Terk Trinity Xtend: This TV Antenna Tries To Pull Double-Duty As A Wi-fi Range Extender

Terk Trinity Xtend: This TV Antenna Tries To Pull Double-Duty As A Wi-fi Range Extender

- Jason Cipriani & Michael Brown

Before you cut the cord, you need to figure out two things: How you’re going to tune in local over-the-air TV channels, and how you’re going to stream TV, movies, and other video content over your network to your TV.

Terk offers one product that it says can resolve both questions: Its Trinity Xtend is both an amplified indoor digital TV antenna and a Wi-Fi range extender. Connect it to your TV and it will pull in those local channels and eliminate the dead spots that have prevented you from streaming video to your TV. Great idea, right? Well….

The Trinity Xtend ($89.99) looks very much like the standard Terk Trinity with an extra pair of antennas. It can be hung on the wall or rest on a flat surface, and its articulated antennas can be oriented accordingly. Three blue LEDs indicate the presence of power, a connection to your Wi-Fi router, and network activity. This is an 802.11n range extender, so it will connect only to your router’s 2.4GHzradio. Terk also offers a dual-band 802.11acrange extender, the $129.99 WITRIAC, which we have not reviewed.