NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Nighthawk R7000 - Doesn't reach far enough; do I need a more powerful router, or add an Access Point
Just bought a Nighthawk R7000 to improve my WIFI signal, but it didn't work. Not a super long distance (about 35'), but apparently too many walls in between the router location and the laptop locati...
Thanks for the info. What would be the advantage of getting the EX7000 over something like the EX6100? I currently have one computer and one phone which use the wifi (might find new uses in the future though!).
The EX7000 is an AC1900 class extender / Access point, as is your R7000. I'm not a big fan of those little plug in devices. Thie nice thing about the EX700 (or any router for that matter in AP mode) is that you can use the LAN ports to connect other devices into, as your network grows. I guess, ultimately, it all depends on the budget..
I took your recommendation and purchased the EX7000. Got it set up, and it works--my WIFI speed throughout the house is now greatly improved. One followup question: I now have two different WIFI names. The main router is NETGEAR##, and the Extender is NETGEAR##-EXT. Any way to combine them into one name? I had assumed this would have been done automatically, but maybe I missed a step.
You can create the same SSID on both routers (I would get rid of the Netgear SSID's - they are just labels - if you create new ones, just get your phone to forget the old one and connect to the new one), however, if you are thinking of client roaming, remember, it is based on the clients, not all on the router / access point). Alot of clients like to stick to thier connected Access Points, until the signal fades to nothing.
You may, or, may not have success with the same SSID's. Ensure you change the default login passwords, and, create a strong wifi passphrase. Also, set different channels 1,6,or 11 for 2.4ghz, and higher numbers for 5ghz (do not leave wifi channels to auto). If you don't need 2.4ghz, then disable the 2.4ghz radio on both router and Access Point.