NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Wireless range extenders
I just installed a Nighthawk CAX80 router/modem and I would like to add something like the EAX80 wireless range extender to the network....However, I would like to connect the EAX80 directly to the C...
Mark_Br wrote:
I just installed a Nighthawk CAX80 router/modem and I would like to add something like the EAX80 wireless range extender to the network....
Neither of those devices is one of the Nighthawk WiFi Routers covered in this section. Your best bet would probably be the one for the EAX80 wireless range extender.
However, I would like to connect the EAX80 directly to the CAX80 using Ethernet cables already embedded in my walls, then setup the EAX80 so that it transmits the same SSID & requires the same PW as the CAX80 wireless router.
What you describe is a effectively a "Mesh" network. The EAX80 is one of Netgear's extenders.
Might be worth checking the section where they chew over the CAX80 to see if it is compatible.
Cable Modems & Routers
Nighthawk Mesh System - NETGEAR Communities
WiFi Range Extenders & Nighthawk Mesh - NETGEAR Communities
The Nighthawk WiFi Routers covered in this section don't include those technologies.
Thanks Michael and all the other community responders. Great suggestions, but I am limited to only a few models (2 NetGear models & 2 Arris models) of cable modems that my local ISP supports and Orbi isn't on that list. We live in a very rural part of Virginia....with not other ISP providers to choose from.
FYI - Before Mesh networks were a "thing" there was a thing called roaming networks (yeah...I'm an old guy). The end user experience is effectively the same but the difference is that the roaming nets were constructed using access point wifi extenders. There are two advantages to that approach: (a) you save a lot of bandwidth by not having to use a wifi link between the base wifi router and the extender routers, and (b) you can space the wifi transmitters a lot farther apart thereby increasing the geographic footprint (I got a big house with brick walls all around placed on 2+ acres). The disadvantage is that you have to have an ethernet backhaul to connect the AP to the base router. The break through with mesh nets is that you no longer need that wired link , which gives you a lot of flexibility but costs you in bandwidth on both wifi routers (base & extender).
In case, you're interested, I also contacted NetGear support via chat and they advised that I could install the extender as an AP using the same SSID & Password and it would function as I want - effectively doubling the reliable video streaming range of my base CAX80 since the extender is placed near the edge of the base's coverage. The installation instructions can be found at this link: https://kb.netgear.com/000060286/How-do-I-install-my-NETGEAR-WiFi-range-extender-as-an-access-point?article=000060286
I just brought it online and tested it with an ipad streaming a movie as I walked around my brick & masonry house & property. I performed flawlessly as it dynamically switched between the routers. I watched as the signal dropped while I walked and then at the second strip/arc/bar signal level it automatically switched routers and the signal popped up to full bars with no interruption on the video streaming or audio.
Thanks again to you and everyone!