Wi-Fi 6 routers are known for providing strong long-range signals, but even the best of them can use some help delivering strong Wi-Fi to every room in a larger home. With the Netgear EAX15 Wi-Fi 6 Mesh Extender ($129.99), all you have to do is plug it into a wall outlet and configure it with a mobile app to get wall-to-wall Wi-Fi 6 connectivity. You don’t get a lot of settings options with this wireless range extender, but it delivered solid 5GHz performance and showed good signal strength in our tests. That said, the TP-Link AX1750 Wi-Fi 6 Range Extender (RE603X) offers better overall performance for $40 less.
EAX15 Design and Features
At 5.9 by 2.7 by 2.1 inches (HWD), the matte white EAX15 enclosure is larger than the TP-Link RE505X and the TP-Link RE603X, both of which measure 4.9 by 2.9 by 1.8 inches. However, the TP-Link extenders use external antennas that can bring their actual height to 8.2 inches when fully extended. The EAX15 uses two internal antennas and has a three-prong plug on the back that is positioned at the bottom of the device to allow access to the second outlet in a two-outlet receptacle.
The front of the extender contains four LED indicators. The power LED glows green when the device is powered and amber while booting up. The Router Link LED, which tells you the signal strength between the router and the extender, glows green when the connection is best, amber when it is good, and red when it is poor; no light indicates a loss of connectivity. The Client Link LED tells you the signal strength between the extender and a client device and uses the same color codes as the Router Link LED, and the WPS LED blinks green when a WPS connection is being established and glows solid green when the connection is established and strong. On the left side of the extender are a single gigabit LAN port, a reset button, and a WPS button. As with most plug-in range extenders, you won’t find any USB ports on the EAX15.
Powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core CPU, the EAX15 is a dual-band AX1800 extender that can achieve maximum (theoretical) data rates of up to 600Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and up to 1,200Mbps on the 5GHz band. It supports single SSID naming for seamless roaming and will work with any Wi-Fi 6 router. Additionally, it is backward compatible with Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi 5 routers.
The EAX15 uses the same Nighthawk mobile app (for Android and iOS) as the Netgear XR1000 gaming router, but settings are minimal. It opens to a dashboard that shows the current status (online, offline) and has four panels. Tap the Device Manager panel to see what clients are connected and which band they’re connected to. Tap any client to view its IP and MAC addresses and current link rate in Mbps. Tap the Internet Speed panel to run the Ookla Speedtest utility that measures your internet upload and download speeds. The Network Map panel takes you to a screen with a map that displays the host router and all connected extenders, and the Wi-Fi Settings panel opens a screen where you can change the extender’s SSID, password, and security method (WPA2 Personal, WPA3 Personal, WPA/WPA2 Personal, WPA2/WPA3 Personal).
Strong 5GHz Throughput
Installing the EAX15 extender is simple. I downloaded the Netgear Nighthawk mobile app, created an account, and followed the on-screen instructions for adding a new Nighthawk device.
I selected Range Extender from the list of devices and plugged it into a wall outlet that was halfway between my router and the room where I wanted an extended Wi-Fi signal. I tapped Next and the app found the extender immediately. I tapped Next again, selected the 2.4GHz and 5GHz network SSIDs that I wished to extend, and entered their respective passwords. After 45 seconds or so the extender was configured and I was prompted to create an admin login name and password and answer two security questions. Once completed, the app checked for firmware updates and the installation was finished.
The EAX15 performed admirably on most of our throughput tests, but its speed of 65Mbps on the 2.4GHz close-proximity (same room) test was a bit slower than the TP-Link RE505X (80Mbps). The TP-Link RE603X led with an impressive speed of 104Mbps. At a distance of 20 feet, the EAX15 delivered 37Mbps, beating the RE505X and coming within 1Mbps of the RE603X. On our 40-foot test, the EAX15 led the pack with a speed of 15Mbps.
The EAX15’s speed of 354Mbps on the 5GHz close-proximity test was a hair faster than the RE505X and just 4Mbps slower than the RE603X. However, it couldn’t keep pace with either TP-Link extender on the 20-foot test (171Mbps) or the 40-foot test (132Mbps).
To measure Wi-Fi signal strength we use an Ekahau Sidekick Wi-Fi diagnostic device and Ekahau’s Survey mobile app to generate heat maps that show the extender’s 2.4GHz and 5GHz signal strength throughout our test home. (Note: Ekahau is owned by J2 Global, the parent company of Ziff Davis, the publisher of PCMag.com.)
The circles on the maps above represent the location of the extender and shaded colors represent signal strength: dark green indicates the strongest signal, yellow is weaker, and gray indicates no measurable signal reception. As shown on the heat maps, the EAX15 did a good job of extending both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi signals throughout our test home. The signals were a bit weaker in the far corner of the back bedroom, however.
Easily Extend Your Wi-Fi
If your router is having trouble delivering a strong Wi-Fi signal to certain areas of your home, a range extender like the Netgear AX1800 Wi-Fi 6 Mesh Extender (EAX15) can help. It’s easy to install and you can use it to create a mesh network with a single SSID, and it delivered relatively fast throughput scores in our tests. That said, our Editors’ Choice winner for Wi-Fi 6 range extenders, the TP-Link RE603X, offers faster throughput performance and more settings for less money, making it a better buy.
