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Adding second EX8000 extender
I am adding a second EX8000 range extender to my network to further extend my WiFi coverage. How do I pair it to my existing network and can it use the same SSID?
Hi MSBayou,
Welcome to the community!
Yes, you can take advantage of the One WiFi name feature of the EX8000 and even have it daisy chained to to the existing EX8000 if it will be placed in a location where it can only detect the extended signal. The process is similar to how you initially setup the existing EX8000.
Regards,
Dexter
Community Team
Should I power down the first extender during setup of #2 so I know the second extender is connecting to the router directly?
Additional question - In the overlap signal areas I'm experiencing wifi devices hanging on to the weaker connection instead of moving to the stronger source. Is there a way to set a "drop" condition? Most of the devices I intend to attach to the extender will not be moving (cameras) but when I'm moving through the house with my phone I'm noticing this situation. Thanks for your help.
Hi TaylorSFGuy,
Welcome to the community!
I assume you have One WiFi Name enabled. Yes, turning off the first extender is a good way to do it. Just make sure that the main router's signal still reaches the location of the second extender.
When you say "weaker connection", are you referring to the 2.4Ghz band? How are you testing this? Does this issue persist on all 5GHz capable devices?
Regards,
Dexter
Community Team
My question regarding the signal strength is the mps reading. As the phone moves closer to the router and away from the extender it seems to hang on to the extender and won't move to the router that does have a faster signal. I have a decent cable connection and had hoped that I could better match the wifi speed in the house to the cable speed. For example right now the phone is on the router and is at 585mps. When it was using the SSID and connected to the router it was about 180mps. Instead of hanging on to the router I wanted devices to drop off that and move to the router. Not sure I'm answering your reply but thank you for taking the time to let me know about adding the second extender. Maybe I don't have the units spaced far enough apart.
TaylorSFGuy wrote:
My question regarding the signal strength is the mps reading. As the phone moves closer to the router and away from the extender it seems to hang on to the extender and won't move to the router that does have a faster signal.
The decision to shift networks is made by the phone - the extender and router can offer "hints", but they don't force the phone to switch.
If the phone is Android, there is an app called "WiFi Roaming Fix" you could try. I've never used it though, so this is not a recommendation - just something you could follow up on.
