NETGEAR WiFi Booster Range Extender | WiFi Extender Booster | WiFi Repeater Internet Booster | Covers Up To 1000 Sq Ft And 15 Devices | AC750 (EX3700)

I don't leave reviews very often. But I wanted to use this to flag with people comparing products that this is VASTLY easier to set up than the equivalently priced BT Wifi Extender.I'm a software engineer who spent several years working for a large hosting company doing third line support. I was a system admin and network admin. I had access to a huge datacentre and most of the kit in it. I know about IP address, DNS, Ethernet protocols, TCP vs UDP, ports, etc. I KNOW MY STUFF. And the BT device I tried out before this one basically wasted about 3 hours of my life: I tried reconfiguring my main router, I tried updating the firmware on the device (the update failed, and the BT support thread basically said if you don't like it then take it back and get a refund, which I did). The BT device had a band switch on it to select 2.4 or 5GHz, and the switch did nothing: the device would only scan for 5GHz networks. And when I DID finally bully the thing into getting connected it took out the network - presumably with some kind of IP conflict. In any case, I wasn't going to hang around trying to fix it when I couldn't even update the firmware, so I took it back.Disillusioned with the whole idea of extending the range of my network, I tried one of these NetGear EX3700 AC750's. Plugged it in. Connected an iPad. Stepped through the set up. It was informative. It was simple. It discovered all the 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks in the neighborhood and gave me enough options that I could set it up as I liked without me really having to know anything more than the basics about networks. Once set up, I unplugged it, moved it to a location further from the router, and it came back up serving me excellent WiFi to the previously-dark areas of my house.So...basically...if you're looking at options and the list of options includes BT and NetGear: trust an expert and cross BT off now. This is the thing you need!

I bought this extender to improve the signal strength in part of the house where the signal is generally a little poor. It arrived very quickly - well packaged and presented and looks very well made. I have used Netgear products before so was happy to buy their products again.The extender seems to work well and has improved the signal strength in the area required and the extender is small and not intrusive. The setup details are well written and presented.My only concern was the time in setting up the wifi extender - with no obvious route to get technical support - so I have noted below how I eventually managed to do this - its not actually difficult but you need be aware of a couple of things.Our router is Vodafone - and reading online it seems that there can be problems in connecting to vodafone apparatus - the normal route to connect the router is via WPS - if this works for you it will be very straightforward however despite many attempts it would not allow the route to connect to the extender through WPS.When you first try to connect the 'Settings' on whatever wifi device you are using it may show the same router serial with ext extension name - each time I tried to connect to this _ext with the router password it would not accept the password .... if this is your problem .... then try this - get a pin and press the factory reset button on the wifi extender - when you do this it should provide a new Netgear setting ... which doesnt appear when you first try to connect .... if you press on this setting it takes you through Netgear set up wizard and works fine.I also cancelled my additional security settings with Vodafone whist setting this up - as this seemed to be causing a problem.It is now working fine.

I've had this item for 9 months and use it almost every day.Pros:-It's easy to set up and relatively small.-It works well when it's in range of the base wifi stationCons:-It needs to be set up very near your base WiFi station. I have mine about 5 metres from my base WiFi station and it sometimes struggles to get a good signal. If it doesn't have a good signal (like in a hotel, on a campsite, etc) it will keep cutting out and restarting itself. It doesn't do this if the signal to the base station is good.-It is not very configurable. I'm a network admin, and there aren't many settings here for power users. They've made a lot of effort to make this thing easily configurable for general users, but the advanced options are very sparse.The antennas aren't interchangeable, and seem a bit flimsy. This isn't a problem if it's always plugged into the wall, but I don't feel comfortable taking it with me when I travel, because I don't think the antennas would survive a journey in my bag.Conclusion:I wouldn't buy this item again, as it isn't quite fit for purpose. I was hoping that due to the external antennas that it'd have much better WiFi reception than my phone and tablet devices, but actually it doesn't manage very well.For use in a house, it will work well as long as it's quite near to your router. If you want to use this in a hotel or on a campsite to boost the wifi signal, you will be left disappointed.Update:I've given this device a new lease of life as an access point, connected to the internet via an ethernet connection, and have been blown away by the results.As mentioned in my previous review (above), the performance when you extend a WiFi network is very poor, but this device really shines when you use this thing as a standalone access point. The coverage and connection speed is very impressive. I get better results with it than I did with my router. I've now switched the WiFi off on my router, and use it as a fancy modem, and this little device is my new wifi access point.I'm increasing my rating to 5 stars. If you're going to extend a WiFi network, you should really cable in your other access points, rather than try to use a Wireless connection to the base station. You will only ever give yourself problems with performance if you do, and end up with a fragile network. This is a fundamental problem with WiFi, and therefore not the fault of the device. The device itself performs incredibly well, especially when you consider how cheap it is, and how many years I've been using it.