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Forum Discussion
EX6120) - AC1200 Keeps dropping connection to pool controller 2.4g
I have used the EX6120) - AC1200 range extender since 2019 for use in my backyard pool area. For my own personal use I use the 5g band, but I have a pool controller about 40 feet from the house that requires the 2.4g. The pool controller was installed in 2024 and the extender worked great all that year. In 2025 it kept losing connection to the Aqualink controller unless the extender was freshly restarted. (5g would be ok but 2.4g would be one really poor until a reboot). Then it would work fine for a day, or maybe only a few hours. I figured it was getting old and bought a new one around Sept 2025 and things were good again. Now the new one is doing pretty much the same thing. It will lose connection to the pool controller and when I test it the 2.4 is barely working but 5g is ok. The aqualink will show a red dot. I'll restart the extender and it's good again...for a random amount of time.
Any ideas as to what can be causing this need for frequent reboots? My netgear nighthawk router has been great. No issues.
6 Replies
WiFi is really sensitive to material in the direct line of sight between units. Has anything changed since 2024 that might impact the radio link?
The extender hangs on a curtain rod facing outwards directly to my pool. There is nothing at all between it and the pool controller. Restarting fixes it, but it happens again at any random time. Nothing at all has changed in years out there. This just happened a few minutes ago, and at that time I connected my iPad to it and the 2.4 was working fine. I restarted it anyway, since the iAqualink unit had the red dot. After the restart it had a connection again.
It will lose connection to the pool controller and when I test it the 2.4 is barely working but 5g is ok.
Can you check the wifi signal strength (RSSI) at the controller location using a wifi analyzer app on your phone?
Note - if you have an iPhone, the only free analyzer app I know of is the old Apple Airport utility. Lots of options for Android.
