Wireless Repeater for Mac
Finding a wireless repeater for Mac is not a big a challenge as Mac users might be expecting. Sometimes it can seem like the whole world is made for Windows users and trying to find something which works without a headache can be a real pain.
I’m going to give you a quick look at what you should be looking for when looking for a Mac wireless repeater but you can always just skip to the end if you want a suggestion for the best Mac compatible repeaters.
But because a WiFi repeater is an external piece of kit and repeats your wireless signal instead of actually plugging up with your Mac you don’t need to worry about hardware compatibility. The only thing you need to do is make sure that you’ll be able configure the repeater during the setup stage.
Setting up a Wireless Repeater
Different repeaters handle their setup differently. Some involve just pressing a button (as long as your access point has the same system). Buttons are easy but does you no good if your access point can’t handle it. Some range extenders have an ‘auto’ button which will repeat the first open signal it can find. This can work just fine if you’re not protecting your network and I used to use this setting all the time rather than bothering to set it up. So these can work just fine if you know for sure you can support it. But if you don’t know for sure there’s no point in taking the chance. Others involve running some software and that’s where your problem really can be.
The repeater information will usually tell you if the software will run on a Mac. It won’t tell you if it runs under emulation (like WINE) and while you can always dual boot into Windows to run the setup it hardly seems worth the trouble.
The best setup method is through browser which you can easily do from your Mac. Some WiFi repeaters keep their setup firmware rather than giving you extra software to install. So you connect to the repeater and type in an IP to your browser. A quick guide can tell you how to get there and set it up so don’t worry. The setup process is essentially just running on a website which a Mac can easily work with. It also means you don’t have to worry about losing the disk or finding a download online.
Mac Made Repeater
Personally I am not a fan of buying something just for the branding. Apple did make something for this called the Airport Express which is made for the Airport access point. Sure it has the Apple style design and looks pretty sleek but at the end of the day that’s all you get.
As much as Apple would love you to buy nothing but their hardware you can actually venture out a little and our suggested repeater isn’t actually from Apple.
Best Wireless Repeater for Mac
So you know what you need to look for but I can save you searching through the repeaters looking for something which meets your criteria. If you checkout this Amped wireless repeater you’ll see a repeater which can be setup through a browser (meaning no faffing around with software) and it is also one of our top rated wireless repeaters for Mac or PC.