Linksys RE4100W N600 Review: Dual-Band Wireless Range Extender

The position of our Wi-fi router usually coincides with our comfort zone, such that most of our devices receive maximum signal strength in their natal spots. Moving out of this ambit often pesters us. Wi-fi range extenders have been a rage among users with a large house or a wider space for business. Linksys N600 helps users extend the range of possibilities the web can offer. Find out how it performs, below.

If you’ve ever setup a wireless router, stretching your connection’s skirts using the Linksys RE4100W N600 Wi-fi range extender will be a duck soup job for you. You must first connect to the N600 and follow the setup process. The setup process includes just one extra step – bridging your native Wi-fi network with the Linksys RE4100W N600. Although the setup process seems easy and Linksys boasts that it can connect any router, it was unable to detect an ADSL router – causing us to set up a LAN-based router. (Obviously, we stressed ourselves while trying to get it to work with ADSL router and would request Linksys to identify a solution.)

After setting up the Linksys RE4100W N600, you can directly plug it into a wall socket keeping in mind the area that initially had weak Wi-fi signals. It features support for dual-band wi-fi i.e. 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz (both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz are frequency bands for Wi-fi signals, but neither has better speed than the other. However, as most devices use 2.4 GHz, the 5 GHz band has relatively less congestion and fewer connection drops. 5 GHz is usually used by laptops and flagship smartphones.) If you are unable to setup the device using Wi-fi, you can also plug it directly into your PC or laptop using an Ethernet Cable.

The available Ethernet port on Linksys RE4100W can also be used to power an old PC (which lacks wi-fi) with the internet, using a LAN cable. Like all bloodline of wireless devices, the N600 features a WPS button for secure direct connections. (WPS or Wi-Fi Protected Setup allows users to hide their network from public visibility and adding 2-step authentication).

An alluring feature in the Linksys RE4100W is 3.5 mm jack for Wi-fi audio. Users can hook up their speaker sets to play audio wireless. This can allow users to setup the N600 at the heart of their living room or home theater setup and rid away with wires. The number of smart devices penetrating our houses, such as the Oakter Smart Home kit which we reviewed recently, is inching further and these depend largely on wireless connection to share data. The Linksys RE4100W N600 can spur an IoT-enabled smart ecosystem at home.

On the performance front, Linksys RE4100W N600 is a powerful warrior. It features support for up to 300 MBPS, but we only had a chance to test with an 8 MBPS connection. It features LED light on its front face which indicates whether the RE4100W is receiving ample signals to amplify them. For strong signal, it beams green while during weak signals it glows in amber. The screenshots speed tests using our primary router as well as using the Linksys RE4100W are attached below.

Speed Test Results at a distance of 40 feet from primary router and 5 feet from Linksys Wi-fi Range Extender

As evident, speed is more or less intact with a very slight, yet manageable drop in the router speed. We used 2.4 GHz The radius of Wi-fi network was further extended by nearly 40 feet (with one wall in between). The range was extended to a floor, but in order to use the internet effectively on each floor of your multistoried apartment, you may need more of these placed strategically. While walking between boundary lines between the ranges of primary router and the Linksys, there was no observable break in connection.