This extender is as simple as it gets. Plug it into the wall, turn it on and it'll detect — and extend — your Wi-Fi automatically.(Amazon)
When I first moved into my house, there wasn't a single internet or cable hookup. After finally getting internet installed, the only place for it was upstairs, tucked away in the far corner. With my home theater two floors down in the basement, having a router that far away just wasn't cutting it. That's where the TP-Link Wi-Fi Extender saved the day. On sale right now for $16 at Amazon — that's almost 55% off — this genius gadget beams your Wi-Fi connection to every corner of your home … and beyond. At that price, you might as well buy a few.
For this price, you can buy one for every room and fill your home with Wi-Fi.
Improving your Wi-Fi often means spending a small fortune on a new router (believe me, I've done it plenty of times), but this $16 gadget can boost the signal to weaker areas of your home. It's an easy way to save a lot of money, even when it's not $19 off.
The TP-Link WiFi Extender extends the reach of your home’s Wi-Fi network while giving it a much-needed speed boost. If you live in a big space and your router is on one side of your home, but you want a strong and fast Wi-Fi connection on the other, this extender will come in handy. This little guy can cover an additional 1,200 square feet, as well as deliver up to 750Mbps (megabytes per second) for speedier internet service.
Meanwhile, this Wi-Fi extender also works as a mesh network, so you can seamlessly go room to room or story to story without skipping a beat. Unlike traditional Wi-Fi extenders, you don't have to reconnect to an extended network to get better range and speeds — it automatically logs in for you. In essence, it creates one large Wi-Fi network in your home, rather than multiple smaller ones.
This plug-and-play device is ready for action. Just plug the TP-Link extender into a wall outlet near where you want a signal boost, tap the green button twice, and it automatically syncs to your home’s Wi-Fi network. That's it. Your home's Wi-Fi signal will effectively bounce off this device's antennas to give you a more consistent signal throughout your home. The extender also comes with a built-in Ethernet port, so you can easily give your laptop, TV or streaming device a faster, more solid internet connection. It's like plugging directly into the web itself.
Almost 60,000 reviewers have given this extender five stars, with 10,000-plus sold in the past month alone.
"My bedroom is a Wi-Fi dead zone. It doesn't matter how good my router is, I will frequently lose connection altogether or get a really weak signal," shared a five-star reviewer. "I put this extender ... between the dead zone and my router, and the connection is amazing. I rarely lose connection. I generally have two or three bars compared to one bar. Most important, my bandwidth speed is anywhere from three to eight times as strong as it was without the extender."
"I really love ... that it's a mesh network," continued the reviewer. "For those of you who have used older extenders that made you log into a separate network, you know how frustrating this can be."
Added another five-star fan: "The extender works perfectly in my house. It boosts my modem-router combo significantly and provides a strong and steady signal into the room where I hold my meetings. In fact, my Wi-Fi analyzer app tells me that the signal from the TP-Link RE220 is usually stronger than the signal from my modem-router combo!"
"If you're like me and half of your house has no Wi-Fi because the crappy Xfinity modem/router combo sucks, then you need this," said another user. "In 10 minutes, I had everything set up and streaming 1080p videos. A much cheaper fix than buying a new router with further range, and easier to set up too. That includes a downside, however; your max speeds might not be as fast as they could be. A router will support a much faster download and upload speed, so you could be bottlenecking yourself."
Some users found setup time excessive. "It took me over an hour to properly set up. After you plug it in you find this device on your phone as a Wi-Fi network and connect to it," described a three-star reviewer. "Then you can get into it and finish the setup. It took me a while to figure this out."
"As is far too often the case, TPLink tries to make setup easier by using an app. In actuality, going to the webpage via your laptop is far more easy!" complained another three-star reviewer. "In terms of the extender doing what it is intended to do, it works very well once you overcome the challenges of setting it up."
The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.
If you have Amazon Prime, you'll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $35 or more.)
