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Forum Discussion
Can EAX80 Use LAN Backhaul
I'm adding a second EAX-80 to my home to what seems like a dead spot in the WiFi. I notice that there's a lot of latency here, and if I am sitting out on front porch (15 feet from the LAN jack, but ...
Was there ever a response to this question. I have a simlar application and would liket to use the ethernet ports on the EAX80 to extend wireless network with wired connection back to the router.
I don't think there was a NetGear response, but I can update you on what I did.
The answer is "yes" but the extender then acts as a bridge, not as a mesh extender. So when I sit on my front porch, I need to select this new WiFi network from this extender.
Zoom / Video performance was almost impossible using the mesh signal from other side of house and upstairs. Now, using this second network in close proximity to where I sit, I can use Zoom / Video without degradation.
The downside is that I am switching between networks. Most of my SmartHome devices are on the original mesh network, so when I go out to front porch and leave that primary network, access or signals to those devices does not reliably work.
And one glaring problem that Netgear does not seem to acknowledge is how their web UI interfaces (or fails to interface) with devices. Their default URL to manage the extender is: http://mywifiext.local/start.htm but I have TWO extenders (one as mesh, one as a bridge), and they have not been able to intelligently explain how I can manage my two extenders. The URL typically will go to one, but not the other.
The Nighthawk app is a little better, it shows both extenders. However the app is inconsistent, I believe I can do a firmware update for the router, but it does not offer me an option for a firmware update to the extenders. That is why I am so annoyed the web interface is inconsistent.
I managed to get it to work for my purposes. House is 3 story and is wired with Ethernet at least 1 jack in each room. The Netgear modem/router is in the basement lowest level, but most usage is on the middle floor (primary living space and media and office space. bedrooms predominantly on the third or top floor.
All wired ports are 1Gbe, but wireless speeds from the basement origin and the AP on the third floor provide lower speeds on the main floor. My thought was to use a gigabit port on this main floor connected to one of the Ethernet ports on the EAX80 to extend the higher speed to the wireless on this floor.
My mistake was to try to setup with the default mesh installation. After reading a little more it seems the EAX80 needed to be setup in AP mode and given a separate SSID. Once that was done, the higher wireless speed was achieved in this area.
These extenders are blessed with an IP address from your dhcp server. Find out what it's ip address is and use that to get to your web management interface. I just went into the lan options on my rax200 and set a static ip address of 192.168.1.2 for my eax80 so I can always go straight to managing it. This is also helpful if dns or dhcp goes down for any reason.
What URL would you use to find an EAX80 with a static IP? Because I am pretty sure I made mine .249 and .250
When I use this: http://mywifiext.local/start.htm
It only finds one of them. I don't think it knows what to do with two on the network.
I've tried https://192.168.1.249 but get no login page to load.
Thanks for posting.
But I am confused now - the EAX80 doesn't seem to support wired backhaul at all (one of the reasons I have not added it to my RAX120 - I have 3 floors, and all are wried for gigabit ethernet, so I am not going to by an extender - or a mesh system - that doesn't support 100% wired backhaul).
The idea of the extender would be to then never switch SSIDs. In your setup, the extender still connected wirelessly to your router, does it not? Or did you set this up as a totally seperate AP (AP mode) and thus with a different SSID? In that case... it's not really an 'extender' anymore, is it?
Thx
I have two EAX-80s.
On second floor, I am using it as a wireless extender because router is in my 1/4 basement under the kitchen floor. The kids were complaining about poor signal in their rooms. I have not done any network tests recently, but originally it was pretty spotty network performance.
But we still have very poor signal on front porch and near front door, so the second one is connected to a LAN jack up there with 100% wired backhaul. But yes, that part of the house has a separate network name. I use it for Zoom calls.
Not happy about this, but putting up with it for now.
Thanks.
Yeah, that's too bad. I can't imagine why Netgear didn't implement real wired backhaul for the unit. If you have to set it up as a seperate AP for wired to work, this kills the whole mesh / continuity idea. May as well put another AP up. They can do wired backhaul mesh (same SSIDs etc.) on Orbi, why not on a dedicated extender... :(