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Netgear WGXB102 review

£72 inc VAT

Manufacturer: Netgear

Our Rating: We rate this 3.5 out of 5 User Rating: Our users rate this 5 out of 10

By | 28 February 08

The Netgear WGXB102 makes use of PowerLine technology to deliver a remote wired connection to a 54G Wi-Fi repeater.

The Netgear WGXB102 makes use of PowerLine technology to deliver a remote wired connection to a 54G Wi-Fi repeater.

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The Netgear WGXB102 consists of two modules: you plug the XE102 bridge into a mains power socket near your router and link it to the router with the supplied ethernet cable. You then plug the WGX102 access point into a mains socket near where you want extended wireless coverage.

You can even move the Netgear WGXB102 around, if you want. It should be on the same ring circuit and not plugged in to an extension lead, though we didn't find this too much of a problem; when we tried this we still had a connection but the PowerLine bandwidth dropped from a maximum of 85 megabits per second (Mbps) to 14Mbps, still fast enough for web browsing.

Interestingly, as well as being a plain vanilla access point the Netgear WGXB102 can also function as a router, (with features such as DHCP, port forwarding and so on) configurable by the web UI. A major benefit of this extender technology is that unlike wireless repeaters, Wi-Fi bandwidth isn't halved.

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Netgear WGXB102 Expert Verdict »
Post Review

Reviewed by Munchmonster on Thursday 13 March 2008

5 star rating

Duration of ownership: 4 weeks

Strengths:
Easy plug and play setup. Working across separate ring mains. Does all it claims.

Weaknesses:
Incorrect overly complicated instructions. You are advised to change the SSID, network names and IP address of your existing network, instead of changing the WGX102 settings. Madness!

Overall Evaluation:
I think this is a brilliant product but if I had followed Netgear’s instructions I might not be on line to tell you so.

Wall-Plugged Wireless Range Extender
Wireless Ethernet - 11 Mbps IEEE802.11b, Wireless Ethernet - 54 Mbps IEEE802.11g
1 x network - Ethernet 10Base-T - RJ-45
1 x network - Radio-Ethernet
1 x network - HomePlug 1.0
2.4GHz
75x220x166mm
0.9kg
  • Build Quality: We give this item 7 of 10 for build quality
  • Features: We give this item 8 of 10 for features
  • Value for Money: We give this item 6 of 10 for value for money
  • Overall: We give this item 7 of 10 overall

Don't expect blistering network performance from the Netgear WGXB102. It's a useful piece of kit, should it suit your needs.

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