Dead spots will happen in your wireless network, but how do you deal with them? The easiest solution is to buy a Wi-Fi extender. There are a ton of options out there, some that can set you back nearly as much as a router itself. That’s not the case with the TP-Link N300 WiFi Range Extender. At just $30 retail, it offers a cheap way to plug holes in your wireless coverage.
With two current promotions on Amazon, you can get this for just $15. An ongoing sale brings the price down to $20, but Amazon also has a $5 coupon you can apply to the order for a limited time. Our experience with Amazon coupons is they don’t last long, so don’t wait to take advantage of the extra savings.
Now, we’ll be completely honest with you here. This is not an extender you want to use in areas where you’ll need lots of bandwidth (it only supports speeds up to 300 Mbps, and uses the 802.11n standard). While 802.11n has a longer range, it is much slower than modern technologies. After all, 802.11n routers first started appearing a decade ago!
A single high-definition stream would take up a considerable amount of bandwidth, enough to noticeably slow other connections. For situations where you’ll need a bit more throughput, say for streaming, downloads, or gaming, step up to either one of these two alternatives also from TP-Link.
You don’t have to spend all that much more to get a much better Wi-Fi range extender. In fact, Amazon also has the TP-Link AC750 WiFi Range Extender on sale right now too, and it also has a coupon for a limited time. Normally $35, Amazon’s current sale brings the price down to $30. But with a $7 coupon, the price is now just $23. With this range extender, you get more than twice the bandwidth and dual-band support, and faster 802.11ac support — which all modern devices use.
The latter is essential for smart households — many of your smart objects use the 2.4GHz band to communicate with the internet. But our phones and computers prefer to connect to the faster and higher bandwidth 5GHz band. You’ll see a dramatic difference in performance, and you’ll also be able to manage this access point via the TP-Link app. There’s even an Ethernet port on the bottom for older devices. All around, it’s a better device and worth the extra $8.
But if you want to make a difference in those dead spots, there’s a much better option available and is among our top picks for range extenders.
The TP-Link AC1750 WiFi Range Extender is a beast. It provides more than twice the bandwidth of our previous option and performs well enough for us to recommend it for just about any application, including gaming. Buyers praise its easy setup and performance, and with three adjustable antennas, you’ll be able to easily get Wi-Fi into those hard to reach areas throughout your house.
Like our other TP-Link recommendations, this model is on sale, too. Normally $100, Amazon’s selling this for just $60. And we think of all the recommendations here, the AC1750 is probably the best bet for most people. Yes, you can spend $15 to fix that dead spot, but in the end, you’ll be more satisfied with the performance of this particular extender.
Looking for other great computing deals? Check out our curated deals page.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Google DeepMind's AI world model Genie 4 can now build interactive worlds that you can explore and reshape as they run. It also generates ambient sounds, music, and dialogue that respond to your actions.
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Apple has an incredible talent for making me admire its products while simultaneously questioning what on earth it's thinking with the pricing. This isn't even something as bizarre as a monitor stand, but the audacity for starting a new laptop lineup from $2,000 doesn't surprise me.
The newly announced 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 is just the latest to showcase this. The funny thing is, I already know that it's going to be a reliable workstation. You get a powerful new 2nm M6 processor, a gorgeous Liquid Retina XDR display, and up to 24 hours of battery life. We were impressed by the M5 MacBook Air, so the high-end M6 powered MacBook Pro definitely won't let us down.