TP-Link TL-WA901ND Advanced 300Mbps Wireless N Access Point

I have an Asus O!Play HD2 media player connected to a TV in a room to which I couldn't easily run a Cat5 cable. The O!Play doesn't have WiFi support built-in, so in order to be able to stream movies from my NAS, I needed a way to convert the Cat5 cable port in the device to a wireless link.

My main wireless router is a BT Home Hub running software version 4.7.5.1.83 (Type B), and what I needed was a device which could act as a network client to the Home Hub and then connect to the O!Play using a standard Cat5 cable.

After a little research, I realised that the TL-WA701ND should be able to perform this function. It has several modes of wireless operation:

Access Point - acting as a simple wireless hub to connect together multiple wireless devices.
Multi-SSID - allowing the device to advertise multiple SSIDs and create up top 4 VLANs.
Client - (the option I chose) this effectively allows it to link the local Cat5 port with a remote wireless hub or router.
Repeater - the device (with WDS enabled) will repeat all packets with an associated root wireless hub or router. This effectively extends the range of your wireless network.
Universal Repeater - the device (with WDS disabled) will again repeat all packets and grow the size of the wireless network.
Bridge - allows the device to act as a bridge with up to 4 similar devices to connect different wired LANs wirelessly.

I was amazed as how configurable it is, and how clear the built in help files are. This is not in broken Google translated English either. It's extremely well worded. The menu system is a breeze to navigate, too.

If you need to build a relatively small but very flexible WiFi network, this device is a fantastic choice.

Configuration is simple - set the IP on your PC to 192.168.1.100, connect to the device using WiFi or the Cat5 cable supplied, and type 192.168.1.254 into your browser. Login with admin/admin and away you go.

It support DHCP, address reservation, WEP, WPA/WPA2, MAC filtering, SNMP info publishing, Ping diagnostics, traffic graphing, continuous Pinging, firmware updates, config backup & restore, and a system log.

And all this for less than 20 quid - unbelievable. Certainly one of the best purchases I've made in a long time. Highly recommended!

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If you're interesting to know what settings I needed to use to get my media player connected to my BT Home Hub (this should work with any similar plug & play wired network device supporting DHCP), they're as follows (note that my BT Home Hub is on 192.168.1.254 / 255.255.255.0) and any settings not listed were left as default:

***UPDATE DEC 2012***
Please note that the menu has changed with the latest iteration of this device, so beware that you may need to hunt around in the menu to find these settings.

NETWORK
Type: Static IP
IP Address: 192.168.1.250
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.1.254

WIRELESS
Operation Mode: Client
Enable WDS: No
SSID: BTHomeHub2-ABCD (replace with your BT Home Hub SSID)
MAC of AP: (Leave Blank)
Region: UK
Channel Width: 20/40MHz
Enable Wireless Radio: Yes

WIRELESS SECURITY
Disable Security: No
WEP: No
WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK: yes
Version: Automatic
Encryption: Automatic
PSK Password: abcde12345 (replace with the WPA key for your BT Home Hub)
Group Key Update Period: 0

DHCP
Enabled: Yes
Start IP Address: 192.168.1.10
End IP Address: 192.168.1.20
Address Lease Time: 120
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.254
Default Domain: (Leave Blank)
Primary DNS: 192.168.1.254
Secondary DNS: 0.0.0.0

Very good device with nice and stable WiFi that easily covers whole building. In past I had to use two APs, but now one is enough. There is also nice surprise, which Amazon fails to mention: devices is Power-over-Ethernet and comes with power injector. That makes installation possible in nearly any place and there is no need for power socket to be near. All you need to connect is one network cable and then you put power supply and injector near the switch on other side of network cable.

I bought this versatile network device to act as an Access Point (AP) - in CLIENT MODE - to wirelessly connect my PC to a BT Home Hub in another part of my home. "Client mode" can also be used to connect a router to a FREESAT or SKY set top box to watch BBC iPlayer (amongst many other uses.) Configuring the TL-WA801ND was somewhat "tricky" for me, but well worth the effort for the extra performance it delivers ie. the "n" speed and extended range capabilities of this multi mode access point. After a little experimentation I successfully configured the AP for my BT Home Hub by the following steps:

[1] set a static IP address on your computer so you can configure the device - this is clearly explained in the first page of the Quick Start guide;
[2] open your web browser and enter 192.168.1. 254 into the address field (enter "admin" into User and Password fields) - this opens the "web setup utility;"
[3] from the "Network" submenu enter a suitable LAN (ethernet wired) IP address (for example in my case) 192.168.1.70 - save and reboot;
[4] from the "Wireless" submenu select your operating mode (CLIENT in my case;)
[5] click the search button and select the router to which you wish to connect;
[6] for the BT Home Hub DO NOT select the "Enable WDS" tick box, this option will not work, instead select the "MAC of AP" button - save and reboot;
[7] from the "Security" submenu select WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK and in the version and encryption boxes select "automatic" - save and reboot;
[8] return to the "Network" submenu and set the LAN "Type" selection to Dynamic (DHCP) - save and reboot;
[9] reset your IP address on your computer to obtain IP address automatically and obtain DNS address automatically.
[10] wait (be patient) for the computer to acquire the IP address from your router and then connect to the internet!

These steps worked for me and I hope they may be of use to other users of the TL-WA801ND (and its variants TL-WA701ND.)

A great performer at a very reasonable price.