I upgraded from a pair of Buffalo Air Station access points, one set up as a repeater for my back yard. They were a real pain to setup and so were these. The Buffalo's were "G's" and with a house full of streaming video, were long in the tooth.
The only problems I really had with these over the Buffalo's, were the huge power these put out. I have them set for maximum output. The repeater's only problem, if you can call it that, is you really need to need it. LOL My last repeater was in the kitchen looking out the window. This one actually had to be outside in the hot tub room. (another 20 feet going through EV glass and the hot tub room's roof, really) Otherwise, it would flood the house and the devices could never decide what to work with, so would work with nothing. In other words, no internet access. If you have 2 1/2 to 3 bars, on your wireless device, add the repeater at that point. Don't go under two bars as your throughput won't support 1080p streaming. (regular internet access is fine, however) It has to be pretty exact. If you set the repeater with four bars showing from the access point, you'll flood the house. Maybe using low power would help this, but what's the point in that? You don't really need the repeater at all then. Remember? You really need to need it. I want power and need range, that's why I'm doing this in the first place. I didn't try auto. I never use auto anything.
Once the repeater was setup outside, everything settled down and man, are these baby's fast. I've always had trouble with the hot tub room HD TV. (again, outside, but under roof) I was using dual long length Cat 6 cables with powered converters and powered splitters, HDMI converters etc,etc, ad nausea! And as you can imagine, watching ball games outside was always hit and miss.
Not anymore! After years of hassle, tech has finally caught me. Now I just stream it via my TiVo app from my tablet and waa laa, instant Yankees game in 1080p. NICE! REALLY NICE! FINALLY!!!
After reading all the negative reviews here, and not being an expert on these things, I was hesitant, especially with the really cheap price; but reasoned these people just don't know how to set these things up and I was right. These units work extremely well, if you have them set at 40Mhz, they'll blow your house away. And my back yard. LOL
If you set up a repeater, remember, in "Wireless Mac Filtering" the main access point HAS to have the mac address of the repeater. And, the repeater MUST have the mac address of the main access point. They WILL need permissions while keeping main permissions at default, (disabled, and deny) While this will seem counter intuitive, this step will "marry" them. This used to be done with Mac cloning. Also, setup as a universal repeater, keep WMA off. (this has nothing to do with your security setup.) I think that's where people lose it. None of this can be done in quick setup, you have to come back and fine tune it. Repeaters are tricky.
Set up in this way, your wireless devices will switch between them seamlessly with very little lag; just like cell phone towers do and they won't try to interfere with one another. I set both mine up wireless using my laptop. Set one up, turn it off and set the other up. You may wind up changing the wrong one if they're both on. (yeah, like 10 times! gasp) And, know where the reset button is, you'll need it a few times. LOL I'm telling you guys this now, because in a week, I'll forget how I did it. LOL
Stick with it, it's worth it and my oh my, do these things really work great. I've never had anything even close to these. My Laptop and tablets connect between 170, and 300Mbps. My computer off the wired router doesn't have that speed.
If they don't hold up, I'll update this post.
By the way, forget Buffalo, they're not the same company, I sent theirs back.
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From the manufacturer
TP-LINK Wireless N Access Point TL-WA901ND
The TP-LINK Wireless N Access Point TL-WA901ND is designed to establish or expand a scalable high-speed wireless N network or to connect multiple Ethernet enabled devices such as game consoles, digital media adapters, printers, or network attached storage devices to a wireless network. The AP supports a host of different functions that makes your wireless networking experience more flexible than ever before. Now, you can enjoy a better Internet experience when downloading, gaming, video streaming or with any other application that you may wish to use.
Wireless N Speed & Range
Adopting IEEE 802.11n advanced MIMO (Multi Input Multi Output) technology, it simultaneously works through three antennas with smart antenna technology to Tx and Rx to overcome the interference and signal degradation when traveling long distances or through physical barriers in a small office or a large apartment, resulting in an incredible improvement in the wireless performance, even in a steel-and-concrete building. Above all, you could easily pick up the wireless network during long-distance connection where legacy 11g products may not!
Compare with similar items
This Item  TP-Link N450 Wireless Access Point | Desktop WiFi Bridge | Supports AP/Multi-SSID/Client/Range Extender Mode | 3 * 5dBi detachable Antennas | Passive PoE Powered (TL-WA901ND) |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | Currently unavailable. | -11% $39.99 List: $44.99 | -20% $79.99 List: $99.99 | -18% $32.99 New Price: $39.99 | -15% $84.99 List: $99.99 | -10% $116.99 List: $129.99 |
| Delivery | — | Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11 | Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11 | Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11 | Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11 | Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| WiFi signal | ||||||
| Easy to install | ||||||
| Value for money | ||||||
| Tech Support | ||||||
| Sold By | — | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Quality Photo | Amazon.com | Amazon.com |
| connectivity tech | wireless | Ethernet | Ethernet | Ethernet | Ethernet | Ethernet |
| number of ports | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| data transfer rate | 300 megabits per second | 1200 gigabits per second | 3000 megabits per second | — | 1800 megabits per second | 3000 megabits per second |
| wireless standard | 802 11 BGN | 802 11 AC, 802 11 A, 802 11 N, 802 11 G, 802 11 B | 802 11 AX | 802 11 AC, 802 11 A, 802 11 N, 802 11 G, 802 11 B | 802 11 AX | 802 11 AX |
| frequency band class | single band | dual band | dual band | dual band | dual band | dual band |
| lan port bandwidth | 10/100 megabits per second | — | — | — | 10/100/1000 megabits per second | 10/100/1000 megabits per second |
| antenna type | — | fixed | fixed | — | — | internal |
Reviews with images
The ease of use
I recently upgraded my broadband internet from a 8mps DSL circuit to fiber to my house, 50mps connection. Previously, I used a WIFI extender to cover my area downstairs because the DSL router was installed upstairs. Well, the fiber is terminated on a Calix Data Center downstairs. I needed to cover the area upstairs that could meet the speed of the unit downstairs. The TL-Link TL-WA901ND AP totally meets my expectations. This unit is good, I mean really good. The speed is fantastic, I can connect across the street in the park and I have not had any issues with the unit. I completely endorse this product.
Top reviews from other countries
AleX
Excelente potencia de señal a un precio económico.
Reviewed in Mexico on May 26, 2019
Darren M.
Great product to be used as 2.4ghz Bridge
Reviewed in Australia on June 18, 2020
Rai
Fantástica opción para ampliar o crear una red wifi.
Reviewed in Spain on July 30, 2012