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Mexico, Mexico City
1 Level
706 Review
23 Karma

Review on πŸ“Ά Enhance Wi-Fi Coverage with VONETS 1200Mbs 5GHz Dual Band WiFi Repeater & Bridge Dongle: Boost Signal for Dreambox, Xbox, PS3, Network Printer, Router, ADSL & IP Camera by Matthew Fleming

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Works well but setup may not be for a beginner

I bought this to convert a wired IP camera to a WiFi connected IP camera and it works great! be able to get it working. Note, however, that this isn't a plug-and-play device - you'll need to enter some network information, so if you don't know how your home network is set up and you don't know how to work with networks, including setting up a static one IP address on your computer and don't want to learn either, so don't buy that. The instruction manual is confusing. To convert a wired network device to wireless using Vonets, the guide calls it "WiFi AP". So, follow the section titled "3. Access Point Application Configuration". What isn't mentioned in this beginner's section is that you must first set your PC to a fixed IP address of 192.168.254.x (i.e. 192.168. 254.10 - any number 1-253 works as the last octet/digit. (If you don't know how to do this, google "set windows static ip" or "set linux static ip") If you don't know the IP first address 192.168.254.x on your PC, you cannot connect to the device using a network cable. I plugged the dongle's network cable into the LAN port on my PC and plugged in the USB port for power. I have then http://192.168.254.254 entered the IP address of the device in the address bar of my browser's URL, which takes you to the configuration page of the device.In the configuration, you first connect the dongle to an existing WiFi network.It's the easiest to access an IP camera (or printer) with a fixed/static IP address and my IP camera already had a fixed IP address. I also chose to set a static IP address for the key on my home network outside of my wireless router's DHCP range so that I can easily access the device's configuration page later if needed. (This means I got two fixed IP addresses - one for the IP camera and one for the Vonets key - I still connect to my IP camera with the same IP address as the wired connection.) After the initial settings she was rebooted and after that connected pause. Instantly, my wired IP camera became a WiFi IP camera! I don't use it all the time, but every time I turn the dongle back on with my camera, it connects straight to my wifi hotspot and works great! I had no trouble connecting the Vonets key. For those recommending the IOGEAR GWU637 instead, please note that while it sounds simpler, it's also more than twice the price of this unit, so I'd say it's not a fair comparison. So if you are a beginner and willing to do a little research and work, you can get this device working and save a lot of money. I don't see any downsides for techies, especially at this price point. This device is a winner!

Cons
  • So far so good