- Interface: 1 10/100Mbps WAN/LAN Port, 1 Micro USB Port, 1 Reset Button
- Wireless Standards: IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11b
- Antenna Type: On-Board
- Wireless Security: 64/128/152-bit WEP, WPA/WPA2, WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK
***Back from trip, works as promised still five stars. ****This is a great little 5 function device, Router, Access Point, wireless client, bridge and Repeater. It does have a few drawbacks, depending on what you plan on doing with it and your knowledge of networking. What this device lacks is a slide switch to go from one mode to the other. It is all done through a browser, and if its is not already set, in a mode to assign you an IP you have to manually set your computers IP to the same networks as the devices. Changing the devices Netmask helps. I've also discovered that in Bridge mode (It picks up a wireless signal and then transmits another signal using a different SSID and password) You can only have one device attached at a time, either wireless or wired. The manual suggests that you can use this mode to allow someone to use you wireless network without revealing your password, they would get the new SSID and password that the TL-WR702n re-broadcasts, that is fine as long as they only want to connect one device.
The other drawback I found is if you already know the name and password of the wireless hotspot you want to connect to, and you are planning on using the TP-Link as a Wireless Client, say for a device other than a computer, well, you can't set it up ahead of time and then just plug everything in once you arrive. You need to input the MAC address of the Hotspot that you plan on connecting to. If you don't have that information handy, you have to get out the laptop and configure the TP-Link once it is in range of a signal (do a site survey). It won't even remember the password until you make a connection. It wants the MAC address whenever you connect to a wireless signal, something I haven't seen in a compact client device before. I can see the advantage if you are staying in a hotel where all of the access points use the same SSID, but that rarely happens. It would be nice to be able to disable that requirement.
Overall, it is a very versatile and certainly compact device, and your experience may be very different depending on how you use it. As an access or router, simply to give you a wireless signal for devices without an Ethernet port, it will do everything you expect, except, perhaps a great wireless range, as the antenna is somewhat limited.Very small router, perfect for smartphones in hotels without wifi in room. Smaller than expected, and feather light. Just took it to China and was able to just plug into the hotels Ethernet port to get my iPhone online (at 5 differant hotels). The wifi SSID and password are printed on the bottom, so it's plug and play. Power is micro USB, so easy to find one if forgotten. Range was surprisingly good, if not great, when tested at home.I purchased this as a gift after reading the reviews on it. This is going to be connected to a Samsung Blu-ray player and setup in Client Mode. I was asked to setup the unit and after spending 4 hours of trying to setup the unit in Client Mode I fired off an email to customer support and they told me all I had to do was reset the unit and it would work.
So after resetting the unit for the (4th) fourth time it finally connected to my wireless network using WPA and I was able to connect to the internet.
I know some of you may be wondering why it took 4 hours to troubleshoot and get the unit to connect in Client Mode so I will list some of the steps I took so hopefully somewhere down the road I'll save someone some time should they decide to use this unit in Client mode.
After un-boxing the unit and connecting it my laptop running Windows 8 I turned off my wireless and configured my local area connection per the instructions from the cd rom and website. (IP: 192.168.0.15 and subnet mask of 255.255.255.0).
I logged into the unit via I.E. I started with the quick setup. I chose the Client Mode option and I clicked save next I clicked on Survey and chose my SSID. Then I chose the wireless security and input my security key. Next I rebooted the unit and waited for it to come up. When the unit did come up it showed no internet connection. So I ran the diagnostics from the System Tools link and I could not ping anything outside (www.yahoo.com, www.cnn.com etc..) nor could I ping the unit itself.
Next I did a factory reset of the unit and it rebooted. I ran thought the above steps to setup Client Mode and received the same results.
I reset the unit via the pin hole reset button and this time I tried a manual setup of the unit. I clicked on Working Mode and chose Client Mode. I clicked Save and was brought to the next screen where it asked me do a survey and choose my SSID which I did and entered my security type and key. I clicked on save and rebooted only to have the same results.
At this point I turned the wireless back on my laptop and did some Google searches to see if I could find more info on setting this unit up in Client Mode. My searches did not turn up any answers so I went to the support forum on the TP-Link website and I discovered a new firmware ver. for the unit. I downloaded and upgraded the firmware on the unit and then proceeded through the same steps above with the same results of not being able to connect to the internet.
Other steps that I tried were to add the Network address of the wireless network to the units Network settings this had no effect. So on the 3rd reset of the unit I decide I had spent way too much time trying to get this unit connected in Client Mode so I filled out a Customer Support form on the TP-Link website and I received an email response suggesting I reset the unit and it worked.
So that's my story.
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Bought this device because the wireless signal from my main router is weak at the otherend of my home. Set it up as a bridge, which rebroadcasts my main router's signal using
a different SSID & password. Repeater mode works in a similar fashion except it uses the
same SSID and password as your main router.
Followed the instructions at TP-Link's website (google "how to configure bridge mode on
TL-WR702N") and had it set up in minutes. I even gave myself a high five. If you scroll
to the bottom of that website, instructions to the other modes are linked.
I've backed up my configuration, so when I take it with me on travels and switch modes, I
can quickly restore my settings when I return. I may order a second unit just to keep in
the travel bag.
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