NETGEAR WGX102 54 Mbps Wall-Plugged Wireless Range Extender

by Netgear

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 3 x 6.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0009MYSE8
• Item model number: WGX102NA
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 5, 2006

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The NETGEAR WGX102 54 Mbps Wall-Plugged Wireless Range Extender offers: A simple way to extend a wireless network. Enhanced security thanks to WPA and 64/128-bit WEP encryption. Sleek design that fits into any decor.

The NETGEAR WGX102 54 Mbps Wall-Plugged Wireless Range Extender makes it easy to create a wireless network anywhere you have an electrical outlet. This makes it feasible to extend an internet connection to even the farthest reaches of your home without a tangled mess of cables.

Just plug the WGX102 into an outlet to extend your wireless range. View larger.

Elegant Design and Simple to Install
The WGX102 is a small silver-colored box with rounded edges that has no wires or ports of any kind. Installation is truly plug and play: simply plug the device into the outlet and you have a wireless network originating from that spot.

Note that the use of this device requires the separately sold NETGEAR XE102 Wall-Plugged Ethernet Bridge, which connects from an existing wired or wireless router to the power line.

Fast and Secure
The WGX102 complies with both the Homeplug 1.0 and 802.11g wireless standards for compatibility with a wide range of devices. Since 802.11g is backwards compatible with 802.11b, you don't have to worry about your older devices that might not yet support the newer standard. The WGX102 supports 64-bit and 128-bit WEP encryption as well as WPA so you can be sure your data is safe from prying eyes.

The NETGEAR WGX102 54 Mbps Wall-Plugged Wireless Range Extender is backed by a 1-year warranty.

What's in the Box
WGX102 54 Mbps wall-plugged wireless range extender, resource CD, installation guide, ethernet cable, warranty/support information card, and "read me" flyer.

Product Description

As home networking continues to spread and evolve at rapid speed, some users find that their wireless coverage from their router does not reach all corners or their home, or that they would like to have their wireless Internet access available at a location of their choosing, rather than be tethered to the point where the Internet enters their home. Other users would rather have a wireless network where no product is on the floor, and no cables are visible at all. The WGX102 addresses these needs. It consists of the WGX102 54 Mbps Wireless Range Extender, while the XE102 Wall-Plugged Ethernet Bridge is sold separately. The XE102 connects to your existing home router, while the WGX102 can then be plugged into any existing electrical outlet, and create an area of wireless access. Now, users can have wireless access at any point in their home, whether the pool house, patio, or upstairs bedroom.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars If you need something that works, don't buy this item!, November 16, 2005

By 

John R. Allen "Network Admin" (Nipomo, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: NETGEAR WGX102 54 Mbps Wall-Plugged Wireless Range Extender (Personal Computers)

I purchased 3 of these devices to set up a wireless network at one of my customers. I have been setting up networks for six years and I have set up many wired and wireless networks. The basic marketing material sound great, like it will work very well. However, the user documentation is woefully inadequate except for the reference guide which you must download from Netgear web site. Once you have the guide, you will find out how to enable WEP encryption or change the IP address on the unit. It all sounds easy, except for one thing, it doesn't work! The software can find the units on the powerline network but is incredibly flaky in connecting to those units. For example, you can ping the device a few times but then it doesn't ping for 5 minutes or so, then it does. If you make changes using the software, changing the units IP address for example, then click on apply, often that is the time it cannot connect. Then you can't ping the old address or the new one. So, you have to press the reset button and start over. The building that I set this network up in was built in the last 5 years, so the electrical wiring is up to code and not creating the problem.

The basic Netgear setup assumes that you don't have more than one device (they all default to the same IP address and it's very time consuming to change the address because the connection is so flaky!)and you don't care about enabling any encryption. Yeah, that's great if you want to give your neighbors wireless access to your computer and your web connection. I don't think most people would want to do that. I worked with 3 units and a wireless bridge device (the required Netgear XE102) for about 5 hours and could get it to work but only on an unacceptably intermittent basis. I would strongly recommend that you not buy this product since it will only create a lot of frustration and suck up lots of your time and then, not work consistently. Or you could just use it without any encryption or security. Uh, wait a minute, you probably shouldn't do that!

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Network Killer, September 19, 2005

By 

jose (Atascadero, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: NETGEAR WGX102 54 Mbps Wall-Plugged Wireless Range Extender (Personal Computers)

I bought this and the WE102 to, of course, extend the range of my quite happy, WEP-protected wireless network. The computer to be added belonged to my wife. I have a series of addresses in the 192.168.1.x range, but the Netgear stuff demands that the network be disabled, and that at least one computer become a 192.168.0.x in order to put a SECOND WEP on the WGX102. This, as everyone probably knows, is completely dependent on whether Microsoft feels up to it. I went through 100,000 ipconfigs, etc. I spoke literally for hours to a gentleman in India who was nice but whose accent was so difficult for me to understand I wished I hadn't waited on hold for an hour to talk to him.

Yesterday it worked for a while, but today, it doesn't any more. I'm not a rank amateur, neither am I a geek with all the time in the world. I'd avoid this like the plague, unlike the other reviewers, none of whom, if I remember correctly, mentioned network security concerns. Long story short--you can't run this setup with a secure network.

There is a whole consortium of people out there working to develop standardized home powerline networking. They've been at it for some time. I don't think they've gotten anywhere, I'm sad to say. I gave one star because Amazon doesn't have a lower rank.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Netgear WGX102 54 Mbps Wall-Plugged Wireless Range Extender, August 21, 2006

By 

Quynh Nguyen "Q" (Huntington Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: NETGEAR WGX102 54 Mbps Wall-Plugged Wireless Range Extender (Personal Computers)

I bought this unit, Netgear WGX102, along with the Netgear XE102 Powerline Ethernet Adapter for my wireless network and the combination work great. I have excellent signal through out the house. The complain I have is the documentation is really bad but once you figure it out it works great.

The unit come with default address of 192.168.0.101 and my Netgear wireless router was set at 192.168.11.1. To get this to work I connect the Netgear XE102 to my wireless router. Set my computer to a fixed IP of 192.168.0.1 to allow me to connect to the Netgear XGX102. Once connected I change the configuration of the WGX102 to set its IP to 192.168.11.2 and set a new SSID. After that I just change my computer back to "Optain IP address Automatically" and configure my computer's wireless network to use the SSID of the Netgear XE102. Now it's working great with excellent signal strength and so far I haven't have any drop connection or interferences from my neighbors.