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Forum Discussion
EX8000 or similar mesh extender w/wired backhaul and single SSID
I have an R8000 and would like to set up mesh extension with multiple extenders (see below) with wired backhaul.
Questions:
1) Can the R8000 be part of the mesh network also providing wifi?
2) Can all the elements providing wifi connectivity use the same SSID and handoff?
3) Can the backhaul connections be wired vs. the advertised wireless dedicated connection and not be in AP mode?
8 Replies
That should work.
The Nighthawk Mesh extenders are intended to work with any router, so they don't depend on any special features in the backhaul interface.
It's not the router that is in question but if a wired backhaul can be used and maintain mesh with both the extender (EX8000) AND the router handing off wireless devices to each other.
It would be nice if Netgear had a KB article that did a deeper dive in how this all works in their mesh products.
It depends on what you mean by "maintaining mesh".
802.11k was originally designed for wired APs and it doesn't really do a "handoff". The normal steps are
- An AP determines that client is moving away from it.
- The AP informs client to prepare to switch to a new access point.
- The client requests list of nearby access points (site report)
- The AP responds with the site report
- The client can then switch to best AP based on the report
The list of nearby access points can only include the bssids that are within range of the AP. It "sort of" works if only some of the APs support 802.11k, since the fallback in the clients is to switch to the strongest signal that they see.
The other piece is 802.11r, which is basically speeds up the re-authentication with the new AP.
All this should certainly work in AP mode, though it would be nice if DexterJB would confirm (or correct).
Okay... So can you connect the EX8000 to an existing router using a wired backhaul versus a wireless one and use in MESH mode (One WiFi name)? The Orbi got a firmware update to do so. Does the EX8000 need a firmware update to do so? Can the EX8000 be upgraded to do so? Will the EX8000 be upgraded to do so? I know you can setup the EX8000 in AP mode but the MESH (One WiFi name) feature is disabled.
knighstalker wrote:
I know you can setup the EX8000 in AP mode but the MESH (One WiFi name) feature is disabled.
You can still set the AP's network name to match your router.
Great, but will they seemlessly transfer you as you go from one device zone to another? Also would there be any issues where the zones overlap?
