Gaming Router Extender, Optimized for Online Play, Streaming, and VR, High-Speed AC1750, MU-MIMO for Low Ping, Single Unit

This is my initial review based on using the WB-1750 for several days (2020-07-02 through 2020-070-05). I will post a follow-up around next weekend so I can report longer-term observations.First, some background: I have an existing mesh WiFi system with a router with a satellite unit. The router is downstairs close to where the cable modem services enters the house. This system covers a two-story house where there are WiFi-connected devices upstairs and downstairs as well as a small LAN or wired Ethernet-connected devices upstairs.This mesh WiFi router and satellite do a great job at supporting three always-on computers, several intermittent-use computers, various mobile devices/tablets (iOS and Android), and many Smart devices (light switches, lamps, etc.). In addition to providing the mesh WiFi functionality, the satellite unit also provides Ethernet bridging which is how the upstairs LAN communicates with the router and the Internet.Before I installed the mesh WiFi system I had a mid-range WiFi router which, I found, did not provide consistent coverage for all the WiFi devices. I even experimented with a WiFi Ethernet bridge to support the upstairs LAN. The connection speeds were adequate but the consistency was still poor and I would occasionally have to power-cycle the WiFi router and/or the WiFi Ethernet bridge. This unreliability led me to purchase the mesh WiFi system.The mesh WiFi system solved the consistency issue and provides excellent coverage and high connection speeds which I’ve measured with both Speedtest.net and Fast.com at between 170-190Mbps. My WiFi devices routinely connect at speeds between 30-45Mbps.Thus, the WB-1750 was going into a situation where I already had a solution that was working very well and I would know fairly quick if the WB-1750 wasn't working as well as the existing solution.Having installed the WB-1750 and observed its operation for a few days I can say that the WB-1750 works as advertised. In fact, it does a bit more than advertised as hinted by the review title.Firstly, the advertised feature: Wireless Ethernet BridgingYou need WiFI ethernet bridging if you need to connect a device that only supports wired Ethernet (i.e. it lacks WiFi support) or if you want to take advantage of faster WiFi versions which the device cannot support because the device’s WiFi components cannot be upgraded (as would be the case with a game console).Since WiFi ethernet bridging depends on the WiFi router you have, the consistency of your WiFi connections and the potential speeds you can realize over your WiFi connections is dependent on your WiFi router’s capabilities. Your existing WiFi router will support only those WiFi versions that it was equipped to support when you bought it because most consumer WiFi routers do not have upgradeable WiFi radios.For example, it might only support WiFi A/B/G/N (802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n) whereas current WiFi routers support those types as well as WiFi AC (802.11ac). The WiFi type(s) it supports will limit the maximum speed of the connections it supports.The number of antennas the WiFi router supports is fixed as well and, generally, having more antennas is better than having fewer.Finally, your exsiting WiFi router may lack MU-MIMO which is a feature that specifically allows a WiFi router to support multiple, simultaneous users (the “MU”) using multiple antennas (the “MIMO” which means “multiple-input, multiple-output”). If you have two or more heavy WiFi users in the house, MU-MIMO is recommended.So, if you want to take advantage of newer WiFi versions you would have to replace your WiFi router with a newer unit. This introduces the possibility that that the new WiFi router may provide different support to your existing devices if only because its different from your previous WiFi router and so will have slightly different WiFi performance. This could be due to many issues such as it’s WiFi transmitter power, number of WiFi antennas, type of WiFi antennas (internal vs. external, external standard antennas vs. high-gain antennas), etc.If your existing WiFi provides adequate and consistent coverage but lower speeds, replacing it may put that consistency at risk as well as costing $200 or more.The WB-1750 allows you to keep your existing WiFi router as-is (so everything still works as-is) but support a newer, faster device (like a gaming PC or console) since it allows you to connect it via an Ethernet cable to one of the WB-1750 units. The two WB-1750 units communicate with each other over a dedicated WiFi AC (802.11ac) channel so you get faster speeds supported by newer WiFi as well as a more reliable connection since the dedicated WiFi channel isn't shared with the WiFi provided by your WiFi router. This solves the problem of connecting that new, faster device without having to replace your entire WiFi router set-up.Since the WB-1750 units have two Ethernet ports, you can connect two devices to it—a gaming PC and a gaming console if you happen to have both. At the WiFi router end, the WB-1750 unit connects to the WiFi router via one Ethernet port leaving the second port available for a nearby, Ethernet-connected device.This is where the "a bit more than advertised" comes in.I found that you can connect an Ethernet switch rather than a single device to an Ethernet port on the WB-1750 unit. This allows you to support more than two devices at the same time. Moreover, the two Ethernet ports on the WB-1750 appear to be a two-port network switch as well so any computers/consoles plugged into a connected Ethernet switch can connect to the computer that is connected directly to the WB-1750. This capability isn't mentioned on the packaging nor is it mentioned in the Amazon product listing.The computers on my wired Ethernet LAN have their WiFi turned-off so that they always and only connect over wired Ethernet to the Ethernet switch. By moving the connection of my Ethernet switch from my mesh WifI satellite unit to the WB-1750, my entire LAN became dependent on the WB-1750 to provide the connection (the WiFi ethernet bridge) to the downstairs WB-1750 unit that is connected to my mesh WiFi router. And it worked seamlessly.I am not a heavy gamer but I do play a few games as well as make use of cloud file storage, streaming services (Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.), torrent-based file-sharing, etc. I spread these uses over several computers so it’s important that whatever device I’m using to provide the Ethernet bridge function support multiple devices at the same time.My testing of the WB-1750 was my similar to my normal daily-use:* The torrent server supporting multiple, low-speed connections 24/7.* Playing an Internet-aware game on my PC. I primarily play “Rust” which isn’t too demanding of a high-speed connection but does require a reliable/consistent connection.* Watching YouTube/streaming video on my Mac. I did this for my initial testing while playing Rust to just load-up the network with constant demand.* Cloud service file-transfers to multiple Macs and PC (these happen at all hours since I have shared folders that other people use).I would ocassionally run a internet speed test using both Speedtest.net and Fast.com and saw download speeds between 120Mbps and 190Mbps. Upload speeds were between 8Mbps and 9MBps. These reported speeds are the same as I usually see when I use the mesh WiFi satellite unit so the WB-1750 doing the job I needed it to do.It's worth pointing out that the mesh WiFi satellite unit is still "on" and being used by various devices in my WiFi network (e.g. Smart devices, my iPhone, etc.) and there does not appear to be any interference despite the WB-1750 units and the mesh WiFi units being within 1 to 2 feet of one another both upstairs and downstairs.One subtle benefit the WB-1750 provides that I did not have with the mesh WiFi satellite unit is that the WB-1750’s connections occur over it’s own WiFi network so the network traffic going through the WiFi ethernet bridge does not affect the speeds/connections over the other, WiFi network in my home.That is all for now. I will leave the WB-1750 connected as it is and just use my computers like I normally would. As mentioned at the start, I will post a follow-up around next weekend so I can report longer-term observations.

I live in a pretty densely populated area in a house and I just could not get this thing to work properly for more than a week in the month I've had it. I changed every setting I possibly could in it, my regular internet and my computer and it just did not help for VR. I had one week where the performance was pretty good but the other 3 were just miserable. I'm not sure if its my ISP's fault, this devices, or my own. Speedtest shows I'm getting 600mb download and 25mb Upload which I thought would be enough considering I have friends playing on 2.4ghz WIFI from another room with no complaints. I have one other person in my house and made sure I played when they were sleeping with as many WIFI devices turned off as I could and it made zero difference.I'm Using a Quest 2 with Virtual desktop, and using WIFI to stream to the headset is unplayable despite being 3 feet away from this Access Point and giving myself every advantage I possibly could. I get constant unplayable lag spikes, ping spikes, and microphone glitches. I got constant black bars and screen tearing in my headset before and after using this device no matter what I did. Wi-Fi was a horrible experience and this didn't help at all.I'll use VRchat as an example because its my most played game in VR. Using this Access Point over WIFI, I was getting about 120fps in the home world, and not even close to 100fps in any other world. I would get constant lag spikes, Spacewarping, screen tearing, black bars on the sides etc. Extremely uncomfortable and unplayable. I play for much longer than the Quest 2 battery can sustain me so I ended up tethered to a wire anyway just to keep the thing charged. Switched to a link cable instead of WIFI and I don't even know why WIFI is an option. VRchat looks at minimum twice as good as it ever did over WIFI with a link cable, giving me over 500fps in the home world, and minimum 200fps in other worlds with 40 people in it AND using XSOverlay to watch Twitch streams and YouTube, playing music and using a voice changer through Voicemod while STILL playing VRchat with a 980 TI GPU.If you're looking for performance gains for VR I cant say if any WIFI setup is the answer. I cant believe I wasted a month trying to get WIFI to work when a simple cable quadrupled my performance at minimum.The unit was very easy to setup and mess with settings. I was up and running in probably 10 minutes. I already had my desktop connected to an ethernet cord but I will say this device improved my download speeds by about 20Mb's or so but definitely not worth $100 for that.I'm giving this thing 4 stars when I want to give it 3 but I cant because I honestly cant say if its me, my ISP or it just doesn't work. I'm sure its fine for normal PC/Console online gaming but I never had an issue with those in the first place.Again, If you're looking for massive VR gains, get a link cable and a pulley system if you have to and leave WIFI in the dust. This was a waste in my personal experience but I cant rate it low because I don't know where my true problem lies.