I bought this to replace a cheap, no-name WiFi extender that i bought based off decent reviews. Brand CUU 2022 newest WiFi extender booster repeater 4000 sqft- blah blah blah. It was $2 more than this, the size of a pack of cigarettes, single band (2.4G) and only rated for 300mbps. I’m betting it came right from T e m u or A L I E X P R E S S and someone stateside just ordered a bunch and doubled the price. That was a mistake. The ONLY job the extender needed to do was boost the signal for an Amazon Firestick that’s plugged into the back of my old tv that i brought into the garage i dispatch out of for work. I work for a large utility company, and we garage out of a building thats an old converted airplane hanger. We sit around in the morning waiting for our work, and then again at the end of the day when we do or timesheets - so we wanted to be able to watch the news or whatever else during that downtime while we are waiting. The router is only about 70 feet away, but a hallway also separates it from the TV, so the WiFi signal has to make it through 2 concrete walls. Without an extender the tv would constantly buffer, just stall and lose signal, or the image quality was horrible. Basically it was unusable. We were unable to watch anything without it constantly having issues every few minutes. So not being a tech guy - i bought (what i thought was) a real cheap extender figuring anything would be good enough for ONE or TWO device connections. The difference in build quality and performance (so far) between my first purchase and this model is huge - and this was $2 cheaper. First off this is dual band, so it does both 2.4G and 5G bands. The 1200mbps rating (from what i understand) is the combined signal capacity, but you wont actually get that since you have to pick one of the two network signals its going to provide you with. So to be clear - It actually gives you two different WiFi networks you can connect to (maybe thats beneficial to someone, i have no idea). I know enough to know the 5G should be better. I installed this via TP’s tether app (i think thats what it was called), and even for someone like me, it was painless. The instructions are very clear and self explanatory once you launch the app. All you need is your router’s password, and obviously the name of its WiFi signal. After install and connection, youll get two more new WiFi signals that you can pick from to connect onto. One will say EXT on the end, and the other will say EXT 5G or something similar. I picked the 5G to connect my phone and Firestick to. Hooking up the Firestick to this was just as easy. Whats cool with the app, is you can even monitor and control WHO and WHAT is connected to the extenders network. So if someone else jumps onto it, you can block that device. It’ll show you how many devices are connected to each band (they show up as 2 different WiFi signals on the app), what type of devices they are, and like i said - will let you block individual devices from being able to use the new WiFi signal. If nothing else itll be fun to mess with the other 20 guys i work with if they figure out how to connect to it lol. I can literally sit there with my phone and turn their WiFi connection on and off if they jump onto this. But yea, what you get with this (a name brand unit from what I’m told) is leaps and bounds above what i just returned, and it was basically the same price. I just hooked it up today, so its still early - but so far the Firestick is working fine on a 4K tv. Picture quality is great, nothing is too slow to load, and most important the Firestick hasnt been buffering or had the signal stall out at all. And remember - its extending a signal thats behind 2 cinder block walls with heavy metal doors - so probably a bit more than youll have to deal with in a house. If it starts giving me any issues - i will report back. So far I’m much happier with this then the last purchase. So happy i didnt give up and just keep what i first bought. Its hard these days will all the fake reviews for products - and I promise you this is a completely honest and no BS review.
Not that i tried them all, but youll have 3 different options on how to connect this to your router. I suggest scanning the QR code in the instructions, downloading the app and installing it that way. If nothing else it’s pretty cool to actually be able to SEE who and what is connected to your new signal.
Edit: Ok so its been about a month now. My opinion of this product has not changed. The Firestick/tv has experienced some VERY minor buffering very infrequently, mostly in the morning when everyone is in the building (probably peak traffic for our router) so for me to claim it “never” buffers wouldn’t be accurate. Its most definitely not something that I would even attempt or consider addressing given my particular situation and conditions. Its not like I’m using this for anything important, i just wanna watch tv instead of listen to people complain. Our router is running half of our construction garage with close to a dozen desktops in different rooms just on our side of the building. Every tech has company tablets, so thats at least 20 guys just in my group alone that are splitting their signals between cell service and WiFi when they are close enough to jump on it. Just making the point our router is already handling way more stuff then anyone would experience at home, so some VERY infrequent hiccup on the Tv is easily forgiven in my eyes under these circumstances. The day after thanksgiving we only had about 5 guys in, and we were held back in the garage all day just to respond to any emergency call that might come in. I streamed the News, then John Wick 1 and 2 off Tubi with the Firestick and it was rock solid the entire time. I wouldn’t not hesitate for a second if i needed one of these for home.
| Wireless Type | 802.11n, 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11g, 802.11ac |
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