Buffalo Technology WRBG54K Wireless Repeater And Router Kit

From the Manufacturer
The Buffalo WRB-G54K Wireless Router and Repeater Kit allows you to create your high-speed Wireless broadband network and double your Wireless range at the same time. The kit includes both the Buffalo WBR-G54 802.11g Broadband Wireless Router, and the WLA-G54C 802.11g Wireless Repeater Bridge. Simply set up the Router to connect to your Cable or DSL Modem, locate a spot for the repeater that provides maximum coverage, and plug the repeater in (no setup on the repeater required!). The WLA-G54C repeater is pre-configured with BuffaloÕs WDS (Wireless Distribution System) that repeats your Wireless signal and instantly doubles the range of your Wireless Network. Get twice the distance and lightning fast 54Mbps speeds for your home or office networks with the Buffalo Wireless Router and Repeater Kit.

Note: Repeater function is supported with Buffalo bridges and routers, but can communicate with other manufacturer's 802.11b and 802.11g client adapters.

What's in the Box
This package contains the WBR-G54 802.11g Broadband Wireless Router and WLA-G54C 802.11g Wireless Repeater Bridge, power adapter, Ethernet cable, CD-ROM with drivers and manual, and printed Quick Setup Guide. It's backed by 24/7 toll-free tech support and a 2-year warranty.

Product Description:
BUFFALO TECH WRBG54K WIRELESS REPEATER AND ROUTER KIT

Buffalo Technology WRBG54K Wireless Repeater And Router Kit

Average customer rating:

Works but repeater is flakey

Best? solution for extending wireless range.

Solid Router and Repeater Package

Worth it? Not for me.

Buffalo Technology WRBG54K Wireless Repeater And Router Kit

Manufacturer: BUFFALO
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

Networking & Online Communication | Computer Add-Ons | Computers & Add-Ons | Categories | Electronics | Broadband Access | Telephony | Wired Networks | Wireless
Product Features:

Get Buffalo's WLA-G54C Repeater and WBR-G54 Router in one package

Doubles the range of your Wireless Network Access the Internet from anywhere in your environment

Cover dead spots or extend your wired LAN

802.11g 54 Mbps high speed wireless connectivity

No configuration required for the repeater

ASIN: B00016WOR0

Product Description

The Buffalo WRB-G54K Wireless Router and Repeater Kit allows you to create your high-speed Wireless broadband network and double your Wireless range at the same time. The kit includes both the Buffalo WBR-G54 802.11g Broadband Wireless Router, and the WLA-G54C 802.11g Wireless Repeater Bridge. Simply set up the Router to connect to your Cable or DSL Modem, locate a spot for the repeater that provides maximum coverage, and plug the repeater in (no setup on the repeater required!). The WLA-G54C repeater is pre-configured with Buffalo's WDS (Wireless Distribution System) that repeats your Wireless signal and instantly doubles the range of your Wireless Network. Get twice the distance and lightning fast 54Mbps speeds for your home or office networks with the Buffalo Wireless Router and Repeater Kit.

Customer Reviews:

Works but repeater is flakey.......2005-04-04

If you have already used a wireless accesspoint before, then setting this one up is easy. Just connect to its IP address and configure away.

The repeater was incredibly easy to set up using the default settings. Just plug the power adapter into it- that's it.
BUT, note that if you have configured the main accesspoint with some of the security features like MAC filtering, you need to also set up MAC filtering for the repeater by typing in all the individual MAC addresses. Otherwise anyone can go on and happily share your wireless. To configure the repeater use your web browser to go to its ip address (shown on page 21).

Done. Note however, you need to configure the repeater

Range appears to be about the same as most accesspoints.

I like the fact that the accesspoint gives you lots of diagnostic and statistics options- something that has always been useful for if you are interested in finding out who is trying to attack your network. For example it will tell you if something is port scanning your router.

One problem you might experience is that when doing some config on the accesspoint- like enabling MAC filtering, it will decide that your browser was already connected to the accesspoint and will not permit you to login twice. In that case, just power cycle the device.

The second, and major problem is that the repeater is flakey. I would have to power cycle it almost every other day. The good news is that there is a firmware patch that fixes this. Once fixed the system is very reliable.

Best? solution for extending wireless range........2005-01-02

This is the best solution I found for extending the range of Wifi. But, it isn't a perfect solution and I have had troubles with the system.

I had a Netgear wireless router. It had trouble reaching a remote bedroom in my house (it was an addition to the house, and the walls used to be exterior walls). The Netgear router (and most routers) come with a 2dBi antenna. I tried replacing the antenna with a 15 dBi one, but it did not make any difference. My other solutions would be to move the router (and all the wiring), rewire with CAT5 cable or try something like Apple's Airstation that works through your electrical wiring (but that is expensive and slower than wifi).

I got this Buffalo setup instead. It works OK for extending the wireless range.

But, I have had problems with it. Documentation is poor. Setup was not easy. The documentation on the website is not much better. I had to call the Buffalo support line. They have knowledgable people located in the US, but I had to wait on hold for up to an hour before I could to talk to someone.
I finally got it running.

After getting everything running, the repeater kept dropping out. Every few days, I had to unplug it and plug it back in to reboot it.

Then the wireless card in the router went bad. After talking to tech support (after waiting on hold for 30 minutes) we determined the unit was bad. But, then I had to call back the next day (waiting on hold for another 30 minutes) to get the authorization to send the unit back. I got a new about 2 weeks later.

When I got the router back, I had to reconfigure the router and repeater so that they could talk to each other. I called tech support, and they sent a pdf file that was very hard to understand. I ended up calling tech support 4 times. Each time, I would get one piece of the information I needed to get the system working.

It now has been working for about 2 weeks with no troubles. We will see if this continues.

Update in March: has been running well now for several months.

Solid Router and Repeater Package.......2004-08-22

This kit includes a wireless 802.11g router and repeater. Both products work as specified. There could be improvements. First, the documentation is not great. The issues I had were resolved through a call to customer support (which actually had a live person!).

The good - Out of the box, the router and repeater work with minimal configuration. Customer support experience was good.

The bad - The documentation needs a bit of work and the interfaces used to setup the router and repeater could both be improved. These units do not come with external antennas. They work well but I highly recommend the use of external antennas for improved coverage.

Worth it? Not for me........2004-06-29

I'm not an experienced wi-fi user, perhaps it's due to my near novice status but I found the perfomance of this set-up unpredictable and capricious. The base station was simple enough to get running, although it's range was less than a similar Netgear unit I'd tried the week before. However when I introduced the repeater, in an effort to connect my living room ( a consistant dead spot), I was only able to achive intermittant connection. This in spite of trying many different positions for the two units and following the enclosed set-up guide to the letter.

I also found the security options somewhat ambigious, I was able to get MAC addresses to work, but I had to disable the WEP to get the base station to communicate with the repeater. I had the nagging feeling that I might be exposing my network to any "war drivers" who happened to be in the neighborhood. I don't mind providing free internet access to passersby, but my files are my livelihood and I need to be careful with them.

My guess is that I could have eventually made the whole thing work by adding external antennas (which would have added 50% to the cost of the set-up) and spending a couple of hours on the phone with tech support. But the bottom line is that I was willing to spend the money but not the time.

If you have more available time than I do, this might be worth it. I'm returning it and waiting until theres a simpler way for me to get complete wireless coverage in my (not very big) house.

Electronics:

Electronics

Electronics