PROS
- Easy to set up within minutes
- Wi-Fi 6 enabled
- Compatible with all routers
- Dual band
- Can be controlled with a phone via app
CONS
- OneMesh network only compatible with a few routers
TP-Link's made some reliable wi-fi extenders and that applies to its RE605X. I had the wi-fi extender and tested it out in two different scenarios over the weekend. One at my house and the other at my parents. TP-Link has priced the RE605X at $80 ( AED 295 ) so this is on the higher end as far as Wi-Fi extenders go. But with that price, comes convenience and there's plenty. It has Wi-Fi 6, dual band and a slew of extras that make it very easy to setup and connect to.
Design
The RE605X is white box that has a direct plug to put into a wall outlet and almost brick sized. It's also designed to blend in with your wall or other accessories so it doesn't attract the attention which I absolutely like. It has two antennas on the side that you can swivel at 180 degrees one way. There's the WPS button and lights for power and connections and wi-fi and there's also the Gigabit Extender port, alone with vents on the top and sides respectively. There's not much else to say about the build quality except that you're getting what you pay for and it's solid in that respect.
Set-up
You can set up the extender by turning it on near the router, download the TP-Link tether app and connect to your 2.4 or 5 Ghz wifi network and that's it. It's user friendly and the app does a good job in telling you how to setup your extender. It will also tell you where there are dead zones and to move the extender in terms of signal and you can customize the range if you want to check your power usage.
Connectivity and Network
Setting up via the app is fairly easy through TP-Link's tether app. I have a D-Link router that's unfortunately not Wi-Fi 6 enabled so it couldn't get the full use out of this router. The extender is capable of pushing a Wi-Fi 6 and instead will extend the Wi-Fi 5 signal instead. It has dual band so you can easily get 1200 mbps on 5Ghz and 550 on the 2.4 Ghz depending on what connection you have with your ISP. I have the 250mbps package and saw maximum delivery on the extender in different instances and solved a lot of dead zone issues in my parents larger apartment, it will opt for the faster signal on both bands which is a plus. You can also connect to it via ethernet cable so it's good to use it as an access point should the need arise.
A selling point that TP-Link is putting out for the RE605X is the OneMesh feature which lets you create a mesh network, the downside being that it only supports Wi-Fi 6 enabled routers which are just coming to market now so you're future proofing by getting this or wait for your router to have a firmware update. As far as network coverage goes, it's excellent. I could add more devices on to it without my network dropping, I could add my consoles, PC, four phones and smart TV and got steady connections across all of the devices. Depending on how you much is your internet usage you will notice drops in speed when of course you've got multiple devices using the internet for streaming or watching high resolution content.
Verdict
It's $80 price means you're paying for convenience when it comes to the RE605X. While there are cheaper alternatives, this one saves you the hassle in setup times and easy to access information about the wi-fi network and extend it by a significant range that can cover a two storey house or larger apartments easily.