TL-WA860RE

I bought this because the previous set up that I was using just wasnt working well. It was a Netgear WAG102 Access Point, and it was terrible. It would drop connections, stop loading, and so on. Since my routers WiFi doesnt quite reach the bedroom, I was after another solution. I came across this and since recieving it, it works extremely well. It has the simplest setup I think any device ever has. The only downside is, however, that if you want to have custom settings, such as a different SSID (having the device "clone" your routers WiFi can be confusing for some devices) then you need to enter the configuration page, and this was sightly tricker than they let on, especially AFTER you've set the device up and linked it to your routers WiFi. If you arent connected to it, and theres no way to tell which is which since they both have the same SSID, the "tplinkrepeater.net" URL does not work. So getting onto the device means either going out of range of your router enough so that it switches connections, or finding the IP address of the repeater. I did this by logging into my main router and going to "IP Filtering" since it shows everything that is connected to it. From here, I got the repeaters address, and connecting to it was no problem using the standard 192.168 address. Beyond that, however, the device works fine and I am very happy with the purchase

One star for ease of set-up: Wireless setup failed. Had to configure via ethernet cable, which was fine. But then, when I tried to use the device (to connect my Youview Box via ethernet cable) it wasn't working. Spent over an hour on TP-Link's chat support, who asked all sorts of technical questions that I didn't really have answers to. But the support was friendly and helpful, even if the procedure they took me through was a bit of a headache. The support person finally sent a link to upgrade the firmware, which I did, with some effort, not being a tech-minded person at all. Then I had to re-configure the product again, running through the basic setup procedure once more. Also, the product won't work when plugged in to an extension cord - it has to be in a wall socket. That wasn't really clear to me when I bought the product. Now, with upgraded firmware, and plugged into a wall socket, the product works very well. Great wifi signal in my sitting room, and the Youview works brilliantly. But the trouble I had setting it up felt like messing around with a PC back in 1998. These days you expect a different level of user friendliness.

Great product! Very easy to install and user friendly. Solved my problem real quick and I am now able to connect this device to my CCTV with a 1m cable instead of connecting with a 15m long ethernet cable.

I found this very easy to set up and it has been 100% reliable. It's not transmitting across a huge distance in my house but the signal is full bars. The ethernet is the thing I really needed as I can explain. The range extender played a useful part in helping me set up a reasonably secure home automation network. As I work in cyber security I have a reasonable understanding of the risks of starting to connect devices to your home network. It's not a very secure thing to do, as devices such as cheap WiFi light bulbs or web cams can be exploited remotely, leading to the attacker getting access to your laptops, tablets and other stuff on the network. So a very basic thing you can do is "isolate" your home automation / internet of things devices from your computer / laptop / home PC network. This is where the TP-Link comes in. Many home routers like the excellent ASUS DSL-N66U (http://amzn.to/2o6KasH) have a "guest" WiFi network. This network has internet access but NOT access to devices on your "main" WiFi network. So you put all your home automation stuff on the guest network. However, the problem I ran into was with Hive hub which ONLY connects via ethernet. The easy solution is to set up the TP-Link on the guest network and plug Hive hub into the ethernet port.

What it does not mention anywhere other than burried deep in the support forums is that this range extender only allows 8 wireless devices to be connected to it at any one time, any more than 8 when your home network grows over time, and it will randomly disconnects decices, and this will become clear when smart voice activated IoT devices become non responsive, or scheduled smart lights don't come on, I've thrown out what I now believe to be working smart plugs due to this. I only became aware of these limits, baked into the devices firmware and not editable when I realised that the MAC whitelist only supported 20 devices, whereas my main router has no such limit, and that led me to the forum where they will happily tell you of the limit of connected devices, AFTER you have purchased. I'd say it's fine if you and only connecting devices you can count on one hand, but it's not a viable solution for extending the wireless load/range in an average home this day and age with how many devices in the home connect to the internet.

NOT TOO EASY TO SET UP BUT WORKS OK

I recently purchased the TP-Link TL-WA860RE N300 Universal Range Extender with Extra Power Outlet, and unfortunately, my experience with this product has been quite disappointing. Firstly, the setup process was more complicated than expected, with confusing instructions that made it challenging to get the extender up and running. It took me a significant amount of time to troubleshoot and configure the device, which was frustrating. In terms of performance, I found that the range extender did not provide a significant boost to my Wi-Fi signal strength. Even when placed in optimal locations, the extension of my network coverage was minimal, leading to continued dead zones in my home where the signal remained weak or non-existent. The extra power outlet feature, while convenient in theory, did not function reliably. I encountered issues with the power outlet not working intermittently, which was a major downside considering one of the selling points of this product. Despite reaching out to Amazon for a replacement, the second unit they sent did not perform any better. This consistent lack of improvement only added to my disappointment with the TP-Link TL-WA860RE N300 Universal Range Extender. Overall, I would not recommend this product to those seeking a reliable and effective solution for extending their Wi-Fi coverage. The setup difficulties, lackluster performance, and unreliable power outlet make this range extender fall short of expectations, even after attempting a replacement.

I bought two of these earlier in the year so waited to write a review. Before I bought them wifi signal was weak in my kitchen and upstairs, the garden was non existent. My property is build with engineering bricks which are much stronger than normal brick. Using WPS they were extremely easy to pair, I have put one upstairs and one in the kitchen, I can connect now from anywhere including my garden, I can stream and watch anything in the garden now. Only problem I am having is with my Ring doorbell where the signal is still weak, I moved the one from the kitchen into the hall and voilà strong connection to my Ring so I guess I need another one. All in all I think a very good product and would recommend. To follow on from my Ring problem I bought another extender, this time it wouldn’t connect using WPS so I had to use the app which worked fine. It has reduced the RSSI on my Ring from 75 to 46 so all is good.