| NETGEAR WGX102 54 Mbps Wall-Plugged Wireless Range Extender |
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Model: WGX102NA
Brand: Netgear
Manufacturer: Netgear
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 32
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
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| Features: |
Wireless Range Extender plugs into a wall outlet to extend a 802.11g network
Supports IEEE 802.11g wireless standard and is backwards compatible with 802.11b networks
Enhanced security thanks to WPA and 64/128-bit WEP encryption
Sleek design fits into any decor
Device measures 6.5 x 3 x 8.6 inches (WxHxD) |
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| Description: |
| NETGEAR offers wireless, Ethernet, powerline and phoneline networking products through a complete line of routers, gateways, switches, hubs, and adapters. NETGEAR products offer the strongest security and privacy options available to protect home and business customers. |
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| User Reviews (32 total): |
Page 1 2 of Total 2 Pages
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Initially Great. Now it does not work., July 31, 2008
By user (Dallas)
When I first plugged it in it worked immediately. I had a brief, 4 minute power outage. Now it does not work at all. I have rebooted, unplugged and replugged. Nothing. The customer support response was less than intelligible to me. The device is not in use anymore.
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Good for internet. Not good for more resource-intensive use., July 9, 2008
By user
I've used the range extender with the XE102 unit for over two years now and they have always worked great for normal internet browsing. However, it is VERY SLOW (around 1 mbps) transferring files between computers, and the whole thing just crashes if I try to do something like streaming media at even a moderate bitrate. The crash is easy to fix--unplug the wireless unit, then plug it back in a few seconds later. But it is clearly a pain if the wireless unit is in another room (or in my case, on another floor).
But for normal internet use, the wireless unit has always worked well -- no probs at all.
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Netgear, June 29, 2008
By user
I recently purchased the Netgear wireless range extender system. It was truely plug and play. I didn't have to do anything other than plug it in and start using it.
Excellent job.
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A happy ending, April 21, 2008
By user (Incline Village, NV USA)
I used XE102 and WGX102 earlier and they worked great until the WGX102 burned out -- I went through that course a couple of times then gave up -- recently, I tried again since I have a house that I can't get signal to certain rooms with Linksys repeater due to distance but this time around I installed brand new units and they didn't work at all -- I tried everything I could to make them work but to no avail -- I couldn't figure out if it didn't work because I have new router (WRT54G) or if it was that new Netgear just didn't work -- finally, I realized that I was plugging the XE102 off of the UPS power panel and the WGX102 off of the non-UPS power panel (the house has two separate wiring systems, with one backed up with Uninterruptible Power Supply) while the other is only supplied by the power company -- when I moved them to the same circuit, everything worked great. Lesson learned is that isolated power wiring systems prevent the units from working properly. I now have Linksys repeaters and Netgear equipment all working fine. (By the way, I would change the rating I gave unit to 5 stars but I can't seem to get back to star rating as I am updating my review)
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Great invention. Setup non-trivial., April 14, 2008
By user (Cambridge, MA United States)
This is one of the best networking product ideas I have used. I don't see why using regular routers for a home network. Installation and understanding of what each element does is not trivial. Performance is good although once in a while it needs to be rebooted (like most routers). Definitely worth the price and the time setting it up.
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Great, but unfortunately..., March 24, 2008
By user (Ventura, CA USA)
This thing does exactly what it's supposed to, and set up couldn't be easier. So why am I returning it? Because I left it and its' sister piece the XE102 in for only ten minutes, and when I went to remove them, they were so hot as I pulled them out of the sockets that I felt like I damn near burned my hand. Furthermore, they took an entire ten minutes to cool down! This CAN'T be a good thing. It's too bad, too, because they really work great---but not at the expense of burning down the condo.
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works for me in 5 seconds, March 13, 2008
By user (Orinda, CA)
i got the kit (pair) several months ago and now I am getting one more repeater so we don't have to carry the single repeater around the house as much. as far as setup, it worked instantly on our system. the range is not too great but the point is that you put it in the remote room you are working in - it works fine in a room and i worry very little about anybody three houses away finding our signal. it gets pretty hot so I just suspect it shouldn't be plugged in 24/7 since that might accelerate eventual failure. this even works in our backyard garage/workroom so it is pretty robust in terms of transversing the whole household electric circuit. if a conventional wireless station won't reach all through your house, even if this is not perfect, it will be a huge relief for you.
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It Does Not Work!!, March 8, 2008
By user (Sierra Vista, AZ USA)
Stupid me ... I read the bad reviews and violated my own rules and went ahead and bought this product at Staples. I have a Netgear FVG318 wireless router. The router sees the WGX102, but their own utility that comes with it does not see it, AND it says that the password that is printed on the WGX102 is not valid. *Then* trying to troubleshoot, I plugged the extender into an outlet one (1) outlet away from the WGX102 bridge (6ft away, on the same cricuit!) and it shows 1 bar of signal strength!!!! I suppose they will tell me that I have a "noisy line" or some crap like that(?). How about this ... their product is a piece of crap like the all the reviews here said, the same reviews THAT I SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO in the first place!!!
I am a 25 year professional/veteran in the IT field. I am not a novice at this stuff in any sense of the word. This thing has SERIOUS quality issues ... it doesn't even work with their own products. What a piece of crap ... listen to the reviews posted here and stay away and save yourself a lot of wasted time, frustration, and iritation.
NETGEAR, you need to invest more in your Quality Control department!!! Seriously.
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Dead, March 5, 2008
By user (Madison WI)
It worked nicely for awhile but as expected it died, took just 8 months. I've plugged in my back up unit but I think it's time to look for a different powerline unit
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Flawless product, February 9, 2008
By user (Maine)
Device worked flawlessly - plug and play - re-configured easily for WPA-PSK security. 2 - wireless NICs both received different DHCP addresses simultaneously from one WGX102. Perfect for the one room in the house which was a dead zone. Anywhere else in the house - I re-attach to the router with no problem. If you need to extend your wireless network, this is a perfect solution.
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Good for old stone house, January 22, 2008
By user (Wild Wonderful WV)
I live in an old stone house with stone interior walls with block wireless signal from the router. Plus the solid stone walls mean no way to fish new cable so I gave this a try. Connects quickly and gives strong signal. I like that I can move the receiver unit around the house and get wireless access is less than 10 seconds of plugging it in. I also like to plug the receiver in on the outside deck on sunny days and have wireless all accross the back yard. (I experiemented and got useful signal strength over 400 feet away.) Also, I have taken it to a detached garage, plugged it in and have wireless while working on projects. (So handy, that I have just bought an additional receiver to save the "hassle" of moving it from place to place.)
USAGE CAVEAT: Be careful what devices share the circuit with the units. They seem especially senstive to surge suppressors and to power chargers. For example, I suddenly had great difficulty with wireless in the bedroom where it had worked flawlessly for months. When I checked the unit, my wife had plugged in her cell phone charger into the same outlet next to the netgear. When I unplugged her charger, all access problems immediately disappeared. If a charger or other device "hums" when plugged in, don't place right next to the unit.
Bottom line: works well when wired network is impractical to install
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A Good Product & Easy to Set-up!, December 16, 2007
By user (Toronto, ON)
Purchased Netgear WGX102 and used it in conjunction with Netgear XE103. It was truly "plug-and-play"! It did exactly what was advertised it could do. It worked without having to install the software (but installation would be needed to encrypt the network). The wireless signal was strong but it doesn't go through concrete walls/floors, so we purchased 4 Netgear EX103 wireless access points to put in different rooms in the house. Good product for instances where one wireless access point doesn't reach all areas of the house.
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Cannot function without this device, October 19, 2007
By user
I have a 6300 square foot house with great distances and walls from the router. I could not function without these extenders. Distance and physical barriers are no longer an issue.
I bought 2 of them. My folks use one on their wing of the house, and I use 1 wherever I happen to be with my laptop. You can also just unplug the device and move it to another section of the house, or outdoors.
It has worked flawlessly for the past year and a half.
I do not have encryption enabled, though, because I do not have neighbors to worry about. That may be key to why it works so flawlessly for me.
Since I bought the devices, I have had four different routers, from different manufactures, and each one automatically picked up the devices and configured them.
You may, however, have to manually set the IP addresses on the Extenders. I did do that because I have more than one Extender. Also, some electrical outlets do not work with the device.
One other issue I have sometimes is connecting to the router than disconnecting, and then connecting to the Extender. With my old routers, I had to reboot. My new router seems to have solved the issue.
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Wireless made easy!, September 6, 2007
By user (Tokyo)
I can not comment on the speed as I didn't make any specific tests, but it seems fast. At least as fast as my cable internet connectino speed. But what is REALLY fast, is the set up. In less than a couple of minutes I was online. Very good! Full marks!
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serves my purpose, July 6, 2007
By user (California Valley, ca)
It does, what it is supposed to do. It works anywhere within the electrical system.
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Not Worth The Money, June 5, 2007
By user
I bought my unit in February, 2006. It no longer works. Simply put, it does what others have said--breaks down after about 15 months. Mine just died a day or two ago. I have little hope that Netgear will do anything to replace it. I now have to look for another solution for extending the range of my wireless system. I'll keep looking, you should too.
Let the buyer beware!
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WGX102 Fails every 4-18 months, January 8, 2007
By user (TX)
Like so many others I found that the unit fails quickly. The original failed after 4 months. The replacement lasted only long enough to get beyond the warranty period. I then bought a refurbished unit and it lasted 16 months. The original companion XE102 is still working, so I am going to replace the WGX102 wth a second XE102. I will have to connect the remote computer to it with a cable, but since it can be moved to any outlet, it is still pretty flexible. I hope I have found a way around the unreliable WGX102.
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Configured quickly, good range, but it's not very fast, January 5, 2007
By user (La Canada, CA USA)
I bought this, plus the companion XE102, at another web site. I was prepared for troubles, particularly since a got a refurbished set at a bargain price. However, all the setup, including adding WEP security, was accomplished quickly with no fuss - and I'm the kind of guy who attracts trouble when it comes to network configuration. Everything worked the first time. The range is pretty good, too.
I gave it just three stars because the throughput is much slower than when I connect instead to my regular Netgear wireless router. Still way faster than dialup, but photos on cnn.com "paint" onto the screen instead of popping onto the screen. Some of this may be due to the fact that my house is about fifty years old and some of the electrical wiring is questionable. Still, I'm pleased to have coverage at the far end of the house without any hassle.
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18 months and no longer works, November 30, 2006
By user (Dallas, Texas USA)
Like other users have experienced, this unit is no longer functional after 18 months. The wired base is still working but the wireless range extender no longer fires up all 3 led lights. Poor product Netgear!
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WGX102 Prone to Hardware Failure, November 1, 2006
By user (Cary, NC)
I purchased a WGX102 about 18 months ago. The first unit I purchased failed after a few months. NetGear replaced it, because it was under warranty. The replacement unit worked nicely for about 15 months, then it failed too, with pretty much the same symptoms. The unit only has a one year warranty, so NetGear told me I would have to buy another. I'm not going to do that, because the units don't seem to last, and I don't want to have to buy another one every 18 months or so.
I've seen a number of reviews on various sites by other customers who have had the same experience. Be warned.
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