Tenda A18 AC1200 Dual Band Universal WiFi Repeater, Broadband/Wi-Fi Extender, Wi-Fi Booster/Hotspot, with 1 Ethernet Port, works with all broadband providers, UK Plug

I needed to add WiFi reception to an office that had an existing ethernet connection.The A18 was easy to configure as a wireless access point rather than the default mode of a Wireless Extender where it connects to the existing wireless network and extends it.The ethernet port on the bottom of the unit allows you to connect to your network and then just setup a WiFi spot which users can connect to and then all traffic is sent over the wired connection.The connection has been rock solid and running for months now with great range and speed. I use a lot of Tenda kit and have not been disappointed.Recommended 👍

We have a static caravan and the site wifi is just about usable in the bedroom. Outside we get 100mbs but inside we get about 10mbs in the bedroom on a good day. I tried a BT 750 wifi extender and it gave a good signal in the van but only at 12mbs. It was also like a christmas tree in the bedroom with multiple LEDS randomly flashing throughout the night. Even DUCT tape failed to quell the LEDs.I then tried a basic Mercusys 2.4 extender, again good coverage but only 12mbs in the van. Only one LED to worry about.Seriouly thought about a Wavlink AC600 outdoor unit connected via ethernet cable to a mesh wifi in the van. Total cost about £100 and then the problem of getting the ethernet cable INTO the van.Thought I'd have a punt on this, refurb model cost £11 and only 2 nasty LEDs to tape over.THe outcome, 35mbs throughout the van, has been up to 51mbs when the weather is okay. Streaming TV is great.From what I've seen with extenders there are so many variables, what works for some doesn't for other. In my Faraday metal caravan I'm made up. 35Mbs is more than enough for me in the middle of a field.On a strange note the 2.4 ghz is about 30% faster than the 5ghz signal. Weird but who cares it's fast enough.

The Tenda A18 is simple to setup, especially via WPS. Plug it in (near your router), wait until the power light is solid blue, press the WPS button on your existing router, press the WPS button on the A18, done! This created two new SSID names using the original SSID name but appending _EXT or _5GEXT for the 2.4 and 5 GHz bans respectively.Once connected to your own network the A18 interface can be accessed by entering the IP address assigned by your router to the A18 extender (you can't access it via the tr.tenda.cn address, as this is only when you set up the A18 without WPS). You may need to access your router to find the required IP address. The interface is clean and simple, as can be seen in the attached screenshot. I used this interface to remove the extensions added to the SSID names, so that devices could choose to use the extender over the normal router without any manual intervention. This seems to work fine, even though not a true mesh system. I also noticed you can export log files from the device. From these it is clear the A18 uses Linux as the operating system and the RTL8192 chipset. Interestingly, the logs also contain your Wi-Fi password, so I hope you remember to set a password for the device and that the factory left no back doors in the firmware!If you need to connect a device via ethernet, such as a TV without built in Wi-Fi, then there is one port located on the underside of the unit. You can see from the pictures a reset hole is located next to the ethernet port, to allow a factory reset if you forget the password or need to start the setup from new.The speed using the extender seems little different to the speed when connecting wirelessly to the original router. The only thing of note is the signal strength of the A18 is lower than that of my router. Given it is designed to extend maybe this lower level, and therefore lower range, is intentional. For me the expanded coverage is sufficient for my needs but maybe don't expect miracles! (It is small and low cost after all.)The only down side I can find so far is that the unit runs quite hot. I used a non-contact thermometer and measured up to 45 degrees centigrade at one point on the front (room temperature was 20 C). This may mean the device will have a reduced life, only time will tell.Overall then a good little high speed Wi-Fi extender for your money, with better speed performance than some of the typical low cost 300N devices available.

It was easy enough to set up (though I couldn't get WPS to work) but it just didn't extend my wifi network.My current wifi covers the whole house OK but I wanted this extender to get the signal into the garage or our seat in the garden just outside. The problem was I had to put the extender within c. 4m of a router (I have two) in order for it to connect at all - any further and the red light came on. I tried multiple locations to no avail. So the onward transmission stretched no further than my existing network. Not only that when I did connect to it seemed to take ages to obtain an IP address, sometime failing completely. All in all, worse than useless.

Good one, with full network & speed

I may have overestimated the abilities of this unit when I bought it, but I found my Xbox could be further away than the extender. Once I found a perch for it, it works fine, good speeds from it. Set up was easy although I think my father would have struggled with the procedures to login to the configuration page. I am happy with the purchase.

After try two previous extenders this one is a breath of fresh air. After a little trial and error positioning of the extender I am achieving the source router speeds across the whole house. This compares with the new full fibre signal dropping from 80mbps to 1mbps in the diagonally opposite room in the house. Now the farthest room is a steady 70mbps. Great product.