Can someone give me an affirmative answer please as I have seen many conflicting....Once my EX6120 extender has been connected to my Sky Router (set up via web browser), should the WPS light be solid green?If it isn’t solid green, does that mean there is no security on my extender (even though you need a password to join and router is set to WPA2-PSK(AES)?

> [...] I have seen many conflicting.... Where? Thanks for the helpful links. Have you considered the obvious approach?: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTFM Visit http://netgear.com/support , put in your model number, and lookfor Documentation. Get the User Manual (at least). Read. Look for"WPS"? > [...] should the WPS light be solid green? I'll admit that the User Manual is not especially clear on this. I'dassume that the WPS light is normally off, blinks for a couple ofminutes after you press the WPS button, and goes solid (for a while, atleast) when a WPS connection is established. What behavior do you see?> If it isn't solid green, does that mean there is no security on my> extender [...] Obviously not, because: > [...] you need a password to join and router is set to WPA2-PSK(AES) I'd expect the WPS light to do something when WPS is being used tolet a device make a wireless connection to the extender. As a securityfeature, the extender is not always receptive to a WPS connectionrequest; it's receptive only for "two minutes" after you "press the WPSbutton on your router or access point." And the WPS light flashes. After the connection has been established, and the WPS light goessolid, WPS is no longer needed. And the WPS light times out afterindicating success.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.Conflicting views are techies on a Facebook group (yes I know what you are going to say) saying that the WPS light should only ever be blinking when connecting, and never on afterwards, and also posts on this forum saying the same thing - compared to various YouTube videos showing set up and implying it should always be on.I have indeed RTFM (the full one, not the quick setup one), and it also implies that the WPS light should be solid green after connecting. It is silent about whether it should go off a short while after.The behaviour I have seen is that it blinks during the connection process, but NEVER goes solid.I tried an EX3700 before I got the EX6120 and this behaved exactly the same way. I sent it back as faulty.

> Conflicting views are techies on a Facebook group (yes I know what you> are going to say) [...] What I'd say say is that even if you had supplied helpful links toany of that stuff, I likely wouldn't put much time+effort into readingstuff on Facebook, and I'd rather rub sand into my eyes than watch atypical "technical" movie on YouTube. "implying"? > The behaviour I have seen is that it blinks during the connection> process, but NEVER goes solid. But the connection succeeds? Defects in Netgear documentation and/or firmware are not especiallyunusual, sad to say.

So are you saying that the fact that the WPS light is off doesn’t matter? That as long as I need a password to link a device to the extender, it will have the same security settings as the router?If so, please link your source for confirmation of that.Surely If defects in Netgear documentation and firmware is not unusual, does that not point to the fact the brand is unreliable? In which case, why should I spend my money on their equipment?

> So are you saying that the fact that the WPS light is off doesn't> matter? [...] That's my belief. The whole idea of WPS is to allow a user to make awireless connection, even if he can't (or prefers not to) supply thepassphrase, _if_ he has control over the router. That is, if he canpress the WPS button (or provide a PIN). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_Protected_Setup > [...] That as long as I need a password to link a device to the> extender, it will have the same security settings as the router? Define "the same security settings". As I read the User Manual, youshould be able to play with the extender's SSID(s) and passphrase(s). > If so, please link your source for confirmation of that. Why trust me (or Netgear, or anyone/anything)? I'd run theexperiment. Can you get a WPS-reliant client device connected withoutpressing the WPS button? Can you get a non-WPS-using client deviceconnected without supplying the proper passphrase? > Surely If defects in Netgear documentation and firmware is not> unusual, does that not point to the fact the brand is unreliable?> [...] You can rely on their imperfection. > [...] In which case, why should I spend my money on their equipment? Hey. It wasn't my idea. If you can find a better combination ofattributes elsewhere, then I'd use the Ayn Rand criterion, and get thebest thing (in my judgement) which I could find/afford to maximize myhappiness.

EX6120 Extender WPS LIght | NETGEAR Communities

11 Replies

antinode
Guru
Mar 13, 2021
> [...] I have seen many conflicting....

   Where? Thanks for the helpful links.

   Have you considered the obvious approach?:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTFM

   Visit http://netgear.com/support , put in your model number, and look
for Documentation. Get the User Manual (at least). Read. Look for
"WPS"?

> [...] should the WPS light be solid green?

   I'll admit that the User Manual is not especially clear on this. I'd
assume that the WPS light is normally off, blinks for a couple of
minutes after you press the WPS button, and goes solid (for a while, at
least) when a WPS connection is established.

   What behavior do you see?

> If it isn't solid green, does that mean there is no security on my
> extender [...]

   Obviously not, because:

> [...] you need a password to join and router is set to WPA2-PSK(AES)

   I'd expect the WPS light to do something when WPS is being used to
let a device make a wireless connection to the extender. As a security
feature, the extender is not always receptive to a WPS connection
request; it's receptive only for "two minutes" after you "press the WPS
button on your router or access point." And the WPS light flashes.

   After the connection has been established, and the WPS light goes
solid, WPS is no longer needed. And the WPS light times out after
indicating success.
- favemuppet
  Aspirant
  Mar 13, 2021
  Thanks for taking the time to reply.
  
  Conflicting views are techies on a Facebook group (yes I know what you are going to say) saying that the WPS light should only ever be blinking when connecting, and never on afterwards, and also posts on this forum saying the same thing - compared to various YouTube videos showing set up and implying it should always be on.
  
  I have indeed RTFM (the full one, not the quick setup one), and it also implies that the WPS light should be solid green after connecting. It is silent about whether it should go off a short while after.
  
  The behaviour I have seen is that it blinks during the connection process, but NEVER goes solid.
  
  I tried an EX3700 before I got the EX6120 and this behaved exactly the same way. I sent it back as faulty.
  - antinode
    Guru
    Mar 13, 2021
    > Conflicting views are techies on a Facebook group (yes I know what you
    > are going to say) [...]
    
       What I'd say say is that even if you had supplied helpful links to
    any of that stuff, I likely wouldn't put much time+effort into reading
    stuff on Facebook, and I'd rather rub sand into my eyes than watch a
    typical "technical" movie on YouTube. "implying"?
    
    > The behaviour I have seen is that it blinks during the connection
    > process, but NEVER goes solid.
    
       But the connection succeeds?
    
       Defects in Netgear documentation and/or firmware are not especially
    unusual, sad to say.

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EX6120 Extender WPS LIght