TP-Link N300 Wireless Extender, Wi-Fi Router (TL-WR841N) - 2 x 5dBi High Power Antennas, Supports Access Point, WISP, Up to 300Mbps

Instructions for setting up the TPLink WR841N wireless router as a repeater:This is a great unit for a ridiculously low price. It can be used as a repeater (a.k.a. WiFi range extender). Setting this unit up as a repeater is pretty simple, but the manufacturer doesn't provide step-by-step instructions. I noticed some other instructions posted in these reviews had a number of steps that were not necessary, and were missing some steps. Being an Engineer, I couldn't help but proposing an improvement...These instructions assume you are connecting to a WiFi access point (AP) with a working Internet connection.Abbreviations:[example] = example values used during my setup. Yours might be a bit different.SOURCE-AP = the access point / router generating the wireless signal you want to repeat.REPEATER-AP = the access point / router repeating the wireless signal, the one that we are setting up.SOURCE-NET = the SSID (network name) of the wireless signal you want to repeat.REPEATER-NET = the SSID (network name) of the repeated wireless signal.Before starting, gather the following information:- the LAN/wireless side IP address of the control interface for the SOURCE-AP [192.168.3.1]- the subnet the SOURCE-AP is using on the LAN/wireless side. [192.168.3.x]- the SOURCE-NET name [GROUND]- the encryption type and password [WPA-2 PERSONAL, xxxx]- the channel the wireless signal to be repeated is on. [3]To determine the LAN/wireless IP address and subnet of the SOURCE-AP, look at the IP address and default gateway of a device directly connected to the SOURCE-AP. (Open the Network connections folder, click change adapter settings, and view status and then details in Windows).For the channel, it is preferable to go to the SOURCE-AP and set the channel to 3 instead of "auto" so it does not change, and uses an unpopular channel likely to have less interference. If you don't control the SOURCE-AP (e.g. you are connecting to your neighbor's WiFi), you can find out what the channel is during the setup steps below.Here we go:1. Plug the power into the REPEATER-AP. If any settings have already been changed on the device, press and hold the reset button on the back for ten seconds until all lights are illuminated to indicate reset happening. Reset is not necessary if the unit is fresh out of the box.2. Plug a PC into a LAN port on the REPEATER-AP with the supplied LAN patch cable. I used my laptop. Make sure the LAN adapter is set to get an IP address automatically. (Open the Network connections folder, click change adapter settings, and view properties in Windows). Make sure the LAN adapter is the only one enabled. Disable the wireless adapter.3. Open a browser and go to tplinklogin dot net (replace dot with a . - amazon doesn't allow URLs here...) or 192.168.0.1, the default address of the control interface of REPEATER-AP. The default username, password is admin, admin. Don't do the quick setup.4. Click "Wireless" on the left column menu. On the Wireless Settings page that appears:a. Under the dropdown list for "Channel", select the channel the wireless signal to be repeated is on. [3] If you don't know, skip this step and the unit will force you to select the correct one after the "Survey" step below.b. Click the "Enable WDS bridging" checkbox.c. Click "Survey". A list of SSIDs appears. Click "connect" on the one that is SOURCE-NET. [GROUND] All of the fields are automatically populated except for the password.d. Enter the password and click Save. Wait ten seconds for the processing to finish.e. At the top of the page beside Wireless Network Name, enter an name for REPEATER-NET [R1] and click Save.5. Click "Wireless Security" on the left column menu. Select Personal WPA2-PSK, AES encryption and enter a password for REPEATER-NET.6. Click "DHCP" on the left column menu. Click the DHCP disable radio button. Click Save. Ignore the reboot warning.7. Click "Network" on the left column menu.8. Click LAN. Change the IP address to one in the SOURCE-AP subnet that is not being used by any other device and click Save [192.168.3.200]. A reboot warning will appear. Click OK and let the unit reboot.9. The address in the browser will magically change to the IP address you entered in the previous step. This is the new IP address for the control interface on REPEATER-AP. You will be prompted to log in again.You should now have Internet connectivity! There is no "half-hour waiting period" others have noted. Perhaps that was due to misconfiguration.Open a new tab in your browser and go to news.google.com to verify.Wireless devices can now connect to REPEATER-NET. Wired devices can connect to REPEATER-AP. Both get Internet access through SOURCE-AP. Ain't life grand?Troubleshooting:It is possible that it may take some time to negotiate the wireless link between SOURCE-AP and REPEATER-AP. Wait two minutes, then refresh the news page.If that doesn't work, power REPEATER-AP off and on. Try news.google.com again. If that doesn't work, wait two minutes, then refresh again.If it still doesn't work, enter the LAN/wireless side IP address of the control interface for the SOURCE-AP [192.168.3.1] in a browser and hit Enter. If you see the control interface for SOURCE-AP, the wireless link is working! Try entering an Internet IP address, like [...] (one of my sites). If you see a page with content loaded, you have Internet connectivity (hooray), but your computer needs to be told a DNS server to use. In Windows, open the Network connections folder, click change adapter settings, properties, IPv4 properties, advanced, and in the Gateway area type in the IP address of the SOURCE-AP [192.168.3.1], click OK, OK, Close and try again.But none of that should be necessary. I have written these instructions with the unit beside me, following my own instructions and it worked first time.I have actually gone beyond these instructions to set up a chain of four of these units to provide wireless coverage from the basement to the fourth floor of a 150-year-old church with stone walls. And it worked!Good luck!P.S. Don't forget to go back in to REPEATER-AP and change the password. The menu item is hiding under System Tools on the left.

This is a great basic router well worth the $20. The 5 star rating is based upon the value for price and accuracy of advertised performance.I think it is also worthy of noting that this is a new router and not refurbished. Reading reviews on various refurbished routers being sold here and elsewhere gives evidence it is much better to buy a new router.I bought this because recently my Linksys E4200 dual band router I purchased two years ago stop working properly. Since it was out of warranty Linksys would not even help me with attempting a firmware update or check the settings unless I paid them $30 for a one time assistance or $40 for six months worth of support. I was not going to do that and subsequently figured out a physical part of the router is damaged. I decided instead to invest a minimal amount in a new router instead and am very happy I made that decision, especially as I subsequently figured out defective hardware was the cause of the old router malfunction.Since I needed to have my WiFi up and running while deciding what new high end router to purchase and at a sale price I decided to buy this router to see if it would fill the gap. So far it has done so extremely well.RANGE: The two omni-directional external 5dB gain antennas do a great job getting the signal at full strength to anywhere in my 3 level over 3,000 square foot house.SPEED: I have Comcast cable broadband with "blaster" service which is supposed to provide me with internet speeds of up to 50Mbps.When I measure the speed through the LAN port connected to my desktop downstairs, not using the WiFi signal but going through the router to the computer via ethernet connection I get a download speed of 72Mbps. When I measure the speed of the WiFi signal on my laptop with is on the top floor of the house it fluctuates between 50-60Mbps plus. These are the highest speeds I have measured with my service to date. Considering this is the least expensive router I have used and a 2.4 Ghz router I am quite impressed by this.I have Panasonic Blu Ray players which have WiFi apps and I have connected and watched some streaming HD video such as Netflix with this router and had no issues such as buffering. This was with the Blu Ray plus two laptops with internet being used for browsing.FEATURES: This is a basic router. It does have what is necessary for a secure and functional network however. For security it has a built in firewall, SSID broadcast control, MAC address access control, WEP encryption, WPA/WPA2, and WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK authentication.The IP QoS is good to have to help ensure no one user/device degrades other users service by hogging bandwidth.It also has WPS which doubles as a reset button depending upon how long you hold it down. To add devices to the WiFi network one needs only to push the WPS button on the router and then connect each device, the easiest way to add devices. Having the ON/OFF button allows one to easily turn the router on and off without having to disconnect the power cable which while simple is not a given for a router. There is also a web based interface for setting parental controls to applying firmware updates.SETUP: The router comes with a mini DVD set up disk. It is very simple and easy for anyone to set up the router in just a few minutes.WARRANTY: This router has a two year warranty with 24 hour support. I have not yet had the need to test the quality of the support however for a router that costs this little it is very encouraging.So far there are only a couple very minor design issues that I think could be improved. First the row of LED lights on the top front of the router that show status etc. could be brighter. With room or desk lighting they are noticeably more dim than other routers and modems and thus are more difficult to read. Secondly the power supply cord that plugs in to the router would be better if a bit longer and the "wall wart" type plug is small and rectangular but the prongs are oriented in such a way that if being plugged in to a power strip it either needs to be plugged in to a spot on the end or it will take up two outlet spaces.Overall I think this is a great router for the price and manages to do what I need it to do right now.Although it lacks most of the bells and whistles found on higher end routers they only become important if you actually use them.A dual band router would give both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz frequencies which would allow for potentially faster speeds with the 5Ghz as well as allowing for more users and more bandwidth intensive usage such as gaming/gaming consoles and HD media streaming with multiple users and devices using the network at the same time. It also does not have the ability to plug in storage cards to share data and/or media. It is also not compatible with the newest "ac" standard. It does not support Gigbit ethernet.However as a simple and inexpensive router it is providing a strong signal and fast speeds for what I am using it for. This is my first TP-Link router and I am hoping it will be reliable long term as well as having better customer service than I have experienced by NetGear and Linksys which have both been dismal. As long as this router continues to perform as it is now I will consider it a great bargain and well worth the $20 paid (with free shipping) and since it was sold by Amazon and not a third party I am confident if an issue were to arise that Amazon would be helpful in resolving the problem as needed which is another plus in my book.