TP-Link AC1200 Wireless N Wall Plugged Range Extender – TL-RE305

The TP-Link RE305 WiFi Range Extender is a tiny little guitar pedal-shaped box which plugs into a spare mains socket. It features two external antennas which flip straight up, a large WPS button on the top, and four status LEDs for power, connection to your router, and whether it’s broadcasting on one or both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz radio bands.

Underneath is a single Ethernet port (10/100Mbps RJ45) so you can connect desktop PCs, laptops, games consoles

Setting up the TP-Link RE305 is simple, as you’ve got two options at your disposal: use the TP-Link Tether app for iOS and Android, or use the web UI to get everything up and running, whichever is the more convenient for you.

Once you’ve plugged the RE305 into a mains socket in the same room as your router, it’ll begin the pairing process. You can do this via WPS, or manually. I’d recommend the manual option, as you’ll have greater control over everything.

You’ll be asked to create a login/admin password for the RE305, separate from the one you create for your router, and once done you’ll be asked to pick from a list of nearby wireless networks to ‘extend’.

I installed the TP-Link RE305 in a spare bedroom that’s one floor up and one room along from where my router – a Netgear RBK750 – is set up, connected to a Virgin Media Super Hub that’s set to modem mode – I’m an M200 subscriber, and can comfortably get around 180-210Mbps from my service most days.

The speed tests below were conducted in two rooms, one next to the room where I’d set up the TP-Link RE305, and another, two rooms along. In the first room, one solid brick wall sat between the client devices and the TP-Link RE305, while there are three walls between the client devices and the Wi-Fi extender in the second room.