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ex7700 not working
I have a Zyxcel C2100Z modem/router from century link. I have gone through setup numerous times on the extender including WPS setup and through the interface. Everything seems right after the se...
A couple things.
1. the .210 firmware has been sketchy. try the .206 firmware, do a factory reset and clean install
2. your connection back to the network are boarderline. 2.4ghz penetrates better than 5ghz and its at less than 50% strength from the primary router. your 5ghz is at a 3rd. so even though you're not to far away, those 2 floors could be blocking the signal. Things like cement, concrete, tile, foil tile backer, hvac in floor/ceiling, etc can block signals. And floors tend to block better than walls because of the materials/utilities between them. You can try the extender on the middle floor to remove 1 floor distance and see if it helps.
3. with the boarder line connection, if the 5ghz does drop, the extender defaults back to the 2.4ghz connection. Which is much much slower than 5ghz by an amazing amount on extenders. during setup on my tribands, I disable the "extender 2.4ghz connection". You're still able to use the 2.4ghz but it piggybacks it on the 5ghz backhaul and then won't use the 2.4ghz backhaul if 5ghz drops.
what firmware is on the EX7700?
V1.0.0.210
How far from the router is the ex7700?
About 18~20' as the crow flies. The router is on the 3rd floor and the EX7700 is in the basement, 2 floors pretty much straight down.
If you log in through the ex7700's settings page, what does it show for network backhaul connections/strengths?
(See attached image below)
I should also mention that sometimes I have trouble loging onto the extender. This time it worked fine, but often it just times out and does not connect.
A couple things.
1. the .210 firmware has been sketchy. try the .206 firmware, do a factory reset and clean install
2. your connection back to the network are boarderline. 2.4ghz penetrates better than 5ghz and its at less than 50% strength from the primary router. your 5ghz is at a 3rd. so even though you're not to far away, those 2 floors could be blocking the signal. Things like cement, concrete, tile, foil tile backer, hvac in floor/ceiling, etc can block signals. And floors tend to block better than walls because of the materials/utilities between them. You can try the extender on the middle floor to remove 1 floor distance and see if it helps.
3. with the boarder line connection, if the 5ghz does drop, the extender defaults back to the 2.4ghz connection. Which is much much slower than 5ghz by an amazing amount on extenders. during setup on my tribands, I disable the "extender 2.4ghz connection". You're still able to use the 2.4ghz but it piggybacks it on the 5ghz backhaul and then won't use the 2.4ghz backhaul if 5ghz drops.
Thanks. I have taken these suggestions. I need to experiment a little more to see if it's working any better. When you say that the 5g connection back to the network is 1/3 what number are you looking at? Is it the "Signal Strength"? With the suggested changes the signal strength is 300, so a little better than the 243 that I was getting, but even with the extender sitting right next to the router the signal strength was still 300.
ChesterWinslow wrote:Thanks. I have taken these suggestions. I need to experiment a little more to see if it's working any better. When you say that the 5g connection back to the network is 1/3 what number are you looking at? Is it the "Signal Strength"? With the suggested changes the signal strength is 300, so a little better than the 243 that I was getting, but even with the extender sitting right next to the router the signal strength was still 300.
Yes your signal strength. (signal strength isn't the same as throughput but its a good indicator when setting up)
Your 2.4ghz is connected at 144mbps when max is 400mbps.
the 5ghz max is 866mbps and you're at 243mbps.
You can also try using different channels for the 5ghz. maybe the ones you're on has interference or maybe the c2100z struggles with using the lower 5ghz channels. Try having the c2100z on the higher 5ghz channels for the extender to connect to.
Thanks - I will tinker with it a bit more. It does seem to be working much better with the new location and old software. I am not sure which was more influential. I did not expect the device to be quite so sensitive to location. The lights were solid so I assumed it had a decent connection. In any case, it's working well so far.
