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Introduction
| At a Glance | |
|---|---|
| Product | NETGEAR Universal WiFi Range Extender (WN2000RPT) |
| Summary | Easy-to-use dual-stream 802.11n wireless repeater / bridge with built-in four-port switch |
| Pros | • Supports 300 Mbps maximum link rate • Good setup wizard • Can be used as repeater or bridge • Doesn't require WDS |
| Cons | • 2.4 GHz only • Can't be used as access point • Might not help much |
Many products designed to stretch your wireless network's range have passed across the SNB test bench. Most don't deliver anywhere near what they promise, or require a router supporting WDS, or are near impossible to set up, or all the above.
So I cast a skeptical eye upon NETGEAR's WN2000RPT (not to be confused with its WNR2000 Wireless-N Router) as I unboxed it and prepared to be unimpressed. Little did I know that I'd be pleasantly surprised instead.
Inside
Figure 1 shows the inside of the WN2000RPT. Most of the good stuff is covered by RF shielding and heatsinks. But the FCC ID photos include a detail showing an Atheros AR9103 2.4 GHz 3X3 MIMO 802.11n radio, which is typically paired with an Atheros AR9132 3X3 Wireless Network Processor.
Figure 1: WN2000PT board
Note that this is a full dual-stream N extender, not single stream like the Innoband HomePlug AV Wireless N Kit. So you have more bandwidth to work with (or throw away due to repeating).
The design includes a four-port 10/100 switch, which I think is supported via an Atheros AR8236. So the WN2000RPT can also be used as a wireless bridge to wired clients, which will not suffer the 50% throughput reduction that wireless clients associated with it receive. 32 MB of RAM and 4 MB of flash finish up the design.
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User reviews
View all user reviewsAverage user rating from: 26 user(s)
This works very well
I think this is perfect for what I needed. im in a new unit, or floor above a shop. the property is very long, at around 35-40 meters, lots of walls in the way. With my router modem I was able to get reception either from the middle of the house, to each side just. (one side being rather weak) OR my other choice was to move it to the other end of the place, but this meant no reception at the OTHER end.
Enter in this product, bam, reception eerywhere and its very good, can stream NBA and my GF watches all her shows so thumbs up!
Great product once you get it to work! Heres the FIX
This is a perfectly fine product once you know how to set it up! I was about ready to return it for the money spent, there was no way I would pay for them to help me fix the problem! It is really simple once I came across the right resources, so I'll share to those who may come across this tip. If you're able to get enough of a signal from where you are with your computer, connect an ethernet cable directly from you're extender to your computer which you are doing the setup on. Make sure your computer is not connected to wifi. Hold the reset button on the extender, and then start the setup the way you have already tried. Before it would complete but there would be no internet access, now you should be able to connect just fine and remove the ethernet cable if you want. Hope this helps to you all that are having problems!
WN2000RPT
I paid $87.50 for this "easy to set up" POS. Netgear manufactures its products so all but the most technical buyers must end up buying support, which also completely sucks. Unless of course you speak an Indian dialect, in which case you might understand some of what the person on the other end of the line is saying, e.g. "I'm going to put you on hold for just a minute", which means they are never coming back on the line. Would not recommend this Netgear product to anyone, and under no circumstances would I recommend Netgear's support service.
Setup is easy, doesn't seem to help
This looked like a piece of cake. Plug it in, push the buttons. Everything went the way it was supposed to... except it didn't improve signal strength. I moved the unit all over the house and that changed very little. Either my house is made of some strange, alien material or the extender just doesn't seem to help. I have the same signal strength I had with just the wireless router.
WN2000RPT lame
Got to the setup wizard, wireless signal between Mac laptop and Extender, but would not allow connection to the extended network (NETGEAR_EXT) to finish the install. Found out this seems a common problem. Instructions for the final step was not available at all for the Mac, even though it should be pretty intuitive-obviously not. 24/7 tech support on the box cuts you off after you press 1 for tech support.
Its going back to the store- NETGEAR may intentionally make the last step of the install secretive so customers would have to pay for support.
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