If you’ve read any of my other brand or model reviews you’ll know I don’t have any bias. I call crap repeaters crap and good repeaters good. But I have very few bad things to say about the current Amped range. They basically have everything right and even their current models come in a couple of different variations depending on the strength of the signal you need repeated. They’re all N-type and the output power can vary from 100-600mW depending on the model but it’s still above average. The range can cover anything from 3,000 square feet to 1.5 miles – again depending on the model. They have a signal strength to suit everyone and an easy setup procedure to boot.

External high DBI antennas are included and they’re not wall mounted which means you can move them as you need to. They all have great compatibility and security settings. Just in general they’re everything you could currently want from a repeater. Everything I say is missing from other repeaters is accounted for here and there’s even some features which you wouldn’t expect to find on a repeater (such as file storage). The reviews behind the devices are great and pretty much reflect exactly how I feel about them at the moment.

I consider myself impartial and I’ll give every brand a fair chance. But when one brand is leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else it becomes harder to actually recommend you pay more for less with another brand. Sure if, for some reason, you have something against Amped and their wireless repeaters there are other choices out there but the fact of the matter is they’re not good ones. There is very little out there which can actually compete with Amped wireless repeaters.

The Cons

Now at a real push here I can find some cons. And, as a review site, it is my job to push to find those cons to give you a fair assessment. If you’re looking for a cheap wireless repeater you can get some viable choices for about half the price of the basic Amped models. It won’t compete with signal strength or features but if you’re certain you don’t need that much power then you can save yourself about $30 by taking a look at our cheapest wireless repeaters.

That said the models Amped offers are about the same price as the average repeater and to be honest you’re better spending that extra $30 for the better features and signal strength Amped can provide.

Extra Benefits

Other than the quality they can provide Amped actually has a pretty good reputation for their tech support skills which is pretty rare for a company these days. They also include their range increase guarantee and offer free tools to help you improve your wireless network (not that you can’t get the same kind of thing online anyway but still, it’s a good gesture).

Choosing an Amped Wireless Repeater

There are a couple of different models of Amped wireless repeaters available. The one to choose really depends on your needs but as a strong middle we suggested the SR1000 which you can see here as our best Wifi repeater currently.

What is a WiFi Repeater?

A wireless repeater does exactly what the name suggests. It takes an existing WiFi signal and ‘repeats’ it creating a second point of access. The point of this is that if you have a poor signal strength to the original source of the wireless network (the wireless router or access point) the repeater can be placed closer allowing you a stronger signal.

This is commonly done around homes and offices to improve wireless signals in areas where you normally have a weak signal or dead zone. The idea of using an Android phone as a replacement is normally more of a temporary setup.

Using an Adroid WiFi Repeater App

At the moment there is no currently working app for this. The closest you can possibly come is connecting your phone to an internet connection (or using the wireless data connection on your phone) and tethering it to create an access point out of your phone. But it just doesn’t have the ability to take an existing signal and repeat it again.

Alternatives

But just because an Android phone can’t do it doesn’t mean the technology doesn’t exist. Wireless repeaters have been around for a while now (long before the Android) and while they might not be small enough to be carried around in your pocket and make calls they can certainly improve your wireless signal.

Whether you’re in an office, a house or hanging out of your window trying to get a better wireless signal to a wireless hotspot a repeater can help you out. By placing the repeater close to the hotspot allowing it to get a signal you can then connect to the repeater itself which will give you the same signal strength in the surrounding area. So then, for an example, you would get a connection around your hose for the HotSpot on the other side of the street.

It’s really just as well that the Android doesn’t have the functionality. It would be nice for a portable option but it wouldn’t get anywhere near the same kind of signal strength as a proper one built for the task. The only thing worse than no WiFi signal at all is one which frustrates you by constantly cutting out.

So get something made for the task and go for a real repeater. They’re easy to setup and provide a strong signal boost. You can take a look at our WiFi repeater page for the overall options or go straight for our current #1 best WiFi repeater review instead.

Now, from a business point of view, this makes sense. Companies want you to buy the rest of their products. And they’ll probably tell you that you’ll get a better signal etc… But from a consumer point of view this is just daft and from the tech side of things you’re actually going to get a worse signal.

So if you see a router extender which offers to improve your wireless signal by sitting on top of your router or plugging into the side – run fast and run far. The best performance you can get from a WiFi extender is by having a standalone one somewhere between your existing router and  wherever you’re trying to get the signal to. And not only does this get you a better signal but you can actually save money while you’re at it.

What a WiFi Extender Should Look Like:

Here you have your existing router and computer/laptop/wireless device and a stand alone wireless repeater in the middle. This repeater takes your original signal and extends it to give you a stronger wireless signal to your devices. The extender is in between your original signal and you allowing it a strong connection to both. This is what it should look like.

What a Specific Router Extender Looks like:

This one… not so much.

This is not actually two repeaters stacked on top of each other for no reason – it is in fact a specific router extender which was sold to customers to boost the strength of the original router.

Sure, it might manage a bit of a stronger signal but it’s still in the same place and there’s really only so much it can do on that front. I’ve never suggested this as a viable option and for good reason. You’ll pay more or less the same and get a worse performance out of it.

Best Wireless Router Extender

Hopefully I’ve explained things well enough here to give you an idea of what you’re looking for. But if you really want to get the best wireless router extender then I do have a lot of viable suggestions. If you having something specific in mind you can take a look at the WiFi extender page for a look at all of the options out there or if you really don’t know what you want take a look at the best WiFi repeater page for our #1 rated piece of kit for improving your routers wireless range.

Now when I talk about a WiFi booster for PS3 I’m not talking about something you can plug into your PlayStation from Sony. In fact there’s nothing like that which really exists which is going to boost your signal. And while my flat mate swears that putting a sieve behind his PlayStation improved the signal (don’t try this it’s a waste of time) the real truth was he got a better signal because I setup a standalone repeater for him.

What do I mean by that?

Wireless Repeaters

A wireless repeater is basically a standalone device which takes a wireless signal and ‘repeats’ it. So if the distance between your PS3 and your router is too long or full of interference and obstructions then you’ll have a weak signal. The solution is to place a wireless repeater somewhere in the middle and it connects to the repeater and creates a new point for your PS3 to connect to.

So rather than needing a strong signal to your router, the PS3 only needs a strong signal to the repeater which is closer – and then shares the internet connection from your router. They’re cheap, easy to setup and means you don’t have to worry about poor signals. They say a picture says a thousand words so maybe this explains it better:

The setup process is easy and you don’t need any advanced technical knowledge to use one. And there’s nothing on the PS3 to change – as far as it knows you’re connected to a router directly.

Getting a PS3 WiFi Booster

As I mentioned before there’s nothing specifically for the PS3 for this. Wireless repeaters can (and are commonly) used for laptops, computers, tablets, phones and pretty much any other wireless device. So as a nice extra benefit here you could also be improving the wireless signal for the rest of the house.

There’s nothing specific (or at all) from Sony on this front but for gaming on the PS3 you want something which will give you a strong reliable signal. You can take a look at the WiFi booster page for an overall idea of what you can choose from but I’d suggest going for the best WiFi repeater – that will give you the strong signal a PlayStation 3 really needs.

Now I won’t bog you down with the technical details between G and N – to be honest I’m not sure how much of it I really understand myself. But the upshot is that an N type router, wireless adapter and repeater will get a much further, and stronger, signal than a G type would.

Now because of the way technology usually works it’s generally safe to assume that by getting a wireless G repeater you could save yourself some money and take a hit to performance – but this would be fine if you didn’t need a big boost and had your mind firmly on saving money.

And I could certainly understand you thinking this. But really, in this case, you’d be wrong.

Most of the G type wireless repeaters were pretty low performance. The signal will drop, the repeater will constantly restart and even when they are actually repeating their range and strength is going to suffer. Not to mention your router won’t be able to give it the N type range to the repeater so positioning it won’t be easy.

And the funny thing is if you take a look at some of the G type repeaters they’re about the same price (if not more expensive) than the examples on our cheapest wireless repeater list (which you can see at the top of the page). And I can tell you that they’ll do better while costing the same or even less.

Technology is always changing. If this site is still around in a few years I’m sure the N type post will become a thing of the past and I’ll be telling people that the next type has a stronger version. I’ve looked around our reviews and I actually can’t see any G type repeaters which are in any way better than the alternatives. Normally I’d like to finish an article suggesting a repeater but anything I could suggest here would cost you more money and get you a worse performance. And that’s not what I’m here to do. So I’d suggest taking a look at our wireless repeater page for a full look at the ones we suggest or, if you were looking at a Wireless G repeater to try and save money, have a look at the cheapest WiFi repeater (yes, they’re all N type) reviews.

Getting the encryption not only ensures that you’ll get the best range and wireless speed possible, but also that your devices will be compatible. B/G/N devices are all backwards compatible which means if you get an wi-fi repeater which is N type you’ll be able to use it with your router and wireless adapter if they’re G type. However if your router is N type and you try to use a wireless G repeater you would have to turn your router down to G to be able to use it. Ideally you don’t want to do this as it would hurt your routers signal even more.

If your current wireless setup doesn’t support N yet you might as well still get an N repeater. The price difference is next to nothing, the N repeaters will get you a stronger signal because they’re newer anyway and at least you future proof yourself a little.

Wireless N Repeater Reviews

Just because a repeater is N type doesn’t mean it’s worthwhile. The internet has made it easier for people to use reviews to find decent products but there are still companies out there pushing bad quality products but because it’s from a name you’ve heard of you might well believe they’re actually good. My advice is trust nobody when it comes to product claims and use reviews to help you find the right repeater for you.

Most of the repeaters we review are N type. We review a few of the older ones if they were popular but most of the time we focus on the best we can find and because new technology is (usually) better than the old we end up with a lot of N type repeaters.

For our full review list you can check out the WiFi repeater homepage or if you just want the #1 suggestion we can give for a Wireless N repeater take a look at our #1 best wireless repeater.

Regardless of whatever speed you get from the exchange, if you’re getting a bad wireless signal you’re going to see some slow internet speeds. Now there’s a lot of things which can affect this from the positioning of your wireless network to the wireless interference around you. It can be a complete nightmare trying to use an internet connection which is constantly cutting out or giving you slower speeds than you paid for. And this is where a signal booster can make life easier.

Now obviously there’s a bunch of things you can try doing. You can upgrade your router, upgrade your wireless card and spend (or waste) a lot of money going down that path because you don’t really know if the existing hardware is your problem. You can also move your setup closer to the wireless AP or the router – but that kind of defeats the point of having a wireless network does it not?

So what I’m suggesting is kind of a digital ‘man in the middle’. If your wireless router is in the living room and you have a poor signal in the bedroom then you can place a wireless booster in between the living room and the bedroom. At the point where the signal starts to become faint the booster can pick the signal back up and ‘repeat’ it creating a new wireless point of access. Now your wireless devices don’t need to reach the router because all they need to do is reach the signal booster.

Sounds simple enough, right? Well they’re easy to use and easy to setup. But if you don’t know what you are looking for it can be a bit of a mixed bag. If you get a low quality signal booster which continually drops the signal or restarts itself without maintaining the wireless network information then it can be just as frustrating as your original signal. There are also a couple of wireless router signal boosters which only work with specific routers which can make it even more of a pest to find the right one.

There are lots of options to choose from – but luckily you’re in the right place.

Best Wireless Internet Signal Booster

Now while I try and make it as easy as possible for you to find the right thing I’m afraid I have more than one suggestion. Some might suit you better than others but we filter out the crap which isn’t work looking at. Take a look on the WiFi booster page for a better idea of what would suit you and we have some guides etc… on setting them up. If you really don’t know what you want or need from your booster you can go for the best wireless booster which has a great all-round performance.

That said I’ll start by looking at what Apple has to offer and then we’ll look at an alternative or two.

Apple Airport Express

The Airport express was mainly designed to host a wireless home network and connect devices like your printer to a WiFi network. There is an option for extending a network which works with the Airport Extreme (from Apple funnily enough).

It has a simple setup process and has a *lot* of great reviews behind it. But if you actually look at these reviews they are from people using the device to host a simple peer to peer wireless network. As a WiFi extender it will work – sure – but the signal strength will be much lower compared to a lot of the alternatives out there.

If you’re 100% determined to stick with Apple products then it’s the way to go. It will, at least, extend your WiFi network but you’ll pay the same price as you would with something else and still not get the same results.

Non-Apple Alternatives

Now we’re talking! I know it kind of seems like I have something against Apple here. I really don’t. I just have something against paying extra and getting less. So to that end I’d suggest not going with the Apple Airport Extreme.

And don’t worry about compatibility with your Mac. Look at it this way – if you take your Mac to a hotel or coffee shop does it refuse to connect to the wireless network because it doesn’t have a Mac router? No. It doesn’t really even know what you’re connecting to – if it see’s a wireless router or access point with a wireless connection you’re in business. That’s exactly what a WiFi extender looks like – a wireless hub with an internet connection.

Now comes the tricky part… I can tell you that the Apple one is not worth your money. I can tell you there is plenty of better alternatives out there. But honestly? I don’t know which one to really suggest. It can be situational depending on what you need. Do you want something outdoors? Indoors? Are you looking for a standalone repeater or a higher DBI antenna?

Luckily you’re still in the right place. I don’t want to list them all here in this article but take a look at our WiFi Extender page for an overall look and reviews of the top choices or, if you’re just looking for the best overall, take a look at the best wireless repeater suggestion.

Rather than restricting yourself to places where you have a weaker wireless signal you need to look at how you can improve that signal and keep your wireless freedom. So here’s a look at the best WiFi booster for laptops and how you can use it to your advantage.

First of all a WiFi booster can split into two categories:

Stand Alone Repeaters

Personally I think this is the way to go most of the time. Rather than connecting anything to your laptop and having to worry about breaking it or having to deal with extra things hanging out of your USB ports you can setup a stand alone wireless repeater.

If you’re having problems getting a wireless signal around the home or office then you can setup a repeater somewhere sitting out of the way which will connect to the router and create a new wireless network which will effectively share the internet it gets from the router. So instead of trying to get a wireless signal to the router when it keeps cutting off you can position a stand alone repeater somewhere between you and the repeater and connect to it instead.

You don’t need to do anything with the laptop or even install any software. You don’t need to move around or suffer from a poor wireless signal – instead you get a better signal wherever you are. This is how a wireless network is supposed to be, making life easier not harder. You can check out the best options on our WiFi booster page.

Antennas and Adapters

If you’re not trying to get a stronger signal from a network in, or around, your home or office then you might be looking to increase the wireless signal your laptop gets in general. In that case the best WiFi booster for laptop choice would be a better adapter and antenna combo. Now you might be used to having an internal wireless card which means your laptop is in one neat package. But if using an external stand alone WiFi booster isn’t an option then you’ll need something new connected to the laptop.

Basically your existing wireless adapter isn’t strong enough. Either it’s internal which limits the signal strength or just doesn’t pack enough power even if you already use an external one. If you take a look at our best wireless signal booster review we have some examples of  the better antennas and adapters you can use.

Best WiFi Booster

We try to gear our reviews towards our readers. Rather than say there is overall only one wireless booster which is worth using we look at as many as we can and suggest the best for certain situations.

Choosing between using an external repeater and a new adapter is down to how you use your laptop personally. If you’re trying to get a signal around the same kind of place than an external one can do it without having to worry about trailing anything around with you. If you travel a lot then you’ll need something on your laptop itself to boost the signal with different networks. You can always combine the two if you really want to boost your WiFi signal.

But although it’s a shrinking reason to choose your purchases with – some people still stick with “brand loyalty” so if they had something they liked before they’ll decide to go with them no matter what. Personally I’m not a fan of this. I think you go with whoever provides the best kit, at the best price but for all you D-Link fans out there I thought I’d look at the D-Link wireless repeater offering and compare it to the alternatives.

D-Link DHP-W306AV PowerLine N Extender

Clever in concept – but perhaps not so great in execution. The DHP-W306AV doubles as both a wireless repeater and a powerline adapter. Basically plugging it into your home power socket can let it connect with other devices through ethernet – if they’re plugged in through similar devices. Basically it can turn your homes electrical wiring into an ethernet cable.

On top of this it doubles as a wireless repeater. Now if I was looking specifically for powerline adapters there are cheaper options out there and the fact that it doubles as a wireless repeater seems like a nice feature but really it’s pretty limited by the fact it plugs directly into the socket – meaning you can’t get a good position for a strong signal.

On the other hand you can use the cabling ability to connect it to the router so you only need to be able to get a wireless signal to your adapter. If it was as simple as that and could give out a decent wireless signal I might be saying this is a repeater worth going for. The issue is there’s a lot of hassle getting powerline ethernet adapters working sometimes and all sorts of compatibility and wiring issues. For a powerline adapter it seems alright and the addition of a wireless repeater is a clever concept but, at the moment, you’ll get a better performance with other devices.

D-Link DAP-1360 Wireless-N Range Extender

The DAP-1360 is a much more standard wireless repeater build from D-Link. Wireless N-type, external antenna and a position-able design. An easy setup with a fairly good price point the only problem is it seems to have issues keeping a reliable signal and the price point is similar to some of the much better performing options.

If you already have one and you’re not looking to improve your wireless range by much then it’ll probably do the job. Take the time and try to get it positioned well to try and offset the connectivity issues but if you’re trying to decide on a new device there’s a lot of better alternatives.

Alternatives

So yes D-Link make repeaters but there’s nothing to set them out from the crowd. As it currently stands you’re paying the same (or more) for devices which won’t perform as well. They have some interesting ideas but an interesting idea alone won’t improve your wireless signal. Currently there’s just better choices compared to D-Link and if you take a look at our wireless repeater page it can help you choose the best one to suit your needs.