Wireless-G Range Expander

• Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 71 reviews
• My rating: 0 stars

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• 6 stars

  Great product when you finally get it to work!

  by juney on March 17, 2005

  Pros: Expands your range to hard to reach places

  Cons: Hell to configure! throw the Setup disc in the trash!

  Summary: I think it's a good product, but Linksys did a horrible job with the directions on how to use it. Luckily I read a review on CNET before I ...

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  Summary: I think it's a good product, but Linksys did a horrible job with the directions on how to use it. Luckily I read a review on CNET before I configured it because I would not have been able to use it if I didnt. 1) Go into your Linksys router web tool and disable WEP if it is enabled (and it should be). 2) Plug in your range extender and press the auto configuration button. 3) Once you get a blue link light set your WEP on the range extender to match those of your router (You will lose your link when this happens, but that is ok) 4) Enable your WEP again with your router (the link should return again). You should be good to go now. However, it may take several tries to get it right. The RE is very tempermental and may not link the first time. It took me 5 tries before I got it, but it is finally up and gives me a great signal boost. Just remember not to use the setup disc. it's useless!!!!

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  14 out of 14 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 7 stars

  Increase the range of your wireless network

  by DaveMcLain on September 28, 2006

  Pros: Great increase in useable wireless range

  Cons: Very tricky to setup in some situations

  Summary: I bought this device used off of E-Bay about 8 months ago to use to extend the range of my wireless network more than 300 ft across the yard from ...

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  Summary: I bought this device used off of E-Bay about 8 months ago to use to extend the range of my wireless network more than 300 ft across the yard from one building with a high speed connection, into a house and into the office room. My router(Linksys wrt54G) could not provide enough signal for a reasonably reliable wireless connection over this distance, through walls etc. I saw the wre54g on E-Bay and after reading many lukewarm reviews decided to give it a try.
  
  The device is smaller than you would think, just a box with a single antena that you can click to various angles. It also has a funky power supply that plugs into the bottom or allows you to plug the box into an outlet and hang it on the wall. In my situation I placed it on a window ledge at the end of the house nearest to my router which is still across the yard in another building.
  
  Before placing the unit I had to get it set up and working with my router. This was rather difficult and it took me about an hour to get it to "talk" to the router. Once I had it working I upgraded the firmware to the latest version. My hardware is not the latest version because mine does not have a wired ethernet jack, it's totally wireless.
  
  Many people have had problems getting this device to work but I found that it will not automatically connect to the router unless you're running both G AND B signals, do that and it'll hook right up, at least it did for me. Two blue lights on the top, one steady and one blinking when data transfers through the box.
  
  This thing has been working very good now for the last 6 months or so. The connection is fast and reliable. It is true that if you use one of these boxes to extend your range that you will cut your wireless G bandwith from a theoretical 54Mb/sec down to around 24Mb/sec. In my case where the computers on the extended side of the network are used for internet surfing, downloading etc I've not noticed any appreciable difference in speed. Even when transfering files to a NAS located in the other building it's fast and reliable, still faster than that hard drive.
  
  One of those products that works great once you get it TO work. If you have one you need to be patient and get it working because once it does it's nearly flawless.

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  10 out of 10 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 8 stars

  Upgraded it's firmware and it works fine.

  by fliersrr on July 4, 2006

  Pros: Nice looking, expands your range

  Cons: Difficult to set up for the average or advanced user.

  Summary: Here is how to setup and get your WRE54G working. First reset your current router to factory defaults. (no encryption, no hiding SSID, no nothing. Upgrade it's firmware to ...

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  Summary: Here is how to setup and get your WRE54G working. First reset your current router to factory defaults. (no encryption, no hiding SSID, no nothing. Upgrade it's firmware to Link sys latest. Use a cat cable to connect a PC or laptop to your current router. Get connected to the INTERNET. Type in your http://192.168.1.1 to connect to your router. Do not change anything. Now open a new browser and type in http://192.168.1.240 and connect to your new WRE54G. Now you can see you are communicating with the WRE54G. Now look for firmware upgrade link. Upgrade to latest from Linksys site. Now toggle back and forth from each browser and make changes one at a time. Always do WRE54G first and it will go off line, but as soon as you do the change on the router, it's back on-line. The latest WRE54G firmware gives Pre-Shared Key, TKIP. Nice.

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  7 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 5 stars

  challenging setup; could be better

  by gkopp on March 30, 2005

  Pros: Expanded the network signal dramatically.

  Cons: Very challenging setup. Not seamless operability.

  Summary: After a long drawn out installation, I found the strong signal ruined my 2.4ghz wireless phones and had to switch back to 900mhz. Important note that if you are ...

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  Summary: After a long drawn out installation, I found the strong signal ruined my 2.4ghz wireless phones and had to switch back to 900mhz. Important note that if you are using your primary access point and you move away towards your repeater, you have to log onto the repeater manually to switch to the stronger signal. It isn't automatic. There may be a way to program the seemless switching, but I couldn't do it. In the long run, it worked ok, but if you move around your house at all with your notebook computer, it can create issues...

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  6 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 5 stars

  Great product, tech support / included setup instructions worthless.

  by Ruger16 on May 18, 2005

  Pros: Works great, well worth the $100, greatly extended my wireless network range.

  Cons: Horrible installation manual, horrible tech support

  Summary: The WRE54G is a great product once you get it set up. The whole installation process takes about 10 min. once you figure out what you're doing, only took ...

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  Summary: The WRE54G is a great product once you get it set up. The whole installation process takes about 10 min. once you figure out what you're doing, only took me 7 hours till i got it up and running. The best advice i can give you is to disable WEP on your router, plug in the WRE54G push the auto connect, if the WRE54G is working properly with your wireless security diabled call Linksys and tell them you want to turn on WEP on the router and on the WRE54G also tell them you want to upgrade the WRE54G firmware, if you don't upgrade the firmware it wont work. good luck, and remember the Tech's don't know alot of english and apparently have a predisposition that we're all incompitant, so give them a hard time about it. it makes the installation process a lot more enjoyable...

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  4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 5 stars

  Very problematic setup

  by mattg on April 24, 2005

  Pros: Good reception, pretty blue lights

  Cons: Problematic setup, only supports WEP encryption, does not allow MAC filtering

  Summary: I just wanted to post this to share my experience, as reading some of the other posts helped me quite a bit. First of all, I had some trouble because ...

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  Summary: I just wanted to post this to share my experience, as reading some of the other posts helped me quite a bit. First of all, I had some trouble because I'd long-since changed the channel on my access point (AP) from the default of 6 to 3, and I'd set my SSID to not broadcast. Right away, the range extender (RE) wouldn't auto-configure because it couldn't find the AP. Oddly, when I set the AP back to broadcast the SSID, the RE still couldn't find it and it didn't until I set the channel back to the default of 6. Then it found the AP easily (after the 59th time hitting the auto-configure button) and set the SSID to what it is on my AP. Oh, what a relief to see that blue light shining!
  
  Take note of all of the other posts here (as well as the RE setup guide) that you need to have WEP disabled before doing any of this. Also, I found no use for the included setup disc. Once the blue light was on indicating connectivity, all I had to do was connect to 192.168.1.240 (from a wireless device, not my wired computer) and turn on WEP. You need to turn on WEP on the RE first. The light will turn red until you turn on WEP on your AP. Then it will go back to blue.
  
  A few notes: reception is good, but I'm not thrilled that you only have WEP as a security option and especially not thrilled that you cannot filter MAC addresses. I used to use WEP *plus* filtering only the MAC addresses of my wireless cards, ensuring that nobody else could connect. Now, I have to allow everybody. Query the linksys support page for this product (search on keyword: MAC) for this document:
  
  "When wireless clients are connecting to a wireless network through a WRE54G Range Expander, their MAC address is not seen by the main wireless router or access point. Instead, the MAC address of the WRE54G is transmitted and it is considered a client.
  
  As a result, Wireless MAC Filtering on the main wireless router or access point will have no effect on clients connecting through a WRE54G Range Expander. If you have prevented a specific computer or device from accessing the wireless network by using its MAC address and the Prevent method, they will still be able to access the network by connecting to the WRE54G Range Expander.
  
  NOTE: If you specify the MAC address of the WRE54G using the Prevent method, you will block all clients that are connecting to the Range Expander from accessing the wireless network. There is currently no way to specify which MAC addresses can and cannot access the network when they are connecting via a WRE54G Range Expander."

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  4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 3 stars

  Setup is awful, but once done, seems to work

  by on January 31, 2005

  Pros: Works once setup

  Cons: I bought this in an attempt to extend my wireless signal in my plaster filled house. It appears to work as expected, but the set up was very problematic. Do NOT follow the stated instructions unless you are not using WEP (and you should be!) and don't c

  2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  Expected the worst, but set-up was a breeze!

  by rlocke on July 29, 2007

  Pros: Boosted signal by 50%, portability, and EASY SET-UP!

  Cons: None at this point. I will revise this posting if something comes up later.

  Summary: I needed to boost my wireless signal on my main floor, basement, and outside deck as the signal received from the top floor wifi router/access point was usually poor ...

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  Summary: I needed to boost my wireless signal on my main floor, basement, and outside deck as the signal received from the top floor wifi router/access point was usually poor to fair, at best.
  
  I purchased this unit off eBay in spite of the extreme experiences cited in the user opinions. I was disappointed to see that I got an earlier version without the option for ethernet connection. I then spent the better part of 2 days reading all of the opinions and printed out those which suggested better ways to get it set-up. What a waste!
  
  I went to the room where my Linksys WRG54GS Wireless router is being used as an access point with my Cayman (dated!) 8-port wired router. I thought I would give it a try before resorting to all of the other suggestions. I plugged it into the wall outlet after re-booting my desktop (no wifi) and laptop (with wifi).
  
  I immediately got the "blue light" indicating that the WRG54GS and the WRE54G were communicating. I hit the autoconfig button and after going first to red light, the WRE54G went back to blue. I then went to the furthest reaches of a large house, in the basement, away from the top floor where the routers are located.
  
  I plugged the range expander back into a wall outlet, received another blue light and more importantly, my signal in the basement went from no bars (Poor) to 4 bars (Excellent).
  
  My connection speeds are good and I downloaded an update from Microsoft with nearly the same speed as when I was attached by a CAT 5 cable.
  
  I can't be more pleased. I may be one of the lucky ones but it works for me!
  
  PS I also checked my cordless phone system. That works as well as it did previously.

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  great product

  by jaspertang on April 10, 2007

  Pros: works very well

  Cons: set up is tricky

  Summary: for set up all you have to do is connect the expander to your PC via wired then change it's SSID with your router's SSID(router and expander ...

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  Summary: for set up all you have to do is connect the expander to your PC via wired then change it's SSID with your router's SSID(router and expander same SSID) and change the expander's default gateway to the IP address of your router then save settings then its good to go.

  Updated
  i think your computer needs to have a static ip address, when i use a dynamic one it doesn't work...

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 1 stars

  Will not work with routers other then linksys

  by AJDubb on February 23, 2006

  Pros: Pretty blue lights that lie

  Cons: poor support, poor product, poor documenation, poor software

  Summary: I was looking to expand my home network, I should have come here first and researched before I bought.
  The setup wizard did not work, the documenation instructions did not
  ...

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  Summary: I was looking to expand my home network, I should have come here first and researched before I bought.
  The setup wizard did not work, the documenation instructions did not work. I called tech support and waited for 45 minutes to talk to a guy in india. We went through the same steps above. He told me to download and upgrade the firmware and call back. Once I was done with that I called back and was walked through the same steps again, then we went to manual configuration and completed the set up. PRETTY BLUE LIGHTS YEA!!! The tech support said it was working and we hung up. I then tried to access the internet.....fail....
  
  I have spent the last two evening researching this site and others in trying to get this to work. I have finally given up using all your suggestions and am going to take this piece of XXXX back to the store.
  
  I will learn next time to come here first. I will buy the D-link range expander that is compatibale with all manufactures of APs.
  
  I will not buy another link sys product again.

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

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