Review NETGEAR N600 Dual Band Wi-Fi Range Extender

My house is not huge by any stretch of the imagination, only about 1800 sq ft. My office is located on the 2nd floor and even with a good quality wireless router (I was using a Netgear AC1750 - R6300), I can run in to some 2 bar WiFi areas in my house. And outside on the patio it's about the same. Immediately upon installing the Netgear Wi-Fi Range Extender, all areas of my house had a solid 5 bar signal strength on either the 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz frequency.

Using a signal strength app on my Nexus 7 tablet, I was able to easily compare the signal strengths of my wireless router to that of the Netgear Range Extender. As I reached areas where the router signal was weakening, the Netgear Range Extender signal was strong. So for me, in my situation I suddenly had perfect signal anywhere in my house and outside on the patio as well.

Installation was a breeze. It was easy in part because of the clear setup instructions provided.

You have two choices for powering the range extender; you can either use the provided AC cord with docking station (no power wart necessary as the power supply is built-in to the range extender) or you can attach an AC plug directly to the range extender and plug the unit in to a wall outlet. That's how I choose to use it but it is kind of bulky and sticks out quite a bit and is also prone to pulling out of the plug receptacle if installed so that the ports are facing up rather than pointing down (it's top heavy in that orientation.).

The range extender has red/green LED"s that assist you in putting it in the optimal location to maximize it's potential. I should say the LED"s assist you assuming you are not red/green colorblind, which I am. So for me they were of no assistance whatsoever. But in my situation, it wasn't really a big deal for me since my house was small enough and I had the assistance of the signal strength app on my Nexus 7.

Once you are up and running you have lots of options. An advantage to this range extender is that it is dual-band which means you can simultaneously use both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands (assuming your router is also dual-band).

More advantages: I use Apple computers and can use Airplay to stream and play music through a connected speaker through the range extender (the range extender has a 3.5mm audio out port for this purpose.) You also can hook up and wirelessly print to a connected USB printer because the range extender includes a USB port for this purpose. Incidentally, you can use the USB port to charge a smartphone or other such device that charges via USB. There is also a fast ethernet port which enables you to attach a device such as a ROKU to the range extender.

I have noticed that the throughput is not as fast with the range extender as when connecting to the Wireless Router. But that is because of technical reasons and not because the range extender is deficient. It's not that big of a hit in my experience using it and because of the benefit of having a strong signal with a performance hit rather than a weak signal with no performance hit, I'll take the former.

I have no real complaints with the range extender. It has solved a signal issue in my house.

For what it's worth, I recently got a Netgear AC1900 - R7000 and it's superior performance has eliminated the need for me to use the range extender.

I was provided a sample of the range extender from Netgear for testing and review.

Review from Mr Erb.Thanks for watching.