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| Linksys Wireless-G Range Expander WRE54G | 
 enlarge | Brand: Linksys
Category: CE
List Price: $119.24
Buy New: $79.99
You Save: $39.25 (33%)
New (39) Used (4) Refurbished (1)
Avg. Customer Rating:  495 reviews
Format: Cd
Platform: No Operating System
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Modem: N/A
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4
Dimensions (in): 4 x 2 x 9
nv:Device Type: Wireless Range Extender
Form Factor: Wall Mountable
Wireless Network Standards: IEEE 802.11g
Wireless Data Transfer Rates: 54 Mbps
Wireless Transmit Power: 15 dBm
Security Protocols: 128-bit WEP
Warranty: 3 years warranty
MPN: WRE54G
Model: WRE54G
UPC: 745883559046
EAN: 0745883559046
ASIN: B00021XIJW
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Huge Hassle in a Box October 6, 2008
This is my first review, so lower your expectations on my forthcoming ramblings. And now lower your expectations on this product. The setup for this may have been the most complicated i have experienced with anything. GRANTED, I am not a computer guy, but I have a friend who is, and received his help. After the long debacle that unfolded, I compensated him with a lil $ and a meal for surviving the horrors we encountered. After an hour or 2 of attempting to get this to link my to my brother's weak wireless signal (100+ ft. away across a backyard) sent from his Linksys modem/router thingee,(model # cwg600? ish?), we finally established a connection verified by the blue lights on the unit itself. HOWEVER, even though this unit was talking to my brother's modem, i could not get the INTERNET for my ps3, (which has since been given ydl linux 5.0 os), because the connection was local access only. After receiving NO? help from linksys tech support for an hour (if there was any help given, we could not decode it b/c the accent of phone tech was indecipherable-- not their fault, but no help, either), I was ready to throw in the towel. My friend was not. He offered to take it home to try and link it to his system. I decided that i wanted one last shot. On the box of the unit was a picture of a wireless access point do-hickey with which the expander was supposed to work. After a quick trip to the local electronics store (and Taco Bell b/c we were starving), we hooked the Linksys WAP54G? wireless access point directly to my brother's modem via an ethernet cable. After just a couple of minutes we were easily able to get the expander to recognize the $80 wap. My PS3 was magically granted the internet and the ability to write this wonderous review b/c I took a stab in the dark (no thanks to linsys support- who promised to call back yet never did- I wasn't holding my breath...) by buying a seperate piece of equipment. The expander works alright now- sometimes, although not often,it loses connection with the wap (evidenced by a red light) and automatically finds it again after a few to several seconds. On some occations i have to unplug the expander for a moment to get the connection back quickly.
To make a long story short, if you are trying to connect this range expander to something other than the linksys modem or wap written on the box, you will need a copious amount of know-how, patience, and perscription strength drugs to calm frustrations. Once you get connected, you can then buy AND REVIEW products to your heart's content. Hope this helps- i know writing this review has been theraputic for me...
 A great signal repeater October 4, 2008
I have to agree with the other reviewers that the intended way to set this up is a pain. You actually need a computer with a wireless card to run the setup program and it will mess with the configuration on your computer. In the end it refused to configure the box because it said that my AP was not compatible... (I think officially only Linksys APs are supported.) However - you can just use an Ethernet crossover cable between your computer and the repeater (or hang them both off the same switch), set your computer to 192.168.1.100 and browse with your Web browser to 192.168.1.240. There is no login and default password is "admin". The setup is straightforward and real easy this way. Enter your SSID and the WPA password and change the IP to fit into your wireless network. Do not forget to change the password first. Hit save. Done. Success is shown by the blue link light. If you screwed up, you can factory reset the box by pressing the reset botton for 5 seconds and start over. The auto-config feature is useless.
One note is that this is a repeater not an access point. This means it will send and transmit on the same channel and therefore your throughput will be somewhere 40%. I am still getting about 3 Mbps, which is plenty for Web surfing. An interesting obserservation is that the Ethernet port can also be used to bridge the wireless network to another Ethernet cloud and this way there would be no BW loss. On a side note, your AP needs to support WBS (Wirelss Distribution System), many do but not all.
On a final note, this is not a commercial solution where you can daisy chain multiple of those repeaters to cover a large area. This product is thought to cover bad spots in a residential home such as an outside area where few wireless users are active at the same time. If you want to cover a large space with many users you need multiple APs and probably should look into a commercial AP solution.
Quick solution for range problems!!! October 3, 2008
When i purchased this repeater i had two options: get a new router and turn it into a repeater or just get a repeater... and when i saw that they were about the same price, well i decided to give this product a shot... cannot complain, great signal, easy setup (suggestion: do not use cd, plug it into the router and do it manually, it will take you 3 mins tops for it to sync with router and you are set!) Would recommend to anyone having signal problems. Or you could get an amp, its up to you... but this is really simple!!!
 Terrible product, terrrible Linksys support October 1, 2008
I paid 85.00 for this product so I could have an expanded range in my home. Let me start by saying I am a fairly technical person. My problems began when I following the instructions exactly as stated. I was also trying to get WEP working which is a common problem I read in these reveiews. After I was done, I didn't have any wireless connections from two computers. I called Linksys and they wanted me to pay for support because my "router" (not the extended) was out of free support. I told them that the problem was with the software I just installed but they would not help me. I finally fixed got my computers back to their original state after a few hours, but without the Range Extended installed. Then a couple of weeks later I decided to try this installation one more time with Linksys support on the phone prior to starting. After an hour on the phone they told me the Range Expander was defective and to bring it back to the store. I was pretty sure there was nothing wrong with it, but more of a configuration / compatibility problem of some type. When I took it back to the store they told me that Linksys support always tells their customers the device is broken when the can resolve the problem.
I decide to then buy a new 310N which claims to have expanded range. This problem was worse then the first. Eventually with Linksys on the phone, my laptop was working but my desktop just rebooted by itself all the time if my linksys adapter (WMP54G) was installed in the desktop. Linksys support told me that the new router was defective, or I should by a new 'N' adapter for my desk top. By the way, the extra range I got out of the new 310N to my laptop was minimal. It is going back to the store also.
 Prepare Yourself foe setup problems October 1, 2008
Aside from the fact the documentation is incomplete and completely inadequate the the CD is useless as is most of the tech help on linksys.com. I got it to work after a number of hours by connecting it to directly to my PC and doing a manual config. If you don't have a reasonably good understanding of networking and security issues avoid this product. Does it work? Yes, it delivers as but it need to be relatively close to your router (at least this was the case with my setup).
I think the managers at Linksys should be given this product and asked to install it within 45 minutes on a secure network ...I'm betting 90% them would not make the cut.
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