TRENDnet TEW-736RE N300 Easy-N-Range Wireless Extender TRENDnet TEW-736RE N300 Easy-N-Range Wireless Extender

Pros: Great concept, it would be nice to extend my network without having to run cabling.

Cons: I placed the extender in a position that it had good wireless connection to the router, but devices lost network connection as they switched between the router and the extender. The only thing that fixes it is to turn off the extender. My DVD player that was attached to the Ethernet port also periodically lost network connection as well. I updated to the most current firmware but it did not solve the problem.

I specifically bought this device because I hoped it would work best with my TrendNet router, but it was only a waste of my time and money and caused my family great frustration.

Other Thoughts: Save yourself some grief and avoid this product.

Manufacturer Response:

Valued customer,

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Please e-mail us at sales@trendnet.com, reference "New Egg Product Review" , and someone will contact you immediately to help you resolve your issue. We look forward to working with you directly and restoring your faith in TRENDnet products .

Regards,

TRENDnet Sales Team

Pros: Sorry? Maybe it makes a nice paperweight.
Also good for electronic warfare if you need something to interfere with every wireless device on your network.

Cons: Complete failure as a range extender.
Not really heavy enough to be an effective paperweight.

Other Thoughts: Waiting on response from NewEgg on my RMA request.

Manufacturer Response:

Valued customer,

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Please e-mail us at sales@trendnet.com, reference "New Egg product review", and someone will contact you in an expedited manner. We look forward to working with you directly and restoring your faith in TRENDnet products.

Warmest Regards,

TRENDnet Sales Team

Pros: When it works, it works

Cons: Firmware update through web page with initial shipping firmware will BRICK the device with no way to recover when using a wireless connection. There is no warning in the documentation in the firmware zip file for this nor on the web page for upgrade. This is clearly a defective firmware update system since other brands and products do not brick themselves in such a manner.

Manufacturer Response:

Manufacturer Response
* Approved

Valued customer,

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Please e-mail us at sales@trendnet.com, reference "New Egg product review", and someone will contact you in an expedited manner. We look forward to working with you directly and restoring your faith in TRENDnet products.

Warmest Regards,

TRENDnet Sales Team

Pros: I was Actually sent this item to do an eggXpert review for it. I unfortunately was getting ready for a complicated move, but I did have a week or so to test this item prior to the move.

Pros:
+Interface seems like it is intuitive and easy to use.
+Works decent as a network adapter for your PC (I'm using it right now in fact)

Cons: Unfortunately, I could never get this Item to function as a repeater, tried 3 different routers, and updated the firmware. I tried an N and G signal when possible. I checked the settings in both the router and the device every time.

WPS never worked, and Manual Setup (via ethernet connection to a PC) only made it work as a wireless adapter for the PC.

The included instructions were no help, and the online knowledge base only addressed basic issues.

What seems to happen is that the device doesn't quite configure itself correctly. I would enter the settings for my wireless network, and after the "Reboot" hits 100%, the screen just hangs. My browser says it's waiting, indefinitely it seems. So then after 20 minutes or so of this stuck reboot page, I would try just going back to the router's main Admin page (accessed via IP address in the browser, just like most network appliances) It will not connect to the device any longer. The odd part is that it now thinks it's a network adapter. In order to get back to the administration tool, I would have to reset the device back to factory defaults, thus erasing everything it was trying to save when it froze.

Other Thoughts: I have had to reset this thing to factory default over a dozen times.

Maybe I received a dud. Maybe not. Maybe there is some solution to the issue I am having. The truth is, I have spent entirely too much time trying to figure out what is going wrong with this product. I have spent less time configuring semi-complex networks that had 15 or more connections with custom permissions and port triggers than I spent on this single device that is supposed to connect with the push of a couple of buttons.

Had this device worked as advertised (or at all) my Eggxpert review would have been on-time. I didn't want to bash this thing without giving it a proper chance, something I unfortunately didn't have time for. I will probably hang on to it to use as a spare network adapter. I give it 2 eggs because it can at least be used for something.

Manufacturer Response:

Valued customer,

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Please e-mail us at sales@trendnet.com, reference "New Egg product review", and someone will contact you in an expedited manner. We look forward to working with you directly and restoring your faith in TRENDnet products.

Warmest Regards,

TRENDnet Sales Team

Pros: Fast and easy set up. Runs cool. Does the job.

Cons: None so far with my RMA replacement.

Other Thoughts: I got my RMA replacement from TRENDnet. I didn’t even glance at the directions this time around. Configuring it and putting it where I wanted it in the house took less time than opening the box! So far so good. For the last 2 days, it’s been running like a Swiss watch. Again, I can't say enough good things about the technician I was working with at TRENDnet. Everyone manufacturers a malfunctioning piece of gear once in a while. But if the company offers support like this, you can't complain.

Pros: Fantastic support from TRENDnet! (Don't know if it's OK or not to mention the name of the technician I've been working with)

Cons: Just waiting for my RMA replacement.

Other Thoughts: I'd been working with a technician from TRENDnet trying to troubleshoot the issues I was having with this repeater. After about 4 days of this, they authorized an RMA for me. So now I'm waiting for my replacement. The technician specifically told me to include in the notes to have him personally test my replacement before sending it out. That's what I call personal support! The jury is still out on the device. But I can't say enough good things about their technical support!

Pros: Like I originally said, " Easy set up. Works great when it works."

Cons: Still having stability issues, frequently dropped signal, reboots often needed, etc, etc. A tech adviser from TRENDnet contacted me and listed all of the basics to check, unique network naming, device and antenna placement, optimum channel selection, obstructions, building materials, RF interference from other 2.4GHz devices, etc. The only thing that changed was the router's channel to 4. One of my neighbors also was using 6 although it was a very weak signal to my home. But I switched to 4 just to be sure. Everything else checked out OK.

Other Thoughts: I have to agree with Mainframe when he stated that this device is just a big band-aid. When it works correctly, it's amazing how well it boosts the signal. But it's not very reliable. If you need something you can count on and not drop your connection at unexpected times, shop for something else. An RMA would be nice, but I'm really not expecting TRENDnet to agree to that.

Pros: Range is very good. Goes from one end of a ~100 foot wide house to the other with about 4-5 bars of signal (about 65-75 percent signal). Setup was relatively painless. I tested it at three different locations with 3 different routers and it worked with all of them (one is a Qwest all-in-one DSL modem/router; one is a Netgear WNDR3700 with DD-WRT, one is a Linksys WRT610N with stock firmware) [See Cons]. I like the SMA replaceable antennas, always a nice option in the future. Webpage interface is simple, clean, and does all of its functions just fine.
Inserting this into a network certainly raised the ping by anywhere from 25-100 ms (as expected), but reduced the jitter dramatically in areas where there was very little signal to begin with. In this respect, the repeater worked EXACTLY as expected. The throughput was not-at-all amazing (a couple megabits per second at most), but you shouldn't really be buying this product to do heavy loads.

Cons: While I'd love to have said it worked perfectly, it didn't.
First up to the plate is the WPS function. I personally haven't had much luck with WPS setup in the past, so for this repeater, it's business as usual. On the Qwest and Linksys routers, it refused to work at any range (NOTE: on DD-WRT, I didn't bother trying, sorry).
Second up is the overall internet connection stability. This repeater doesn't use base station setup with MAC addresses and gateway controls, as such it connects like any other wireless device. I had my suspicions on how well this would work. It was common that computers would turn on or come out of sleep and be incapable of getting internet through the SSID until the repeater was unplugged. I had thought originally that this was like lightning and wouldn't strike twice, but then I used it on the Qwest router and a similar story crept up.

Other Thoughts: Lets cut to the chase though, if you are considering a repeater, it is because you have very few options. This type of repeater is just a big band-aid. Without proper base-station/repeater setup, this just clutters the airwaves using a different channel to rebroadcast. This even brings up the point that maybe if it had full repeater setup, there wouldn't be a constant need to power cycle it.
It is plausible that this works with a TRENDnet router, but I cant be sure. In DD-WRT, this repeater worked very well with my WNDR3700. Larger releases of DD-WRT contain tools for repeaters. Without these tools, I had four internet hiccups in 4 days of use in my apartment. With, I never had a problem once setup properly.
When it worked, it worked very well and as expected. However, it doesn't work consistently, so I cannot give it more than a 3 of 5. I gave it a 3 because when it works, it actually works remarkably well... credit where its due...

Manufacturer Response:

Valued Customer,

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Please email us at sales@trendnet.com, reference "New Egg product Review" and someone will contact you as soon as time permits.

Regards,

TRENDnet Sales Team

Pros: I love this little package of incredible. It has allowed my wireless network to go out a bit further than normal. My router is running and it has to go through several walls to get all over the house. Toward the end of the house, my wifi gets weak. With this little baby installed, weak wifi is gone. I know can sit in my driveway and porch with my lap top or mobile and get excellent connection.

Cons: It does loose connection once in a great while and i have to unplug the power and plug it back in to get it to connect again. This has happened to my router before so this is no surprise.

Other Thoughts: This is a great little extender. It small and powerful and gets the job done. Newegg has it at a great price and I highly recommend it.

Pros: Connecting the TEW-736RE to my home network was very easy. I simply held down the WPS button on my router for 5 seconds and then held down the button on the range extender for 5 seconds. The device is quite small and can be well hidden just about anywhere. The coverage on the device is very good. I was getting full bars everywhere in my house!

Cons: The range extender would stop working intermittently. Sometimes it would work, sometimes not. I tried various settings using the device’s firmware. I set both the router and the range extenders security to WPA, then WPA2. I made sure the device was being seen by my router (which it was even when it was not functioning).

Other Thoughts: I really cannot recommend this device as it was so problematic. It is possible that I had a random dud, but searching through other people’s feedback suggests otherwise. I hope Trendnet fixes these issues because when the device works, it works great.