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Forum Discussion
Rax120 with eax15 and eax80 as extenders? How do u set this up properly?
Which ever extender is set up first, I lose the capability to switch to it in the nighthawk app. It asks for login and password but never accepts it. The 2nd installed extender I can switch over to no...
A couple things.
1. I've always recommended switching to a full mesh system if someone is needing more than 1 extender. Its more stable, faster, and easier to manage.
2. You an always manage the extenders through the web interface using their ip addresses if you're having issues with the app. I'm not a huge fan of the app as it seems everytime they update it and "fix" something, its breaks something else.
3. Your description of its not really helping doesn't tell us much. What actual issue are you having in the home? How big is the home? how are the extenders setup? (in what areas). What actual speeds are you seeing? Details are key in helping troubleshoot so they more you tell us about the issue, the better we can help.
A couple others things.
- make sure to set them up in a star configuration. Star: extender<--------router------>extender
- Don't use a daisy chain: router----->extender----->extender, it'll drop their throughput (speed) significantly
- Make sure the extenders are far enough apart in the star configuration that they can't connect to each other or they can end up connecting to each other if you set them up using their mesh option (same ssid)
- the extenders have the option of mesh and bandsteering. (smart connect). Meaning sometimes you might be connected tot the 2.4ghz and others to the 5ghz. 2.4ghz is much slower and sensitive to interference. 5ghz is much faster but doesn't broadcast as far. when used with smart connect, its your device (phone/tablet/etc) that decides which to connect to based on its own algorithm.
Thank you for taking the time to reply. I am a novice when it comes to stuff like this. My home is 2805sqft. I have the rax120 in the family room on top of the tv console cabinet. The first extender (eax15) is in the garage about 30 ft away and the 2nd extender (eax80) is directly upstairs about 20 ft away. I wanted to extend my wifi signal because I installed a new ring camera and it had trouble picking up the wifi. I believe they are installed in the daisy chain configuration. I used the nighthawk app and installed the eax15 first and then unplugged it and installed the eax80 and unplugged that after it was set up. I then plugged them both in their final destination areas. When I did this I noticed that the wifi signal would sometimes drop. My iphone 13 pro max would sporatically show 1-3 bars but would also have trouble finding the signal. For the most part it stays on 1 bar but the speed definitely changes from 51 down 32 up to 629 down and 41 up. I also lost ability to control the 1st extender through the app. The newly installed camera also loses signal from time to time as well as the front door camera. I have been back and forth with netgear support for about a week now but they haven't been much help. They only seem to care about the extenders and router having the most recent firmware which is pretty much obvious because the setup process makes you update to the latest firmware. I think your right to recommend a full mesh system for me. It seems that would be more plug and play. My google-fu isn't that great because when I tried looking up star configuration, I got sites for setting up star link. So, thanks for your guidance. I appreciate it greatly. My return window with amazon is fast approaching so I need to figure this out or just return them and maybe upgrade to the Orbi system or just get the gateway and pods from Xfinity. I thought when I bought the rax120 and CM1150V that they would be more than enough for the size of my house and I would not have to pay $14/month to rent Comcast stuff but now I am considering it I guess.