Setting up a wireless network is somewhat simple these days, but when you start adding additional Wi-Fi modules, things can get a little messy. Amped Wireless’s latest Tap-Ex Wireless Extender, with touch screen and juiced-up power ($119.99), provides a user friendly, touch-based interface that lets you extend your existing home wireless network with just a few taps on its screen. Tap-Ex is easy to work with and designed for virtually anyone who needs extended range and power for their network.
Tap-Ex Wireless Extender Features
While only a single-band unit, the Tap-Ex Wireless Extender supports up to 300Mbps of throughput, and can be extended to the 2.4GHz band. It also has two Ethernet ports, which support 10/100 Ethernet with its maximum throughput of 100Mbps. The ports are convenient for connecting devices you typically want to hardwire to the network, such as game consoles and smart TVs. You also have the option of connecting a USB drive to the Tap-Ex’s USB 2.0 port.
The touch screen is the real selling point with the Tap-Ex Wireless Extender. This 3.4-inch color LCD measures 5.2 by 5.8 by 1.4 inches, which makes it easy to navigate around its color menu, and it sits on a detachable stand. The Tap-Ex also comes with a high-gain antenna that screws into the side, and helps sustain the 2.4GHz signal in a busy environment.
Tap-Ex’s UI and home screen are divided into four tiles: Dashboard, Setup Wizard, Management and Wi-Fi Settings. Clicking on each icon will bring up another screen display with additional configuration options and sub-menus. The touch interface also allows you to tweak settings for the device itself, like time display options, unlock passcode, and screen timeout. You can also update the firmware through the touch interface.
Setup
As mentioned, the Tap-Ex Wireless Extender is very simple to setup and install. You’ll want to place the extender between your wireless router and the area where your wireless signal starts to weaken. You can move the extender after you set it up. When you power the unit up, the setup screen appears. Tapping the Scan button will search for all wireless networks in the area, and you subsequently select that network you want extended.
Because the Tap-Ex is an extender, this means that the extended network will have a different SSID from your router, and you can assign a different password. To make configuration more consistent, though, Tap-Ex allows you to clone over the passphrase and encryption level of your existing Wi-Fi with just another tap. The interface also helps you in selecting the network to extend. It advises you to extend only a strong signal, and it displays all of the networks’ signal-strength percentages.
When the device set up is complete, the screen shows an image of the router and the Tap-Ex Wireless Extender connected, the IP address info and the security pass phrase. That’s it! You’re done!
Performance and Bottom-Line
During our testing, we were wondering how well a 2.4GHz band extender would perform, but we weren’t disappointed. At about 85-feet, the Tap-Ex Wireless Extender worked wonderfully, and at 110-feet, it lost no signal, and with no latency or screen freezing.
Tap-Ex works very well in non-crowded, low RF interference environments, typically 100 feet from a router and closer. Tap-Ex also offers a new way to control the device in their touchscreen interface versus a PC. Some might really like this because it adds another layer of user-friendliness to networking device setup.
So for simpler and smaller households, the Tap-Ex Wireless Extender is a winner, and at a pretty affordable price. It’s perfect for those who need to boost a home’s wireless signal coverage and want a tremendously easy setup protocol.
