Our Linksys E3200 High-Performance Simultaneous Dual-Band Wireless-N Router sits in a basement corner and covers most of the house but its signal is simply not strong enough at the exact opposite end of the house on the second floor (master bedroom) where I get 1-2 bars on my laptop on a good day and, from time to time, nothing at all. With the Range Extender (it's a wireless repeater) plugged into a wall outlet on the first floor I am now getting 4-5 bars consistently and about 65Mbps. Problem solved.

I am happy with my purchase because the RE1000 finally solves a problem and it's one thing I will not have to worry about and because it's one of the easiest to set up 'networking' gadgets I know of. So, these are the facts and my experience.

WHAT YOU GET

* The RE1000 Range Extender itself
* CD that has the setup utility and the manual
* AC cord, just in case you don't want to plug it directly into the wall outlet
* AC power connector cover
* A short Ethernet cable that may be needed for setup

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED

* A wireless b/g/n router, obviously
* PC or Mac with Wi-Fi and a CD drive to run the setup
* Some Web browser to run the more sophisticated setup and administration activities

SETUP AND INSTALLATION

It's as easy as running the Setup program. After a minute or so you are asked to plug the device into a power outlet somewhere near the router for it to be 'discovered'. That's done quickly and the RE1000 is ready to use by plugging it directly into a wall outlet or you can use the supplied cord.

More sophisticated admin tasks can be performed through a browser. You will need to know RE1000's IP address for that to work. Through your favorite Web browser, you can associate your device with a specific access point or router and determine signal strength at various locations to determine your extender's optimal placement.

There are more options but none was needed with our CISCO router and it should be the case with most b/g/n routers.

RATING

I wish that all 'electronics' were this easy and efficient. Once the 5-minute setup is done you can plug this anywhere in the house (within your router's range) and it will just work. We happened to have a stormy day yesterday and we lost power several times - not an uncommon occurrence - and every time the RE1000 reconnected itself to the router once the power came back and did its magic without requiring any human intervention. This is near-zero maintenance device that addresses the source of major frustrations.