TP-Link AC1200 Wi-Fi Range Extender | Gigabit Ethernet Port |Compact | Intelligent Signal LED Ring (RE350),White

I got the TP-Link touchscreen Wi-Fi Range Extender last May for my work computer bec the router is in the living room and my Aruba device has to be connected directly into the router. I wasn't about to start drilling holes or run cables underneath the house so I decided to try a Wi-Fi Range Extender to see if that would work. It did! So, this time, I needed one for a new treadmill that I got that needs to have the router close and the home gym is one room further than the home office, LOL Too much stuff in between. When the treadmill failed to connect, I realized that even though it detected my Wi-Fi, the router was probably too far. So, I got a smaller Wi-Fi Range Extender, one that plugs into a wall, that was half the price (for work, you really can't have it disconnecting so I went with a more expensive one) So far, this thing works like a charm! I don't like that it has to go in the bathroom but that isn't its fault, LOL The mid point of the router and the treadmill is the bathroom and the only thing it does is replace a motion sensor night light and this actually kind of works as a night light bec of the pretty blue light that stays solid when there is a solid connection. The home office is also in the middle but I have no more available outlets and I also worry that there might be inference with the Range Extender that's already in that room. So, better safe than sorry and it's fine in the bathroom! It is solid blue all the time which means the connection is strong in that location and I am able to connect to my iFit workouts on the treadmill!

I tried to install the device for three hours without success. Eventually I contacted Tech Support. They made a cursory attempt to help me and then fobbed me off on a third party security company. This company found some supposed problems with my laptop that (they said) were preventing the installation. They wanted $189 to clean up my laptop and guaranteed that the extender would then work. I smelled a rat and, of course, did not go for this. Instead, I bought a Netgear extender and it installed immediately and works great. There was nothing wrong with my laptop. You can draw your own conclusions from my experience.

Edit: After I contacted support as per their comment, they quickly provide a beta version of the firmware that has corrected the issue described in my original review below. Accordingly, I have changed the rating from 1 star to 4 stars.Looks elsewhere if you are trying to use the AC1200 in the "access point" mode (where this unit is connected to your network/router via the Ethernet port and your clients connect to it via WiFi). If your Wi-Fi client was connected to another access point/router and then happens to connect to this unit, it takes the unit exactly 5 minutes to allow unicast packets to pass through (broadcast packets are fine) and hence your client is unable to access anything on your local network and/or the Internet for 5 minutes. Extremely frustrating if the device happens to be a phone and/or laptop that you moving around the house with and it happens to connect to this unit. I have validated the "blockage" of the unicast packets by using network sniffers on the wifi client and on the network "downstream" of the unit and comparing the captures. Broadcast packets such as DHCP requests and ARP requests are passed through but unicast packets such as DHCP responses or ARP responses are blocked for exactly 5 minutes after a client connects to the unit using Wi-Fi.This is a fundamental flaw with the hardware/firmware itself. I tried two units and they behaved exactly the same. TP-Link support is useless since they will keep on trying to blame the rest of your equipment (router, switch, network cable) and ask you to swap all of those components out (even after you prove to them the problem still exists by bypassing ALL of those components.For what its worth the performance is excellent if you are patient and wait 5 minutes for the unit to start passing unicast packets (and hence connect the client to the LAN/Internet) or if you are using the unit in the "range extender" mode. For me though, the 5 minute outage anytime a client "roams" over to this unit is unacceptable.

I paired this with a Motorola modem/router. The router is located about 20 feet from the Extender and through 3 walls and a change in floors. It was easy enough to install and get working. The PC I was trying to reach is another 20 feet from the Extender. Before the Extender download speeds were 8Mbs at best. With the Extender at 2.4Ghz it jumped to 28Mbs download! Then I tried running an Ethernet cable from the Extender to the PC and it jumped to 52Mbs. OMG, I think that is great as the original router with a wired cable gets 75Mbs. My provider caps upload speeds at 6Mbs and that is what the Extender provides whether wireless or wired. In my case it's all about the download speeds. I'm happy with the purchase and glad that it offered the Ethernet connection option. BTW, I choose the flat Ethernet cable on Amazon as that allowed me to squeeze it down between the carpet and the baseboard and for most of the run it is invisible. No holes, no staples, nothing to see, Great!I've connected a couple of security cameras to this Extender. While they continue to work I'll need to figure out how to set up port forwarding from my router and port forward again on the Extender. I see some help on line but haven't attempted it yet.

I'm not so enamored with this device. It was definitely tricky to set up -- and I consider myself pretty tech savy. Advice to give it's signal another name is certainly good, because you'll be able to know when you are connected. I find that the signal drips off markedly with distance. In the room with the router it's high. Walking outside it goes to near 0. My old Netgear Wifi extender has better range. Now I have to have both running! Also, when using the iPhone app, there are times that it can't find the TP-Link extender -- almost as if the extender is asleep. When it "wakes up" the wifi signal returns to normal.