Devolo’s WiFi AC Repeater Plus Review: Powerful but Pricey

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The Devolo WiFi AC Repeater Plus is a dual-band Wi-Fi vary extender with Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) antennas. In addition to promising to patch up Wi-Fi not-spots in the house, it additionally options two Ethernet ports as a substitute of the standard one, and mains passthrough, so you’ll stay different units powered up whilst the WiFi AC Repeater Plus is in use. 

Options & Design

The Devolo WiFi AC Repeater Plus is a moderately huge Wi-Fi extender with a mains passthrough socket on the entrance, and two Ethernet ports on the most sensible. On the subject of appears to be like, it’s nearly just like the nodes from the Devolo Mesh WiFi 2 device with an excessively identical design and the similar dimensions. 

There are two backlit buttons at the entrance, which act as standing lighting fixtures for energetic Wi-Fi connections in your units, and your router, respectively. The button with the Wi-Fi image will also be used to pair the WiFi AC Repeater Plus with different appropriate Devolo units to shape a mesh community, whilst the House button will also be used to pair together with your router by way of WPS, for fast set-up.

Set up 

Atmosphere the whole thing up is simple, but takes somewhat longer than maximum plug ‘n play Wi-Fi extenders, which may also be able in lower than 5 mins – the Devolo WiFi AC Repeater Plus took nearer to 15. 

Whilst it’s excellent to grasp that the method is thorough, looking forward to the crimson LED at the back of the House icon to switch from crimson to white feels such as you’re looking forward to the celebs to align. It’s surely price sticking the kettle on earlier than you begin to set up this. 

In addition to urgent the WPS buttons at the extender and your router to pair the whole thing, you’ll use the Devolo House Community App for iOS and Android in case you’d like to be guided during the set up procedure. 

The app will inform you if where you’re environment the extender up is both too shut, or too a ways away out of your router for the sign to be efficient, and permit you to know when it thinks you’ve picked a great spot. After you’ve discovered this, it’s merely a case of looking forward to the WiFi AC Repeater Plus to connect with your telephone. 

Through default, it stocks the similar community password as your router, but you’ll alternate this within the settings, now not with out some problem, thoughts. Two times I attempted to switch the community password, just for the app to crash each occasions. At the 3rd try, I used to be ready to effectively do it, but it took a very long time for that small alternate to be implemented and for the WiFi AC Repeater Plus to restart, which took any other ten mins or so earlier than I used to be again on-line. 

Efficiency

To peer how the Devolo WiFi AC Repeater Plus carried out as opposed to the usage of a unmarried router, I used the similar trying out standards I did when trying out the TP-Hyperlink RE505X, Tenda A18, TP-Hyperlink RE305 and BrosTrend AC1200. 

I set the Wi-Fi extender up in a room one ground up and one room alongside from the place my primary router, a Netgear RBK750, sits. I subscribe to the Virgin Media M200 provider, which generally provides me between 180-210Mbps maximum occasions of the day. 

The primary set of exams came about in a room subsequent to the room the place the WiFi AC Repeater Plus was once put in, with one brick wall in between, and the second one, two rooms away, with two non load-bearing plasterboard partitions in between. 

I used the WiFi Velocity Take a look at Professional app for Android to document Wi-Fi hyperlink speeds, in addition to obtain and add speeds, when attached to each the WiFi AC Repeater Plus and the principle router, for comparability’s sake. The effects beneath are averages:

Wi-Fi 5 shopper check: One room away

  Devolo WiFi AC Repeater AC (2.4GHz) Devolo WiFi AC Repeater Plus (5GHz) Primary router (2.4GHz) Primary router (5GHz)
Reasonable Wi-Fi hyperlink speeds 92.49Mbps 142.27Mbps 49.58Mbps 185.77Mbps
Reasonable obtain velocity 34.49Mbps 198.46Mbps 27.37Mbps 44.48Mbps
Reasonable add velocity 21.45Mbps 21.62Mbps 13.58Mbps 20.81Mbps

Wi-Fi 5 shopper check: Two rooms away

  Devolo WiFi AC Repeater Plus (2.4GHz) Devolo WiFi AC Repeater Plus (5GHz) Primary router (2.4GHz) Primary router (5GHz)
Reasonable Wi-Fi hyperlink speeds 58.08Mbps n/a 27.91Mbps n/a
Reasonable obtain velocity 32.20Mbps n/a 33.96Mbps n/a
Reasonable add velocity 21.67Mbps n/a 6.85Mbps n/a

You’ll be able to see from the consequences that the Devolo WiFi AC Repeater Plus makes a undeniable affect. Speeds, particularly at the 5GHz band, are spectacular, even if the sign wasn’t tough sufficient to achieve right into a Wi-Fi lifeless zone two rooms away. 

That’s now not a slight at the WiFi AC Repeater Plus although – excluding the TP-Hyperlink RE505X, not one of the Wi-Fi extenders I’ve examined not too long ago has been ready to do this, and within the RE505X’s case, it’s a Wi-Fi 6 vary extender, and it was once best ready to speak to the Wi-Fi 6 shopper two rooms away, in order that says extra about the advantages of Wi-Fi 6 and the homes of 5GHz than the rest. 

Having mentioned that, the speeds right here, whilst excellent, aren’t vastly higher than what you’ll get on Wi-Fi extenders for part the fee, which can be additionally a ways more straightforward to arrange and use.

Worth & Availability

The Devolo WiFi AC Repeater Plus is that can be purchased now for £59.99. 

In the United Kingdom, Amazon sells the WiFi AC Repeater Plus for £56.99, down from £59.99, as does Ebuyer. In the meantime, Field has it for £57.99 and Comet sells it at RRP.

Few different shops inventory this nowadays – if not one of the others are to be had, Quzo may be promoting the WiFi AC Repeater Plus, albeit for £65.05. 

On the time of writing, no shops in the United States or Australia had the Devolo WiFi AC Repeater Plus in inventory.

Verdict

The Devolo WiFi AC Repeater Plus gives excellent speeds, but now not a lot better than what you get with a less expensive Wi-Fi extender, and the Devolo House Community App, which will have to make issues more straightforward to regulate and configure, is in fact difficult to make use of and vulnerable to crashing.

At this value, you’d be making an investment in one thing just like the TP-Hyperlink RE505X as the principle advantages listed here are very similar to a powerline adapter.

Specifications

Devolo AC WiFi Repeater Plus: Specifications

  • 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) on 2.4GHz and 5GHz 2×2 dual-band with MIMO and beamforming
  • 2 x Ethernet
  • WPS
  • Repeater Mode
  • AP Mode
  • 152 x 76 x 40 mm
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