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XR500 with multiple EX7700 or should I use something different?
Hello there,
This is my first post. I have read some similar posts about this topic, but I haven't seen any real definitive answers, so I'm asking again.
I live in a one-story ranch that's about 100ft from north end to south end, and 50ft from east to west. The XR500 is placed centrally. I have one EX7700 located about 30 feet away in the east end to extend into the backyard. I have some dead/weak zones on the north and south ends. I have Sonos throughout the house as well as smart plugs, which the furthest reaching cannot connect to the network. Close to the router I'm getting about 900 Mbps down and 180 Mbps up. I would like to know if I should purchase two additional EX7700s, having a total of three extenders, all using the same SSID with SmartConnect enabled, and not hard wired as access points.
So my questions are:
- Will this setup work ok? I've seen some conflicting opinions about whether multiple EX7700s will function properly.
- Is it advisable to use the EX7700s as access points or extenders? What is the functional difference for users, and also products like Sonos, which are spread throughout the house. Will the wifi coverage be seamless either way?
- Can I mix using the EX7700s as aps & extenders? Like can I have two that extend and one that's wired in as an access point? Will they function as one network?
- Should I consider a completely different setup? I wouldn't say money is no object, but what's most important is strong, seamless wifi throughout the house that handles my Sonos network reliably as well.
I know there are similar answers on here and I've read them all and still don't feel certain of what the solution is.
Thanks in advance.
I'm back with an update.
I purchased a second EX7700 and it was extremely problematic to say the least.
The browser link for the extender is mywifiext.local, which wants to resolve to only a single dynamically assigned IP. So I set my first extender to use a manually assigned IP. This took a little bit of fiddling to get working, but eventually I was able to log in to the admin panel via a browser by going directly to the IP and logging in.
So I started the setup of the second one and that's where the problems started. After going through the setup I was not able to get to the new extender via the admin panel in the browser using mywifiext.local. I would get a challenge response and every time I tried to log in, either with the password I set or the default password, it just wouldn't log in. In the app, I could see both extenders in my network map, but if I tried to switch to either one in the app I would be given a login screen and regardless of whether I used the password for the 1st extender, or the password for the 2nd, or the default password it would say I couldn't log in. So I had no way to actually access the second extender to manage it.
The network itself was not working well. The mesh system didn't appear to be working great. I was getting dropped all over the house and the speed wasn't great. The locations were far enough apart but they still didn't seem to be handing off to each other gracefully. The second extender actually made the whole experience worse than with just the single extender. So after much fiddling I gave up.
I returned the second extender and purchased the Orbi 970 system, which costs a small fortune, but is giving me basically gigabit throughout every corner the house and will set me up for (hopefully) years to come.
So, anyone thinking of doing this... though maybe it technically "can be done" it likely isn't all that viable unless you're a rockstar network admin.
11 Replies
What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
Having too many extenders in a home can cause problems.
The XR router was marketed at one with with a EX7700 so is a good match. Depending on size of home, adding 1-2 more at 30 feet away from the router and the other EX, could work.
AP mode requires a ethernet connection, which if you have in place, may work better.
Need to run either AP mode or Extender mode to avoid problems. Extender would have more seamless support.
Depending on size of home, maybe a Orbi MESH system maybe something to look into as MESH has a backhaul feature and other features for seamless wireless coverage.
Hi there,
Sq Footage would be about 2,700. I included a photo below. Orange box is XR500. Yellow box is EX7700. Red zones are my dead zones.
So if I add two more EX7700s, all running as non-wired extenders, both approximately 30 feet from both the router and the other EX7700, that this should work ok?
House
I would only add one more. For that size of home, two EX and the XR router should be enough.
