Is it that far corner of the attic?
Maybe the spare bedroom? What about the bathroom – ever had trouble
there? For us, our WiFi deadspot is the upstairs toilet, and although
you're probably wondering why we're bothered about getting a fast
internet connection while sitting on the loo, the most important
thing to know is that the most annoying of First World Problems has
finally been solved – by the TRENDnet N300 Easy-N-Range Extender.
Now wash your hands.
It is a common problem; one we've had
in every house our fetid sink has previously occupied. Sometimes, no
matter how expensive and well positioned your WiFi router is, there’s
always a spot in the house that gets poor reception. Be it due to
thick walls, solid floors, concrete blast shelters or gremlins that
eat internet signal, there is just no escaping the fact that WiFi
coverage is never complete. Instead of moving your router into every
room you want to go online in (or indeed set up camp next to the
router by the draughty front door) get this.
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| By far the best black thing with two antenna we've ever seen |
Straight out of the box the
Easy-N-Range Extender looks solid, sleek and well built – well
done, our dear colonial cousins. TRENDnet make a plethora of routers
and servers in the States so they should know a thing or two about
getting you surfing; certainly they know a thing or two about
simplicity. Simply plug in the device (which is much smaller than an
actual router, despite having a similar look), hit the WPS button on
your router, and hey presto you're in business. The Easy-N-Range
Extender will pick up your WiFi signal in its strong and rugged
American hands, cup it gently as if embracing a tender lover, then
chuck it out to the rest of your house with added vim and vigour.
It really did add a noticeable boost.
We placed it at the furthest point in the house from the router
(which, weirdly, wasn't actually the location of the weakest signal)
and the Easy-N-Range still picked it up and added strength and speed.
Basically no more deadspots. We dashed to the toilet, laptops in
hand.
We were very satisfied with the
extender and happily got on with our amazingly exciting lives, safe
in the knowledge that there was a strong Wifi signal in all areas of
the house. But then one day disaster struck and stone age era
internet returned in abundance. For some reason we've yet to discern,
the Easy-N-Range Extender lost connection to the router and the WiFi
coverage retuned to being patchy. We tried to establish the same easy
connection we had straight out of the box, but the device refused to
find the router. After much switching on and off again of both pieces
of tech, the Easy-N-Range finally found the mark and returned to
former glory. It was a little disconcerting incident, one we'd prefer
not to have to deal with again, but definitely thought it best to
mention. It seems that many of the online reviews of the extender had
a similar tale to tell, but thankfully ours was a simple fix.
At the end of the day (which is usually
when you want to go online) we were very impressed by the
Easy-N-Range Extender from TRENDnet. Nice and discreet, we could
imagine it being especially useful for people with larger houses, or
those wanting to extend the range of their network to outhouses,
sheds or into the garden, but are unable to wire up a router. Its
something that has had mixed reviews so far -and this review itself
isn't 100% certified 'Yay!' - but at that price we couldn't quibble.
Perverts please note: this will only
extend your WiFi network.
Around £29.99 depending where you buy.
Visit www.trendnet.com