Netgear Class Action Claims Wi-Fi Extenders Underperform

A class action lawsuit claims Netgear Wi-Fi extenders aren’t as effective as advertised. Though the company advertises the devices to increase a Wi-Fi network’s range by 200 percent, they allegedly barely extend the range at all.

Plaintiff Rob Fischer states that he bought a Netgear Wi-Fi extender in 2016 for his home, specifically because it was advertised as increasing a network’s reach by 200 percent.

He says he has a 2,000 square foot home with two stories, and claims that the Wi-Fi extender never expanded the range more than by 100 percent, at the most.

Fischer claims that Negear knew that the network extenders would not work as advertised, and intentionally misled consumers about the product’s efficacy to encourage them to buy it. He alleges that according to industry standards, and common knowledge within the industry, most network extenders don’t reliably increase a network range by more than 50 percent, and that is higher than most.

According to the Netgear false advertising class action lawsuit, “as a leading manufacturer and seller of Range Extenders, no one knows the limitations of Range Extenders better than Netgear. Despite this knowledge, Netgear prominently represents its Range Extenders as extending Wi-Fi networks by close to 200 percent.” Thus, Fischer claims that the company intentionally misrepresented the range extenders and misled consumers.

Allegedly, the products are advertised extensively with the 200 percent range increase through internet advertising. The Netgear class action lawsuit states that “these false promises are made at the expense of consumers, because consumers purchase Range Extenders expecting them to conform to Netgear’s representations.”

The Netgear range extenders class action lawsuit argues that consumers were not able to determine the quality of the product other than by the advertisements, and that consumers often entirely base their purchasing decisions on a product’s advertisement. Netgear’s misrepresentations made consumers unable to make the correct decision, the Netgear Wi-Fi extender class action lawsuit states.

Beyond false advertising, Fischer argues that Netgear’s misrepresentation of its products constitutes breach of warranty. In addition, the product does not perform as advertised violating the express warranty for the promise that Netgear makes to consumers.

In his Netgear class action lawsuit, Fischer cites many consumer complaints similar to his own that state that other consumers discovered that the products did not perform as advertised. Many consumers claim that they wanted to use the Netgear range extenders to increase their network range well below the advertised limits of a 200 percent increase and were still unable to get the extender to function reliably.

Fischer states that had he known the product would not perform as advertised, he would not have purchased the Netgear range extender, or would not have paid as much for it as he did. Fischer seeks damages on behalf of himself and all similarly affected consumers who purchased a Netgear range extender in Illinois.

The plaintiff is represented by Roberto Luis Costales and William H. Beaumont of Beaumont Costales LLC.

The Netgear Wi-Fi Range Extender Class Action Lawsuit is Rob Fischer v. Netgear Inc., Case No. 1:18-cv-03650, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.