Prime Day deal still available: Get our best value Wi-Fi extender for $25

Is there a spot in your home where your FaceTime calls get choppy, your movies keep buffering, and the little Wi-Fi icon in the corner of your screen has most of its bars grayed out? Whether in your bedroom or by your favorite chair, Wi-Fi dead zones always seem to come up at the most inconvenient places. Yes, you could invest in a swanky mesh Wi-Fi system, but that's going to cost you upward of $170 or more -- just to start. 

Thankfully, there's a cheaper solution -- and although Prime Day has wrapped up, it's still on sale. The TP-Link RE 220 Wi-Fi extender's dependability and user-friendliness earned it the distinction of 2021's best-value extender from CNET senior appliance editor Ry Crist, who called it "an absolute steal." This extender usually goes for about $30, but by purchasing it during this sale, you can save $5.

The RE 220 broadens your Wi-Fi's range to an ample 1,200 square feet, covering multiple rooms and floors. Finding the perfect spot for your extender typically involves a lot of trial and error, but the RE 220 makes it simple: A green light alerts you when you've found a good one. Plus, the little white device is so compact that you can plug it into half of a duplex outlet without blocking the other half. 

The extender comes with an app that provides an additional layer of customization, allowing you to shut the Wi-Fi on and off at scheduled times (so you can limit your kids' screen time) and control which devices connect (so you can ward off piggybacking neighbors).