Linksys Wireless-G Range Expander WRE54G - Repeater - external Review & Ratings

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Linksys Wireless-G Range Expander WRE54G - Repeater - external Review

I got this unit used from a company that decided to go back to a wired network. This device is usually not needed in a home network and I eventually found I did not need it. All my computers are within a 50 foot range of the wireless router. I did find that it did boost the signal, but it only showed up as a small percentage of gain, about 5 to 10 percent. I think the gain would have been larger if a computer was beyond or near the edge of the wireless router's range. There are two Linksys Wireless-G Range Expanders, both of them have the model number WRE54G, mine also has "version 2" mentioned right after the model number. The difference in the two is significant. Version 2 has an ethernet port below the LED lights. This makes autoconfiguration easy. The other model needs to have the wireless security disabled in order for the "autoconfiguration" button to work. This one gives the option of just plugging in an ethernet connection to the router and then hitting "autoconfigure", holding it until the red LED light turns on. The ethernet cable bypasses the wireless security (both WEP and WPA). This makes a potential headache disappear. However, both of these WRE54G range extenders (version 1 and 2) were created before WPA encryption came out. If the unit does not work, it might need a firmware update. It may be possible to manually configure it, too, by going to the web browser (while the unit is on) and type the following URL: 192.168.1.240 I suspect without the right firmware, when the DCHP rotates that the unit might not update properly and you might need to the configure button every time it rotates (about every 15 to 30 minutes). It seemed one other review reflected this problem. All in all, the unit does what it is supposed to do, which is to boost signal strength to wireless computers within a network that either are outside the range of the router or near the outside edge of the router's range and some signal obstructions are present (including other networks). The configuration needs to have the range expander close to the wireless router or plugged into the router via the ethernet port. I think the unit is only designed to work with a Linksys wireless router, but may possibly work with other wireless routers if one configures it manually (it may still end up having the rotating DCHP problem mentioned earlier but maybe not). Linksys support seems helpful. Many reviews seem to have information posted on them that they got from Linksys support. In terms of how I would evaluate ease of installation. I think for some people it might be easy and for others it might be hard, depending on the firmware, and which wireless router they are using, and whether or not you have the version 2 option of plugging in an ethernet cable to configure it. I give the unit four stars because it does what it is meant to do but may have some issues with a particular network. I mainly wanted to write this review to alert people to the ethernet cable configuration method, since it was not mentioned in any other review and also the need to perhaps update the firmware (especially for WPA encryption). If it does not configure easily, you mean need to work with the manual, the support page, or call Linksys support. I found, for myself, that I just needed to plug in the ethernet cable, push the autoconfigure button, and wait 10 seconds. I double checked my success by checking the URL mentioned above. I checked the signal strength with a software signal meter and by turning the unit on and off to see if some difference registers. Oddly enough, if I put the unit too close to the computer it sometimes weakened the signal. It needs to be a little bit away and to not compete with the signal of those computers that already within serviceable range from the router. I gave "ease of installation" three stars, because it is going to go either way (one star hard or five star easy).

Linksys Wireless-G Range Expander WRE54G - Repeater - external Overview

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