1.0 out of 5 stars Why this is even in production is a mystery to me.

2025-12-26    -Peter A.

First things first - I'm a fool who tried to over-think a problem. I bought this b/c the Blu-ray player I own for the family room is LAN line connection only. I've wanted to have streaming video in this room for some time but never really took the time to do it. Minus some boring details, I got this based on some reviews; one in particular discussing how it solved my very problem for someone else. Punch line to the whole thing is, after I get my refund, I'm buying a Wi-Fi capable Blu-ray player.The product:The overall look of the product is very sleek - nice and compact w/ flashing lights (and who doesn't like flashing lights?). Here ends the pros.I set it up w/ virtual ease and it connected to my router right off. Now, understand this, I already have a perfectly acceptable Wi-Fi signal in the family room, so you can imagine my surprise when it only registered a half-strength signal. So I switch to the higher band and now have no signal. After returning to the lower band, I was able to connect my player via Ethernet cable to the extender and upgraded my firmware. After this I attempted to connect to Netflix (the whole reason I got this thing!) and was prompted that there was no internet signal. "Well that can't be right," I thought and did a diagnostic. Nothing wrong; full connection according to my player and the two other content providers on my player. I figure it must be me and referred back to the set up instructions. As there are only three steps - plug in the unit, hit the connect button, enjoy increased Wi-Fi signal - I didn't think I missed anything, so I figure I'll check out the on-line manual for TroubleShooting.This is where I absolutely lost my cool and made the decision to return something purchased on Amazon for the first time. The address given for the manual takes you to the completely wrong page. After navigating the options there, knowing the extender wasn't part of the provided options but having to believe no company is stupid enough to give information that is blatantly false/incorrect, I finally found what I was looking for by exploring the company site. After all that time wasted, the TS was to turn everything off and turn it all back on again. "OK," I think (now cursing internally at the unnecessary difficulty I underwent for such a stupid answer) and followed the advice. After doing this, and following the same steps as I did initially to set-up the device, my player told me there was no connection. After unplugging/replugging cables, turning devices off and on again, running diagnostics, and making sure the Wi-Fi was working properly, I gave up. I printed my labels to return this thing.To end, I know this is a rant and I usually keep my reviews to about 5 lines (when I reeeeaallly like something) this just had to be said. The room I set-up in has a signal strength of about 4.5 mbps w/o a booster/extender according to my laptop. If this device didn't deliver in there, how is it supposed to deliver in a dead zone? "But you have to set it up in an area where you have a signal to extend the signal," I hear all at-home IT DIY'ers saying. I did and it still didn't deliver. In addition, the instructions and materials provided are a joke. I didn't even bother w/ support b/c, in my opinion, there's nothing someone over a phone is going to tell me that would have actually corrected the problem - this thing is a piece of junk.Like I said earlier, it's my own fault for not just buying a Wi-Fi Blu-ray player and saving myself this aggravation. Do yourself a favor, go another way besides the extender. Most reviews in magazines and consumer sites tell you this anyway (and I read all of those, thus further proving I'm a fool) and I have to agree w/ them now.

3.0 out of 5 stars Frustrating to set up if your router doesn't support WPS

2026-02-04    -MEJ

Other reviewers have commented on the scanty documentation provided in the box, which assumes your router has a WPS button. (Mine doesn't.) The owner's manual I found on WD's website seemed to be clear, and I followed the instructions to a T. After 24 hours of frequent tries, I finally called tech support, who gave me steps to follow, including one NOT in the manual: if you are Ethernet-cabling your computer to the range extender to configure the range extender, turn your computer's WiFi OFF before you type http://wdrangeextender in your browser. Then the rest of the manual's instructions work. My score reflects difficulty in setup, although performance is fine so far. I had a problem area in my house's addition where the original exterior wall is brick. The range extender is positioned to capture my router's signal and resend to the addition through drywall where a window used to be (no brick in the way now), and is working like a charm -- I have 5 constant bars where I used to average 3.

1.0 out of 5 stars Why this is even in production is a mystery to me.

2026-02-22    -Peter A.

First things first - I'm a fool who tried to over-think a problem. I bought this b/c the Blu-ray player I own for the family room is LAN line connection only. I've wanted to have streaming video in this room for some time but never really took the time to do it. Minus some boring details, I got this based on some reviews; one in particular discussing how it solved my very problem for someone else. Punch line to the whole thing is, after I get my refund, I'm buying a Wi-Fi capable Blu-ray player.The product:The overall look of the product is very sleek - nice and compact w/ flashing lights (and who doesn't like flashing lights?). Here ends the pros.I set it up w/ virtual ease and it connected to my router right off. Now, understand this, I already have a perfectly acceptable Wi-Fi signal in the family room, so you can imagine my surprise when it only registered a half-strength signal. So I switch to the higher band and now have no signal. After returning to the lower band, I was able to connect my player via Ethernet cable to the extender and upgraded my firmware. After this I attempted to connect to Netflix (the whole reason I got this thing!) and was prompted that there was no internet signal. "Well that can't be right," I thought and did a diagnostic. Nothing wrong; full connection according to my player and the two other content providers on my player. I figure it must be me and referred back to the set up instructions. As there are only three steps - plug in the unit, hit the connect button, enjoy increased Wi-Fi signal - I didn't think I missed anything, so I figure I'll check out the on-line manual for TroubleShooting.This is where I absolutely lost my cool and made the decision to return something purchased on Amazon for the first time. The address given for the manual takes you to the completely wrong page. After navigating the options there, knowing the extender wasn't part of the provided options but having to believe no company is stupid enough to give information that is blatantly false/incorrect, I finally found what I was looking for by exploring the company site. After all that time wasted, the TS was to turn everything off and turn it all back on again. "OK," I think (now cursing internally at the unnecessary difficulty I underwent for such a stupid answer) and followed the advice. After doing this, and following the same steps as I did initially to set-up the device, my player told me there was no connection. After unplugging/replugging cables, turning devices off and on again, running diagnostics, and making sure the Wi-Fi was working properly, I gave up. I printed my labels to return this thing.To end, I know this is a rant and I usually keep my reviews to about 5 lines (when I reeeeaallly like something) this just had to be said. The room I set-up in has a signal strength of about 4.5 mbps w/o a booster/extender according to my laptop. If this device didn't deliver in there, how is it supposed to deliver in a dead zone? "But you have to set it up in an area where you have a signal to extend the signal," I hear all at-home IT DIY'ers saying. I did and it still didn't deliver. In addition, the instructions and materials provided are a joke. I didn't even bother w/ support b/c, in my opinion, there's nothing someone over a phone is going to tell me that would have actually corrected the problem - this thing is a piece of junk.Like I said earlier, it's my own fault for not just buying a Wi-Fi Blu-ray player and saving myself this aggravation. Do yourself a favor, go another way besides the extender. Most reviews in magazines and consumer sites tell you this anyway (and I read all of those, thus further proving I'm a fool) and I have to agree w/ them now.

3.0 out of 5 stars Frustrating to set up if your router doesn't support WPS

2026-01-05    -MEJ

Other reviewers have commented on the scanty documentation provided in the box, which assumes your router has a WPS button. (Mine doesn't.) The owner's manual I found on WD's website seemed to be clear, and I followed the instructions to a T. After 24 hours of frequent tries, I finally called tech support, who gave me steps to follow, including one NOT in the manual: if you are Ethernet-cabling your computer to the range extender to configure the range extender, turn your computer's WiFi OFF before you type http://wdrangeextender in your browser. Then the rest of the manual's instructions work. My score reflects difficulty in setup, although performance is fine so far. I had a problem area in my house's addition where the original exterior wall is brick. The range extender is positioned to capture my router's signal and resend to the addition through drywall where a window used to be (no brick in the way now), and is working like a charm -- I have 5 constant bars where I used to average 3.

5.0 out of 5 stars Works as Advertised (almost)

2026-02-20    -The Dude

This Wi-Fi Range Extender has been working as advertised. I tried setting it up with the Push-button setup (WPS)but was unable to, the problem was most likely on the router/modem of my set up but I was not too worried about this feature as I was going to be setting the extender up as an Access Point. Setting up for an access point was simple, I simply connected to the extender through web set up and clicked on the option that toggles between extender and access point. After that I disconnected my laptop from the extender and connected the extender to the modem/router with an ethernet cable. 30 secs later I was surfing the web and more importantly, Gaming through my access point that allowed me to keep my bandwidth speeds the same as my modem/router. I am able to access my network throughout my household now at 30mbps download/5mbps upload with 85% signal strength thanks to the extender. The user interface for the extender software was simple and extremely simple to navigate through, making it easy even for beginners to set up. On a sidenote, the router and extender are connected through 50 ft of ethernet cable.System RequirementsWeb setup type in http://WDRangeExtender or 192.168.1.230Supported browsers: Internet Explorer 7, Safari 2, Firefox 2, Google Chrome 7 or higher

5.0 out of 5 stars Works as Advertised (almost)

2026-02-23    -The Dude

This Wi-Fi Range Extender has been working as advertised. I tried setting it up with the Push-button setup (WPS)but was unable to, the problem was most likely on the router/modem of my set up but I was not too worried about this feature as I was going to be setting the extender up as an Access Point. Setting up for an access point was simple, I simply connected to the extender through web set up and clicked on the option that toggles between extender and access point. After that I disconnected my laptop from the extender and connected the extender to the modem/router with an ethernet cable. 30 secs later I was surfing the web and more importantly, Gaming through my access point that allowed me to keep my bandwidth speeds the same as my modem/router. I am able to access my network throughout my household now at 30mbps download/5mbps upload with 85% signal strength thanks to the extender. The user interface for the extender software was simple and extremely simple to navigate through, making it easy even for beginners to set up. On a sidenote, the router and extender are connected through 50 ft of ethernet cable.System RequirementsWeb setup type in http://WDRangeExtender or 192.168.1.230Supported browsers: Internet Explorer 7, Safari 2, Firefox 2, Google Chrome 7 or higher