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Forum Discussion
cmulrooney
Sep 28, 2020Guide
ex8000 extending both 2.4 and 5 ghz from r7000
I bought an EX8000 extender to improve signal from existing Nighthawk r7000. Eventually, got the R7000 fw updated to R7000-v1.0.11.106 and got the EX8000 fw updated to EX8000-V1.0.1.224. Manual set...
plemans
Sep 28, 2020Guru - Experienced User
so the EX8000 uses 1 of its 5ghz bands just for router------extender communication.
With "onessid" setup, the other 2.4ghz and 5ghz are combined into 1 ssid. it doesn't mean both aren't broadcasting, it just means the average scanner will only see 1. to see both them both,you'd need more than the built in scanner. Something like acrylic or inssider.
- cmulrooneySep 28, 2020Guide
Thanks for the reply. I don't have Smart Connect enabled. I do have the One Wifi Name feature enabled, with the understanding (perhaps incorrectly) that this setting allows me to have the same SSIDs (and passwords) of my R7000 used by the EX8000 (excluding my guest networks, as I've discovered). This appeared attactive, because:
- I would not have to make changes to the various client devices in the house, regarding the networks to which they're connecting.
- I could still keep the slower devices on the slower network, thereby not restricting the performance of the faster band.
- As portable devices move throughout the house, they could just connect with the same SSID, without having to think about "am I supposed to reconnect to a different network, based on where in the house I am?"
I thought this extender was a way to make a whole home mesh network out of my existing network. If I'm expecting too much from this setup it would be good to know. If I should be able to see both network SSIDs extended, I just need to know how. My scanner is not a scanner at all, in this case. It's a Windows 10 PC, or a MACbook Air, or an iPad, or an Android phone, etc. just looking for the available network(s) to connect.
Thank you again for your comments, but I'm hoping to get a better understanding of what's possible.
- plemansSep 28, 2020Guru - Experienced User
The OneWifi feature is really similar to smart connect. Its just smart connect is hosted on a router and uses bandsteering. Onewifi has the extender set the same ssid as the router (both bands) and then bandsteers.
So you won't see the name seperation unless you disable onewifi.
i'd leave it on. It does steer devices between the 2.4ghz and 5ghz band as needed- cmulrooneySep 28, 2020Guide
Thank you for the explanation and help.