@retailer 

Was able to log into the repeater at http://tplinkrepeater.net using my phone - phone wifi was set to the repeater wifi - going through the repeater settings found mode was set to repeater not access, then logged off. Seems like the repeater is working as I was then able to checkout a few things on Ebay, however still could not log into repeater via the tether app, so the app is useless to me.

  @retailer 

5 attempts to install camera using the extender wifi and I had 5 fails - retry camera install using main wifi router and camera installs at first attempt camera will not connect to extender wifi.

How do I fix this ? at present the extender is useless.

  @retailer 

I decided to persevere with the TL-WA855RE a bit longer - I set it up as an extender with both led's solid blue - still can't access it via the TPlink app and need to access it via the internet, the extender seems to do the job - I could use the internet on my mobile phone when it's wifi was connected through the extender - the security camera though still refused to connect to the extender wifi -  not sure what the incompatibility is but I've wasted a good few hours with nothing to show - so I'm going to admit defeat, and retire the TL-WA855RE to the spare parts drawer.

  @retailer 

Hi,

What kind of setup process has the manufacturer implemented in that particular security camera? For example, does the camera broadcast a Wi-Fi hotspot that you connect to and then log into the camera via a web browser to configure it?

  @retailer 

The camera works via the Tuyasmart mobile phone app - open the app - select add device - make sure camera is in setup mode - choose the device ie camera - app then asks to select which wifi to use - select wifi and enter password - the app displays a QR code - point QR code at camera - camera accepts QR code and attempts to connect to wifi - female chinese voice confirms "wifi connect success" OR if wifi connect fails then chinese voice confirms "wifi connect fail", try again.

I have a second camera that works via an app called Icam365 this also will not connect to the extender wifi.

A bit of background - initially I didn't really understand how wifi extenders worked - I assumed that once the extender had been setup (both leds solid blue)  I could just plug it in at a distance from the main wifi router and any device using wifi would seamlessly switch between the main wifi router and the extender - all I needed to do was position the camera close to the main wifi router, set it up for the wifi connection, then take the camera outside  and fix it to the wall above the garage door, the extender would then re-broadcast the wifi signal to the camera - this how I set it up. 

As time went on I could sometimes hear the camera voice saying "wifi connect" this told me that the wifi connection to the camera was dropping in and out and something was not right with the way I had it setup in addition, at times, it took forever for the app to retrieve the camera video, so I did a bit a reading and found that in general one needs to switch between extender and main wifi router - on my phone once the passwords are entered for both wifi's it's just a matter of selecting which wifi to use.

The camera using the Icam365 app is able to switch between wifi signals, I haven't found a way for the Tuyasmart app to switch between wifi signals and once setup with a particular wifi the only way to change it is to reset the camera and repeat the set up process.

I don't really want to plug the extender back in as I've noticed that not only do I not  hear the chinese voice saying "wifi connect", the app is now much quicker in retrieving the camera video feed - I may be wrong but I suspect that when the wifi signal from the main wifi router is weak the camera tries to connect to the stronger extender wifi signal , and can't, after a number of tries it eventually latches back onto main wifi router signal.

I think the answer is to invest in a wifi mesh system.