20 Best Wifi Extender For Cox (2023 Updated)

We’ve all got “that spot”. That spot in your house, office, or yard that just barely gets WiFi if you hold your phone at just the right angle, in just the right direction, at just the right height. For me, “that spot” is in the basement in a corner.

We’ve got a smart TV there now and it just barely gets enough signal to stream videos “most of the time”, plus my oldest son would like to make this his new “gaming area” so we needed to do something about the signal ASAP.

Enter the RE705x, and this weekend I was finally able to bring good signal to that location to reliably stream movies and provide a good gaming experience. Setup was simple, I chose to use the “web browser” method because I didn’t want an app for something I plan to leave alone once it’s working, but if you prefer apps you can download and use the TPLink Tether app method.

That said, I found a spot elsewhere in the basement that gets good signal, plugged the the RE705x into a power outlet there, then wired my laptop to the Ethernet port. In its default configuration the RE705x will detect if it should provide IP addresses for initial setup, which then allows you to access its web page to do the rest of the configuration.

It was a simple matter from there to set a non-default password, scan for and choose the wifi network I wanted to extend, and then configure the properties for the repeater WiFi signal (if desired), or leave the repeater off and allow the RE705x to instead bridge the WiFi to just the ethernet port.

Both methods worked fine for me with no fuss, though for sake of a simpler setup and a little better performance I ultimately opted to leave the repeater WiFi off and just use the RE705x to bridge the signal to Ethernet, and then used a small switch and some Ethernet cables to split that into additional wired connections for the TV and gaming consoles.

Doing it this way shaved some latency off my son’s gaming consoles which was a high priority to him. In the end we ended up with a setup in that corner that reliably pulls ~100Mbps with <10ms of latency.

This has been more than enough to meet the practical streaming needs of the TV, which we streamed music and videos from nearly all day to stress test the link and it worked flawlessly. Later that night my son put the latency more to task with some online gaming and he didn’t have any noticeable issues.

A direct-wired connection would probably shave a few more milliseconds off but the RE705x did the trick well enough without the need to pull cable or drill any holes in walls which is a win, and now “that spot” in the basement is a fully functional TV and gaming center.

The RE705x can also be used as a more traditional AP (Access Point), although I didn’t use this mode beyond some testing just to familiarize myself with its capabilities and options. Just change the mode in the UI to AP (Access Point), reboot, configure the AP properties, and use the Ethernet port as the uplink to the rest of the network.

The RE705x was simple to setup, and seems to do its job reliably and effectively, and that’s exactly what I suspect most people want out of it.

TP-Link – RE705X AX3000 Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 Range Extender Setup – It was super simple to setup the Extender. As per the instruction it was required to install the Tether app from the playstore and then connect the extender to the Wall socket near to the router for the initial setup.

The entire setup process from the time when the extender was plugged in to the wall socket took only less than 5 min. As my main router (TP Link Archer AX20) was also TP Link i did not face any issues and I was able to choose my 2.

4 GHz network that i wanted to extended from the Quick Setup menu in the app. Once I had done the initial setup i was able to go to the Extended Network tab to view the list of available extended networks.

Also it is possible to reselect a different Main Network if required any time from the app. App Features: 1. One Mesh network – This is by default turned on where the Mobile device will seamlessly switch connection between the router or extender that provides the fastest speed when moving through the house.

2. High Speed Mode – The extender will automatically disable one of the wireless bands and speeds up the other. 3. Location Assistant – Helps in finding the best location for the extender by checking the signal strength received from the router.

4. Share Wifi – I did not test this feature 5. LED Control – Under Night Mode when enabled the LED will be off during the time specified. 6. Wifi Coverage – It is possible to choose between Maximum or Intermediate or Minimum coverage where more power is used when the Maximum coverage is selected.

I did some tests with different coverages. Minimum is almost similar to the current network strength. Intermediate has slightly better coverage than Minimum and with Maximum coverage we almost get full signal.

I live in an apartment where there are 4 rooms. The main router is in the living room followed by an open kitchen, then 2 bedrooms (one after another). I have kept the Extender in the 1st bedroom so that i will get good signal in the last room (2nd bedroom).

I expected the Intermediate coverage to be a bit more powerful but it slightly performed less than my expectation. 7. Scheduled Power off – Helps to turn off the extender during a specified time. 8. Operation mode – Helps to choose between Range Extender or Access point(where a wired network is transformed to a wireless one) which I did not test either.

Speed test: I used 3 different phones to perform the speed test (Moto X4 (4 years old phone), Samsung Galaxy S8 which is 3 years old and then Samsung A71 which is a little more than a year old. Here are the results.

Note when I am in the Living room the signal was automatically getting picked from the Main router which has more speed than the extender always. We can know which devices are connected after selecting the Main Router or Extender from the main screen and then clicking on the # of Clients from the top screen.

Moto X4 – Living Room (Source – Main router) – 100 Mbps 1st bedroom where the Extender is present (Source – Extender) – ~ 70 Mbps 2nd bedroom (Source – Main router) – ~ 60 Mbps Samsung X8 – Living Room (Source – Main router) – ~ 120 Mbps 1st bedroom where the Extender is present (Source – Extender) – ~ 80 Mbps 2nd bedroom (Source – Extender) – ~ 70 Mbps Samsung A71 – Living Room (Source – Main router) – ~ 160 Mbps 1st bedroom where the Extender is present (Source – Extender) – ~ 110 Mbps 2nd bedroom (Source – Extender) – ~ 100 Mbps I did the same test from my Samsung A71 phone with the Extender disconnected.

To my surprise i saw that the speeds that I got in both the bedrooms where 10 to 20 Mbps more than that of the Extender. Not sure why the Extender was getting used when the Main router had more speeds than the Extender.

Maybe for someone who have a little bit older router which is no Wifi 6 compatible I think the extender might be getting them good speeds. In my opinion people who have a latest router with more coverage may be disappointed as the Extender tries to use the extender as it is nearer even though the main router has better speeds.

Downsides: 1. Heating – I was using the Wifi Extender with Maximum coverage option selected. I saw that the extender was very hot when i tried to unplug the extender from the wall socket. I feel TP Link should have done better in trying to cool the equipment as I am pretty confident if the device gets overheated it might stop working in few years.

2. Switching between Main Router and Extender. I think TP Link should be better able to select the fastest network than selecting the device which has more signal strength. I don’t think this sounds right and TP Link should probably fix this.

Having said that I doubt if the One Mesh network works as expected. Note – The speeds I have mentioned above are from the tests that I performed during a specific time. Even the difference in speed between each device might be + or – 10 to 20 Mbps.

It may vary at different times and might vary depending on the hardware used.

Unfortunately, we have a 3BR home and this extender proved totally underpowered, despite multiple re-boots, multiple locations, etc. Either it could not establish a robust connection with our router or its radiated signal was too anemic to reach the bedroom laptop (forty feet away).

This extender might be okay if your laptop is in the next room from the router but not much more. After checking owner reviews of more powerful (and more expensive) extenders, we finally chose a different Netgear extender – the EX6200-100NAS.

WOW what a DIFFERENCE. The EX6200 extender is amazing. Setup was a snap (we’re NOT technically gifted) and it immediately bonded with the router, blasting a radiated extended signal (five bars, anywhere in the house).

Now, WIFI to three computers and two smartphones works flawlessly. Haven’t tested how far beyond our property the signal is detectable, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it reaches three houses away. Unfortunately, the original N150 earns only a one-star review, in our circumstance.

Spend the extra few bucks and get an extender that WORKS.

We only needed this unit to extend our range a few feet more than the current range of our router but it couldn’t do that. In fact when we placed this in the room next to the router the signal in that room was still stronger from the router than it was from this extender.

There are traffic lights to indicate the signal strength. If the extender is in the same room the light is green to show a good strong connection. However, you only have to move it one room either way and the light is red.

Our rooms are small, I am only talking 12ft from the router. No use to us though if it cannot actually extend the signal. I am not satisfied with this product.

Easy to setup especially using OneMesh which connects the extender effortlessly to the wireless router. The Tether app from TP-Link allows easy monitoring and changes to the setup…if you feel it necessary.

More devices can now connect at high speed to the internet. Great buy.

This one extender has replaced two of the el cheapo repeaters. It has a great range and the signal is strong and consistent. It’s easy to set up and has neat set up features, like on/off timer for the lights and power saving options.

Everything works seamlessly now, from the lounge to the garden work shed. Very happy :).

Getting good speeds and range! Key is to setup properly through MyTether app. No issues. The thing is quite bulky so in a normal home wall socket frame it may take over lapping space on other plug which can be awkward with the other cable so I am using double plug to get away from this but overall money well spent.

Pros: This is the 2nd of these devices I have bought. Between them and my VM Hub3 I can now be on the Internet anywhere in my 4 bedroomed house and in the front and back garden. That is all I need. Quite happy to recommend to others.

Cons: Its LED light said it was outside the range of my VM Hub 3, but nonetheless it extended my LAN coverage to my satisfaction regardless. Something needs adjusting somewhere lest other people believe the tale of the LED light and give up their attempts to extend their coverage.

Pros: Easy to setup if you follow the instructions properly. Cons: The plug pins come out of the device. So when you plug it into mains, it will block nearby plug sockets because of its size. They should have made it so that a wire comes out of the device and then theres a normal plug that goes into the socket.

Pros: I only use this to provide an ethernet point at a different location to my router. It works fine for this. I don’t use the extender functionality but from what I can see it works correctly. Cons: Only one ethernet port.

I would prefer more.