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Forum Discussion
Orbi and EX8000
I recently replaced my R6400 and EX8000 extender with an Orbi RBK40 and one satellite. However, I need an ethernet port in the room where the etender was previously located so I tried to get the EX8...
Turbojr74 wrote:Thought I would check in with you on what you did (if anything further) on this. I would hate to think that while NG would make the lower end extenders compatible with a FW and the big daddy of them would not be also in with this. The newest FW for the EX8000 is 1.0.1.224 and curious if this might be...or it was just security updates.
Costco had the Orbi RBK753S for sale $420 and thought if the EX8000 would incorporate with this system I would be inclinded.
When you had the EX8000 as an AP working, did it still utilize the same overall SSID e.g. One Wifi Name (it is no good if the extender has to be on a seperate network like most extenders as the units linked to the particular AP have to switch...and most don't unless it drops from its current. Why I never liked extenders...plus backhaul always sucked) .
Thank you for all the info you provided in the tread. You were the only one I found had good info on the subject of the EX8000 being incorporated.
I see that you are stating it works with a picture in the link you provided, however neither are the EX8000. Not that it shouldn't be worlds different either.
I think the key here is sharing the settings you used to obtain proper connection? E.g. Enable One Wifi name / Enable Smart Connect / Sync configure
Now I believe the OP stated he didn't want to use it in AP mode and have the backhaul wired (which could work for me) as it defeats the purpose of having that "mesh" ability. So I pursued this first.
I had gone out and purchased the OrbiRBK753 from Costco and set everything up and then began playing with the EX8000. I tried a few things and it initially appeared that I can't use it via extender either. The main Orbi router (which I will use as an AP instead - we'll call it 'Main') is in the middle of the second floor (where my original R7800 was). Second floor is all hardwired, it's my first floor that unfortunately is not wired which is why I wanted to use this mesh and gain more coverage (which is where the EX8000 was originally). inside and just outside.
Here is what had to be done to get this to work as just adjustmenting the EX8000 from it's current state didn't want to work in the least (even though it had a great reported signal from the Orbi Main - pic1 shows 100% 2.4Ghz and 94% 5Ghz). For whatever reason I would get "the extender was not able to connect to your existing network".
1) fully factory reset the EX8000 by doing the reset via the paperclip to the back for 60 seconds (60 seconds seems mad, however this is one of those that was recommended by NetGear techs and could be attributed to it working??)
2) use the Nighthawk app (which I think is dodgy as hell) to set up everything
3) after that it still took a little time for it to fully connect, but have patience in the end it did (I will show a pic on the next post)
The EX8000 is in an outside bedroom 30'-ish away (going through walls, bathroom, and hallway from the Orbi Main)
My EX8000 is running FW v1.0.1.224
Now the big question is - is it effective just like the other Orbi satellites? I can't tell honestly with the limited testing I've done. More testing would need to be completed and I'm trying to think what would be best to do that in order. The EX8000 did ok when I had it connected to my R7800 (again as AP) and did fantastic when I found the right combo of channels to run. However that took a ton of time to finally get the right combo.
I am actually going to also try and test using the EX8000 in that corner room as a 'switch' to two computers and have it as another AP with a hard wire backhaul. This might prove to be the most useful for me? And if I do that it looks like the EX8000 provides both 5Ghz antennas and the 2.4Ghz (which I might consider turning off). All this running on the same SSID...
In the end I will be testing just the Orbi to see if this is more stable and gets better coverage than the R7800/EX8000 because moving to anything else like Ubiquiti can nearly double the cost, but they know how to do mesh and agrigation.
Hope this helps someone in the future looking to do the same.
