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DS_Dean's avatar
DS_Dean
Tutor
Mar 06, 2022
Solved

Nighthawk X6S Mesh Extender - no devices ever connect to it?

I have set up my new Nighthawk X6S Tri-Band Mesh Extender. Everything seems to be correct according to the admin page but the device has been turned on for hours now and no devices have connected to ...
  • plemans's avatar
    plemans
    Mar 06, 2022

    Try this. 

    Rerun your installation assistant. (might need to factory reset to do so). 

    during the install, uncheck "extend 2.4ghz" during setup. 

    You'll still be able to use the 2.4ghz but it disables using it as a failover backhaul between router/extender. 

    2.4ghz is slow and sensitive to interference. Relying on just the wider/faster 5ghz backhaul is usually a better option. 

    Then, during the install, leave the "enable smart connect" option enabled. Then devices should roam between the 2.4ghz and the 5ghz as needed. 

    Once thats all done and its installed, power off the camera's and back on. 

    Sadly, if you're using the one wifi feature, it relies on the device (phone/table/camera) own roaming protocol (and they're not always that smart) to choose whether to connect to the router or extender. Sometimes you have to give the devices a bit or a few reboots/reconnects before it'll swap. If it doesn't work, you can always disable "one wifi" and then manually choose which one to connect to. 

    Again, its sad because a lot relies on the camera/phones own protocol to choose.