Man oh man, I have so many issues with my EAX80 / AX6000 Nighthawk Mesh Extender:1. http://mywifiext.local/ loads, but clicking on the button "New Extender Setup" does nothing on Firefox, Chrome, or Edge on my Windows PC despite being hardwired to it with Wifi turned off. The button also does nothing on my Samsung S10.2. OK, so I was able to figure out how to switch to it in the Nighthawk app on my phone, but there is nowhere to update the firmware there. I have no idea if the firmware needs updated, as I can't even verify what firmware version is running.3. While the EAX80 adds connectivty where there used to be less, devices don't disconnect from it, meaning where my router is is now essentially a dead zone. This is ridiculous given my router is a Nighthawk X4S.Please, how can I make this thing work?!

Using http://www.mywifiext.com/ works for me on firefox and chromium. Searching for new firmware versions is possible from within the nighthawk app:click on the small home button in the upper left cornerSettings (first column below the device selection)Router settings (first column)scroll down to the bottom of the page, click "search for updates"(the actual naming might differ slightly, as I've translated them back)

Thank you for the reply. Your idea about in-app updates works for my router, but not for the Mesh Extender I am asking about. If you switch products to the extender and then follow the same steps, there are no "Router Settings" - just "WiFi settings."

I'm a bit desperate for a solution - I just tried upgrading my router to a Nighthawk X6S / AC4000 Tri-band to see if I can just ditch the EAX80 all together, but no dice. I need to either return that router and swap my whole system out for a dedicated mesh network (and I will leave the Netgear brand if I do this), or I need to get this darn EAX80 to actually work, not make my network worse.My #3 from my original post is what I am talking about. I need my devices to connect to the nearest device, not just the EAX80 the entire time. Crazy that its wireless signal from a different floor on a different side of the house overpowers the X6S on the same floor! This even happens when the EAX is two floors away!

You're right, as I wasn't in physical proximity to my eax80, I had to extrapolate a bit. If you use the android app, you can find the current IP address of your eax80 under network overview and tapping on the eax80 repeater icon. This will show you the MAC address and local IPv4 address of your EAX80, a webinterface is listening on this IP address and you can access it using the username and password you assigned to to your device earlier. If you happen to be wirelessly connected to the BSSID of your EAX80 - or have connected a notebook via ethernet to one of its four ethernet ports, you can also use http: <slash><slash> mywifiext <dot> net"Firmware Update" is in the left menu frame, third entry from the top.

Thank you for the reply, although unfortunately none of this helps. > you can also use http: <slash><slash> mywifiext <dot> net Please see the first point of my original post; this website does not work for me in Friefox, Chrome, or Edge on either of my two computers tested, or on my phone for Firefox mobile or Chrome mobile.> you can find the current IP address of your eax80 under network overview and tapping on the eax80 repeater icon. This will show you the MAC address and local IPv4 address of your EAX80Yeah, the default 192.168.1.250 - but this takes me to the same broken page above.Please see the attached screenshot for what I mean by broken. This is what I see when I click the only button on the page - New Extender Setup - on any device, in any browser - no change at all (except for a minor URL change to http://mywifiext.local/ra_check_TC.htm). This is with Adblock+ disabled.

EAX80 - Cannot Access Settings | NETGEAR Communities

14 Replies

pkgadd
Luminary
Aug 25, 2020
Using http://www.mywifiext.com/ works for me on firefox and chromium.

Searching for new firmware versions is possible from within the nighthawk app:
click on the small home button in the upper left corner
Settings (first column below the device selection)
Router settings (first column)
scroll down to the bottom of the page, click "search for updates"
(the actual naming might differ slightly, as I've translated them back)
- strakerc
  Aspirant
  Aug 25, 2020
  Thank you for the reply. Your idea about in-app updates works for my router, but not for the Mesh Extender I am asking about. If you switch products to the extender and then follow the same steps, there are no "Router Settings" - just "WiFi settings."
  - strakerc
    Aspirant
    Sep 01, 2020
    I'm a bit desperate for a solution - I just tried upgrading my router to a Nighthawk X6S / AC4000 Tri-band to see if I can just ditch the EAX80 all together, but no dice. I need to either return that router and swap my whole system out for a dedicated mesh network (and I will leave the Netgear brand if I do this), or I need to get this darn EAX80 to actually work, not make my network worse.
    
    My #3 from my original post is what I am talking about. I need my devices to connect to the nearest device, not just the EAX80 the entire time. Crazy that its wireless signal from a different floor on a different side of the house overpowers the X6S on the same floor! This even happens when the EAX is two floors away!
pkgadd
Luminary
Sep 07, 2020
At this point you might want to try a factory reset, using the recessed button on the back, in order to start up fresh.

I've been using all of those browsers on linux and windows to use the eax80's webinterface (which I prefer over the app) in recent months, using all updates released within that time frame. The webinterface has always worked well for me. If that doesn't work, you might want to check your browser settings, potential filtering plugins (ad-filters) or online virus scanners, which might interfere (but shouldn't).
- strakerc
  Aspirant
  Sep 07, 2020
  OK, I treid to reset as suggested, and I'll admit, the web interface is way better! But near the end, I just got:
  This site can’t be reached
  mywifiext took too long to respond.
  and now mywifiext or 192.168.1.250 (which I confirmed through the app is still the IP) does not load on any device :'(.
  
  The page that was trying to load when I first got this message is: http://192.168.1.250/newregister.cgi?id=bbfb66f481c02462f6b0cf029a2932893e14eaa5c4c87e59b19810489b9629c6
  - strakerc
    Aspirant
    Sep 07, 2020
    So I tried again, but this time, when I got to the point it said "check here before continuing installation" I loaded mywifiext and I updated firmware that way. And now I seem to be in and firmware has been updated (although I had to log out and log back in to connect the extended to the internet).
    
    We'll see if this helps - thank you for bearing with me!
pkgadd
Luminary
Sep 07, 2020
After changing the wireless channel on your main router (either manually or automatically after receiving a DFS event), it might a while for the repeater to follow suit (in the order of ~3-5 minutes). But yes, you definitely can change your wireless settings. Only if you do change ESSID/ PSK, you will have to reconfigure your repeater as well. In practice this means resetting the repeater.

Personally I can achieve 1000BASE-T linespeed over the EAX80 (the limit of its ethernet ports). In case of problems in the 5 GHz band, it might help to configure a non-DFS channel (ch36-ch48) for testing.
- strakerc
  Aspirant
  Sep 07, 2020
  Why would the channel impact a speed restriction? Are you saying that is the case?
  
  There are two 5GHz bands coming from my router, on channels 36 and 149.

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EAX80 - Cannot Access Settings