The manufacturer D-Link has launched a new Wi-Fi repeater with the Wi-Fi 6 standard, the main novelty is that it is part of the EAGLE PRO AI family, so it can be integrated into a complete Wi-Fi network Mesh. If you need to mount a Mesh network in your home, to have the best user experience when we move from one room to another, and that the Wi-Fi connection is not cut at any time, this D-Link EAGLE PRO AI E15 repeater is the best complement to the R15 router or the WiFi Mesh M15. Today at RedesZone we are going to explain its main features and our first impressions.
Main features
The main feature of this repeater is that it incorporates compatibility with WiFi Mesh, as long as the router or Mesh node is from the same EAGLE PRO AI family, otherwise it will work as a normal universal WiFi repeater, without the Mesh functions, but with the same wireless performance in terms of speed and coverage.
Wireless
The main wireless feature of this WiFi repeater is that it has simultaneous dual band AX1500 class (up to 300Mbps in the 2.4GHz band thanks to Wi-Fi 4 and up to 1,201Mbps in the 5GHz band thanks to Wi-Fi 6). In each frequency band we have two external antennas, in this case, the external antennas are dual. A very important detail is that we will only have connectivity with Wi-Fi 6 in the 5GHz band, not in the 2.4GHz band, which is Wi-Fi 4 only.
This wireless repeater has all the technologies of the Wi-Fi 6 standard, such as MU-MIMO and OFDMA to provide the best possible WiFi performance globally, in addition, it has BSS Coloring to reduce interference with neighboring networks, Beamforming to focus the signal on WiFi clients and TWT to save power on wireless clients.
This device also has Smart Connect to create a single WiFi network (SSID and password) and provide band-steering, to dynamically place wireless clients in one frequency band or another. Of course, this WiFi repeater when connected to an R15 router or a WiFi Mesh M15 system, will have WiFi roaming with 802.11k/v standards. Other important features are that it has traffic optimizers, WiFi channel optimizers and even the entire Mesh network based on AI. Finally, it has support for the WPA3-Personal protocol, although we also have WPA2/WPA3-Personal in the event that we do not have all the WiFI clients compatible with the latest standard.
wired
This WiFi repeater has a Gigabit Ethernet port for the LAN, although we will be able to perform two clearly differentiated functions with it:
- We can connect a wired device such as a Smart TV, console or cable box to the repeater. In case you need to connect more than one device, you will need to buy a switch, for example, the DGS-105 model or the DGS-108 model that has 8 Gigabit Ethernet ports.
- We can connect the repeater to the router or WiFi Mesh by cable, to have Ethernet backhaul and provide the best possible wireless performance to customers.
Another option is that we will be able to configure this equipment in Wi-Fi access point mode, regardless of whether we have an EAGLE PRO AI router or not. Thanks to such a complete firmware, we will be able to use this Gigabit port for different tasks.
Firmware
The firmware of this universal WiFi repeater and compatible with Mesh is very complete. Through the configuration wizard via web we have two possible configurations to perform:
- Universal WiFi repeater mode : we will connect to a 2.4GHz or 5GHz frequency band) and later we will repeat the wireless signal in both frequency bands.
- AP mode : we will connect via cable to the main router, and later we will broadcast wireless coverage in the 2.4GHz or 5GHz band simultaneously.
In the firmware we will have at all times a list of all the WiFi clients connected to the repeater, unless we integrate it into the Mesh network with a compatible R15 router or WiFi Mesh M15, then it will take care of all the main router and we can only update the firmware if we access via the web.
When we integrate this WiFi repeater into the manufacturer’s Mesh network, we will be able to update the firmware centrally directly from the router, with the aim of updating all the Mesh nodes simultaneously, and saving a lot of time.
We must remember that this repeater can also be installed and managed through the EAGLE PRO AI app, which is completely free, available for Android and iOS. Next, you can proceed with its download so that you can see what it is like and what configuration options it has.
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EAGLE PRO AI
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EAGLE PRO AI
Developer: D-Link International
Once we have seen the main features of this repeater, we are going to see the unboxing and first impressions.
Unboxing and first impressions
The first thing that caught our attention about this new WiFi repeater is its design, and that is that we have a design that is the same as the DAP-1620 that we have analyzed many years ago and that has been a best seller at D-Link. On the front we will find a series of LEDs that will allow us to know the coverage received by the main router or Mesh node, in this way, we will be able to move the wireless repeater so that it receives the best possible coverage.
This equipment is around 60 euros, a fairly competitive price if we take into account its technical specifications, but above all, if we take into account that we are going to be able to integrate it into a high-performance Mesh network and where we will have both band-steering and WiFi roaming. between the different nodes.
If you are interested in seeing what this WiFi repeater looks like and the contents of the E15 box, don’t miss our full article here:
Soon you will be able to see a complete in-depth analysis where we will explain the features in detail, and we will also show you the real performance that we have achieved in wireless tests, both using an R15 router and in AP mode to check coverage at home.