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kentlawrence67's avatar
kentlawrence67
Tutor
Aug 19, 2020

RAX80 is supposed to be backward compatible with other 802.11 (b/g/n) standards, but isn't

I have a two laptops running Windows 10 and Windows 7 with two different wireless LANs that can't see the SSID of my RAX80 router.  The SSID is broadcasting and I have multiple devices throughout my house connecting to both the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands without any problems.  Neither laptop produces the RAX80's SSID in it's available networks list.  One has a Realtek RTL8188CE Wireless LAN 802.11n PCI-E NIC network adapter, and the other has a Lenovo 1x1 11b/g/n Wireless LAN PCI Express Half mini card adapter.  Chromecast, other PC's, phones, game consoles, etc, have no problems seeing the RAX80 SSID.  It doesn't even show up on two older laptops with different network adapters claiming 802.11b/g/n compliance.  I have 5 devices connected on 2.4GHz, 2 devices connected on 5.0GHz, and 3 devices connected via ethernet cable.

At first I thought it was just the driver of one of my laptops, but if I have TWO laptops using the 802.11 standard that the Netgear router can't see, that tells me it's a Netgear problem, not a Lenovo or Gateway problem.  So much for "backward compatibility".  Ideas?

4 Replies

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    • kentlawrence67's avatar
      kentlawrence67
      Tutor
      Aug 26, 2020

      Nope.  Netgear cuts you off after 90 days unless you pay exorbitant support fees.  No thanks.  I just access those computers using a wifi hotspot from my phone, which is backward compatible and does work.

    • kentlawrence67's avatar
      kentlawrence67
      Tutor
      Sep 21, 2020

      I saw a "solution" online.  "Turn of AX mode" by unchecking the ax mode box in the router configuration.  Really?  People buy a $400 wifi 6 modem that's supposed to be backward compatible with anything 802.11 b/g/n and it doesn't work, so Netgear's only solution is to turn off wifi 6 mode?  Isn't that the equivalent of buying a modern gaming laptop so you can play DOS Pong on it?  I'm not about to do that.  I paid big bucks for that speed and multiplexing ability and I'm not about to accept that as a solution.  That's utter baloney.

    • TimParker's avatar
      TimParker
      Aspirant
      Mar 19, 2021

      I have spoken to tech support at length multiple times and they have failed to figure out the problem that seems to be the same as this post.

      I have 12+ devices that ALL see the new router, but my older Win8 machine does NOT see the RAX ssid's.   That specific computer DOES see every other wifi in my neighborhood, but not the amazing and powerful RAX80 (which is 30 feet from it... And i'm picking up dozens of wifi signals on that box from hundreds of feet away).

       

      It seems as if this thing cannot act compatible with older Network Interface Cards (older 802.11 standards) while also standing in it's own power and rocking on newer devices with newer standards.

       

      Can anyone confirm if it is compatible simultaneously with newer and older standards?  (If so, the resolution to my issue is to be found elsewhere).


      Thanks