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Forum Discussion
Need extender - D6400 – AC1600 WiFi VDSL/ADSL Modem Router—802.11ac Dual Band Gigabit / D6400
I need to extend the range on my WiFi signals for both the network and network guest.
I have a D6400 – AC1600 WiFi VDSL/ADSL Modem Router—802.11ac Dual Band Gigabit / D6400 downstairs.
When I try to connect to either network in the upstairs bedroom, the connections come and go. The distance is about 50 to 60 feet from the router.
What type of extender do I need and do I need one for each network?
Thank you for any help
Chris
6 Replies
ChrisWharton wrote:
What type of extender do I need and do I need one for each network?
I see no suggestion that the ageing (2015) D6400 DSL modem/router supports wireless bridge mode. I haven't tried to get my D6400 to do that.
You could see if one of Netgear's repeaters will work. But 60 feet could be pushing it.
You can add a wireless access point to the modem/router, but that requires a wired connection. One way to achieve that is the use Powerline Ethernet to turn the mains circuit into a network. I have done that successfully, but it does depend on the quality of your mains circuit.
For more help with your D6400, try the section where they talk about those things:
Thank you for taking the time to answer my question.
As my house has been wired ethernet cable, could I just plug a wireless router onto an ethernet cable.?
Thanks again
ChrisWharton wrote:
Thank you for taking the time to answer my question.
As my house has been wired ethernet cable, could I just plug a wireless router onto an ethernet cable.?
Yes.
That's a classic case of forgetting about wifi repeaters in favour of using devices in wireless access point (AP) mode. A misnomer because it requires wiring the wifi source back to the router.
Just about anything you get will offer AP mode. An extender. A router, even something old you have got lying around, would do the trick.
It will be a lot faster than anything that relies on wifi to talk to the modem/router.
The main issue I'd see would be extender both the guest and the regular network. I don't know of a Netgear extender that will do both. So you'd need 2x extenders. (which can cause significant instabilities in your network)
You'd be better off picking up a cheap mesh system at that point. Why not invest in a mesh system instead of messing around with multiple extenders? You can pick up an older RBK43 or RBK53 renewed for under $200 on Amazon. Or for a little less performance, the MK63 is under $150 but is only a dual-band system. It's still solid though. That'd give you pretty solid coverage and the ability to run a guest network over the whole home. You'd either just use your d6400 in modem only/passthrough mode or connect the orbi to it with the orbi in access point mode.
It might not cost much more than having to buy 2x extenders. Plus, the frustration of dealing with extenders that can cause instabilities and lower speeds (because of how they work).
I can tell you what route I'd go with.
plemans wrote:
You'd either just use your d6400 in modem only/passthrough mode or connect the orbi to it with the orbi in access point mode.
Both of those would work. And would beat buying extenders, which seem to cause much grief and offer little saving.
I chip in only to warn about using the D6400 in modem only mode. When I did that, I had problems when the power went off. During the reboot phase, the D6400 was so slow to login that the router behind it turned out. The network was dead. Fine of you are there to manage the restart – modem and then router – but disastrous if you are away and need the network to come back to life.
I ended up buying a modem only device (DM200) which does not have that problem. Sadly, Netgear doesn't sell that any more, but used DM200s appear at reasonable prices in the usual places.
I haven't tried putting an AP behind the modem/router. But I have used Powerline ethernet to use a Mesh system in AP mode behind a router. Works fine.
Another plus for the Mesh recommendation from plemans is that you will have a decent router that you can use should you change ISP whereas repurposing extenders might not be so straightforward.
