What is it?
A powerful WiFi signal enhancer for larger homes.
Wireless internet signal blackspots are frustrating for any household, particularly larger spaces with thick brick walls.
Ideally a wired infrastructure would flow through a home unseen and work seamlessly providing a high speed connection to your router but practically isn't feasible for most of us.
Instead we must seek alternative technologies to solve the problem such as Netgear's Nighthawk X4S Tri-Band Wi-Fi Range Extender.
Good Points?
The unit plugs directly into a wall socket, so no unseemly cables are needed. Nor will the slick white facade detract from the overall look of your room.
Netgear's FastLane3 technology boosts the core signal between the router and extender. Other systems can show you having full signal bars to your mobile device, but the speed can be poor due to the connection between extender and router.
Bad points?
The WPS pairing method to connect the extender with your network during set up was hit and miss. I ended up forgoing this for the slightly more convoluted Netgear Installation Assistant step which involved a direct wireless connection to the extender with a laptop or smartphone. This then allowed me to set up the device with a connection to my home router.
Best for ...
Those who like a strong and reliable WiFi signal throughout their home without resorting to industrial wireless access points being dotted around the place.
Avoid if ...
Your living space is confined to a few rooms as this device will be overkill and you'll be presenting your network to half the neighbourhood.
Score: 9/10.
Netgear Nighthawk X4S Tri-Band Wi-Fi Range Extender, £99.95 (amazon.co.uk)
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here