[section_title title=Introduction]
Introduction
- Brand: TP-Link
- Model: RE200
- Price: £40.49 (At the time of the review)
TP-Link has been one of the cornerstones of networking products on the global market since their first entry into the international market in 2005. Although they were formed in 1996, they have gone from strength to strength since then and continue to provide consumers and businesses alike with many different products, catering for many different needs.
For those of you that do not know; Wireless Extenders are a good way to get your internet signal from one room to another without having to run cables through the whole house. To use the adapters you just plug one into your wall somewhere away from the router and it extends the range of the wireless somewhat far.
Today we will be taking a look at the TP-Link RE200 AC750 WiFi range extender. One of the unique features here is it AC compatible and therefore support both he 2.4 and 5GHz wireless frequencies. Great for people new to the relatively, or in my case clear, frequency that is 5GHz WiFi.
What TP-Link says about the RE200:
RE200 expands your existing WiFi coverage with next generation 11AC WiFi technology. It works with any standard WiFi router and creates stronger dual band connections in hard-to-reach areas, allowing you to enjoy seamless wireless coverage throughout your home or office.
Create faster access for 802.11 b/g/n and 802.11ac WiFi devices. RE200 delivers fast speeds of dual band WiFi up to 750Mbps and provides reliable connections for laptops, smartphones, tablets and other wireless-enabled devices.
Specifications
| HARDWARE FEATURES | |
|---|---|
| Standards and Protocols | IEEE802.11ac, IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11b |
| Interface | 1 * 10/100M Ethernet Port (RJ45) |
| Plug Type | EU, UK, US, AU |
| Button | RE (Range Extender) Button, Reset Button |
| Dimensions (W X D X H) | 4.3x 2.6 x 3.0in. (110.0 x 65.8 x 75.2mm) |
| Antenna | 3 * internal |
| Power Consumption | About 6.5W |
| WIRELESS FEATURES | |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 2.4GHz & 5GHz |
| Signal Rate | 5GHz:Upto 433Mbps2.4GHz:Upto 300Mpbs |
| Reception Sensitivity | 2.4G:270M: -70dBm@10% PER130M: -70dBm@10% PER108M: -73dBm@10% PER54M: -75dBm@10% PER11M: -86dBm@8% PER6M: -92dBm@10% PER
1M: -94dBm@8% PER 5G: 390M: -60dBm@10% PER 29.3M: -83dBm@10% PER 180M: -64dBm@10% PER 13.5M: -87dBm@10% PER 78M: -68dBm@10% PER 6.5M: -90dBm@10% PER 54M: -75dBm@10% PER 6M：-90dBm@10% PER |
| Transmit Power | < 20 dBm (EIRP) |
| Wireless Modes | Range Extender |
| Wireless Functions | WMM (Wi-Fi Multimedia)Wireless StatisticDomain Login Function |
| Wireless Security | 64/128/152-bit WEPWPA-PSK / WPA2-PSK |
| OTHERS | |
|---|---|
| Certification | CE, FCC, RoHS |
| Package Contents | AC750 WiFi Range Extender RE200RJ-45 Ethernet CableResource CDQuick Installation Guide |
| System Requirements | Microsoft® Windows® 98SE, NT, 2000, XP, Vista or Windows 7, 8, Mac® OS, NetWare®, UNIX® or Linux. |
| Environment | Operating Temperature: 0°C~40°C (32°F~104°F)Storage Temperature: -40°C~70°C (-40°F~158°F)Operating Humidity: 10%~90% non-condensingStorage Humidity: 5%~90% non-condensing |
I bought the TP-Link RE200 AC750 today and honestly it was such a disappointment! I use the powerline adapters and there amazing but this is such a let down. It can’t pick up the wifi anywhere in the house unless it’s in the same room. Makes it kinda useless!
Hey Mick, thanks for letting us know what’s going on with your Wi-Fi extender. I didn’t review the product so I can’t speak for our editor’s experience, but having used a very cheap extender / repeater I can see that what you’re reporting is certainly not what anyone would expect when they buy such a device.
There are a couple of things you can do which may improve the situation…
1) Download a wi-fi sniffer app onto your smartphone to get a visual representation of not only your network but also all other local networks which might be causing interference. If your neighbour has a powerful router running on the same channel as your network it can cause interference and greatly reduce the effectiveness of your wifi setup. There are plenty of free apps that will do the job for both Android and iPhone, the one I use on Android is made by Netgear and called Wifi Analytics. It’ll give you an easy to read graph showing all bandwidth use and armed with that info you can take the guesswork out of finding a clear channel for your network. I’m not saying the Netgear app is the best choice, it’s simply the one I use and because it does everything I needed it wasn’t necessary for me to look further into the alternatives.
2) Try to find out if there’s a firmware update that will improve the effectiveness of the TP-Link RE200 AC750 – It’s important to know that there may be regional variations in the hardware and so you need to download the correct firmware for your region. If you’re in the UK you can find all the support info here https://www.tp-link.com/uk/support/download/re200/ otherwise you can use that link as a gateway to then change to your own region.
3) If none of the above options help, ie. there’s no interference and the device is up to date, it might simply be that you have a faulty unit. It’s never a nice experience to receive a defective product, but I would suggest that you report your problems directly to TP-Link so that they can assist you either by resolving issues that I’ve not considered or helping to arrange a replacement device if it’s necessary.
I hope this reply is helpful for you. Please let us know how you get on if you choose to persevere with the extender… our reviews are only as good as our own experience with any product so feedback from the community (even if it’s ‘bad news’) helps other shoppers when it comes to choosing their next purchase.
My son bought me one to improve lap-top, tablet & mobile internet reception on the ground floor of our 1929 brick built house. The Virgin router is located upstairs. The RE 200 doubled the DL speed from about 20 to 40 Mbps. This made a noticeable improvement particularly to Facetime chats with family & friends.