Aztech WL556E Wireless-N repeater

Wireless networking is convenient but as many users quickly discover, it's not always guaranteed to work everywhere in the home.

The Aztech WL556E repeater is a simple device that extends the range of any wireless network. It can also be used to add wireless capability to any router without wireless connectivity, or upgrade the wireless capability of an older wireless router.

The device resembles a large power adapter, with three status lights and a button marked WPS at the front, plus a network port and reset button on the bottom. It plugs directly into any mains socket and the supplied quick start guide explains how to set it up using a web browser. This can be done over a wireless connection or using the supplied network cable.

A Site Survey button in the setup menu allows it to discover existing networks, but after choosing the network and entering the wireless password, it got a little confusing, as the browser reported a connection error. This is actually normal, but the manual does not explain it well.

The repeater works invisibly and securely – you just connect to your wireless network as usual. However, if you later change the router's wireless security settings, the repeater needs to be reconfigured from scratch. It is possible to do this through a browser, but this is a technical process involving changing the IP address and is definitely not for novices – we found it was easier to just restore the factory defaults using the reset button and start again.

The setup process was a little confusing in places but it worked well – we successfully connected it to three different routers using different wireless network standards (802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11n). It successfully extended our network's range of 10-15m out to well over 25m, but the key is choosing the best location to put the repeater for maximum range.

It can use the 802.11n wireless standard for fast data transfer and you can use it to add this to an older, slower wireless router or one without wireless of any kind. To do so, no configuration is needed – plug the WL556E into a network socket on the router (and turn off the router's existing wireless network). It will create its own wireless network, to which devices can connect using the security details printed on the label.

An unavoidable downside of repeaters (unless used as an upgrade) is that they reduce the overall network performance. We found that on average it reduced the speed of data transfers on our network by about 30-40 per cent.

This degradation gets worse as you add more repeaters, so they should be used sparingly and only if there is no other alternative, such as moving the router to a better location.