was turned on when things got weird. I was worried about who had control of my computer. I repeated that he wanted me to pay $60 per hour to trouble shoot for a device that cost less than $30. He said yes, the only way to get it working . He went on to say that the first guy (who was scratching his head ) had diagnosed the problem as no available as DNS ports and a highly skilled technician was required for $60 per hour. But the first guy never even got started with diagnosing the problem. Finally I hung up. Thank you Amazon for the return label.

Bought after seeing the thousands of good reviews. I get 100Mbps download/5Mbps upload from my internet provider, as proven using speed tests right next to the modem/router. I wanted an extender that I could conveniently place to catch the signal about 30ft from the modem/router and extend it 30-40 ft to the rooms upstairs. I verified that I was getting an 80-90Mbps signal from the modem/router right next to where I placed the extender. However, I found that upstairs, even after using the extender, I could never get a signal more than 15-20Mbps, with or without the extender. Eventually, I simply put the extender right next to the router, and finally found that even then(!!) I couldnt get more than 15-20Mbps, but without the extender I was getting an easy 80-90Mbps. This thing is just not built for high bandwidth, IMHO. If your requirement is similar, hopefully this review is useful to you. I'm probably going to end up with mesh wifi even though its more expensive.

This product I purchased does not connect to my network it is not see the router it does not see the Internet connection . It tells me I have no Internet in my apartment that's the biggest laugh of all . Even better yet I live in America to call tech-support I want to speak to somebody that speaks proper English that I can understand on the phone for 45 minutes and I could not barely make out anything the man said . I would love to take this piece of garbage extender throw it out the window and let the truck run over it . I want an American tech support analyst calling me to configure this stupid products