Hi-Gain Wireless-300N 2.4GHz Dual Radio Smart Repeater (HW2R1), Black

I've been using this repeater for about 6 months now, and what a great investment! It is extremely easy to use and sets-up in minutes: plug it in, connect to it with your computer, access the interface with your browser, and select your connection. Even a novice can figure it out, but it also comes with easy, illustrated instructions.I initially used it in my camper to pick up the signal from a campground. The Repeater receives the signal and rebroadcasts it. Now you can use it to connect your computer, printer, gaming system or other devices. Because the repeater has better antennas than your computer, etc. in this way it also works as a range extender.I had some frustrations at times, but they were mostly due to the poor quality of the wireless networks I was connecting to. In other words, if the original signal is bad, the repeater doesn't fix that. And if the signal is weak and/or cuts in and out a lot, the repeater won't work well with that either. This is probably the cause of other reviewers' frustrations.I now use this device with the Hawking HiGain Directional Corner Antenna which allows me to pick-up a signal from about a quarter-mile down the street (or over a mile with no obstructions, IF the broadcasting signal is strong enough). NOTE: antennas work the same for broadcasting OR receiving signals.While this set-up may seem pricey, if you can pick-up a nearby public signal it will pay for itself in just a few months by saving you from an internet bill.Another option for picking-up distant signals is a USB device plus a range-extending antenna, but I prefer the repeater because it is entirely wireless and works for my printer and gaming console. It's like the wireless signal three blocks away is right here in my living room (and I live in a basement apartment)!Technical support is conducted from India, 24/7. It's ok, if you can understand them. I needed help only once and my problem was solved by entering a DNS number into my router settings.UPDATE (March 2013):Years later, I'm still using this router. I'm not using it with the Hi-Gain directional antenna anymore (not needed in my current situation), or as a repeater, but simply as a wireless router plugged into my modem to provide WiFi in my house. Even after years since purchase, I still (recently) received free technical support when I had some problems (which ultimately turned out to be my computer and not the Hawking device). I'm still 100% satisfied with this product.

This is a nice solid quality repeater but mind the glass and walls in your home as if you have large square footage over 3000 square feet, look for a more powerful option. Now it works and streams apple tv nice from anywhere pretty much but on occasion you get some hiccups and may have to jump between your wifi router and this one. The crazy more powerful step up might seem crazy but it will work better if you have a large home. I can get by with this repeater but if I did it over again would spend a little more and get a crazy powerful one.

I wanted so badly to love this device, but I just can't. Its wireless performance is atrocious.Let me be specific because there are several things that that can mean. This device's claim to fame is that it has two distinct radios, one for connecting to the remote wifi signal (the uplink radio, or wan radio), and one for the location where you are trying to extend your wifi into - the distribution radio. In theory that should give you twice the performance because each packet that you send or receive doesn't have to be on your wifi twice, instead just once on yours and once on the uplink.Unfortunately, the performance of the distribution radio system on this device is poor. The device needs to be right next to your computer to get reasonable speed through it.I tested a dozen different device locations, and even when it was in the same room as my MacBook Air (MBA) or my stepfather's iPad, I got half the bandwidth as when going through the Apple Airport Express (APx) in a different room. Both were configured to extend the Airport Extreme (APX) in the basement. Note that the APx only has one radio, so it has to receive and retransmit the data over the same wifi to get it to/from me.To be fair, the issue is probably not the performance of the physical radio. The real issue is probably that the MBA and iPad have low power wireless chip and small antennae, and the APx is probably finely tuned by apple to work as well as possible for these kinds of devices. The performance between the Hawking repeater and the main APX in the basement is very good. Both devices are connected to AC power and are not meant for travel - so they can be high powered and have heavier duty antennae.You can tell this by connecting to the Hawking via ethernet. You will get excellent performance even when the remote wifi is far away or behind difficult obstacles (walls, tile floors, etc).In my case, here are my results: Connected directly to the main APX, we get an easy 10 Mbps (I did my tests using bandwidthplace.com). Going through the Hawking by ethernet, with a hardwood floor and drywall between me and the APX, I got 5Mbps. Going via wifi in otherwise the same configuration, with the Hawking on the table next to the my MBA, I got 3Mbps. That's acceptable, but not practical.When I went to another room, I got 0.3Mbps through the Hawking. Even with it just across the room (10 feet), I only got 1 Mbps.With all of the locations I tried (including a few different antenna orientations), I was never able to get better than 0.5 Mbps through it unless it was in the same room as me. I was never able to get better than 1 Mbps through it unless it was within 3 feet of the device I was testing. I did most of these tests on both the MBA and the iPad, and got similar results on each device always for the same test.