After the success of using the single band version of the Edimax wi-fi extender to get rid of dead zones, I’ve replaced it with the dual band network version. This was the version that was originally tested in PCPro magazine.
The Edimax N300+ Concurrent Dual-band Wi-Fi Extender operates across the 5gHz and the 2.4GHz wireless band. Easy to use step-by-step instructions are included and as before I ignored the option of using WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) to link the extender to my network because of security concerns.
With this device I had to go through the connection routines twice – once for each of the networks. Not really a problem as the device was connected directly to my laptop with the short Ethernet cable provided.
No trial and error this time, I plugged the device into the same electrical socket that the earlier version had been using. And as before ‘it just worked’! The extended networks have their original names but with a code appended and have the same passwords. Separate lights indicate connection the original networks with a steady light indicating a strong signal.
This Edimax device extends on 802.11 b/g/n networks on the 2.4Ghz band and 802.11 n/a on the 5GHz band.
This device has the same criticism of that of the single band version, namely the lack of control over which channels the device will use for its extended networks.
UPDATE
After a weekend away in November the device would not switch on. I am please to say that Edimax sent a replacement after an exchange of emails with their support staff. Only (minor) criticism is that I had to return the broken unit at my expense !