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Bridge mode disables radios
I am trying to help a neighbor with a significant WiFi problem. He is totally unfamilar with the technology while I have a little bit more experience but, apparently, not enough.
In his residnce he has a Netgear WiFi modem/router that serves most of that building well (I don't know the model, but can inquire if that info is needed). An adjacent garage has a "man cave" below. He wants to extend his network to the garage so he bought a Nighthawk X65 extender. However, the man cave is surrounded by a rock veneer wall without windows and the garage's concrete slab above, so the signal from the primary router does not penetrate into the man cave at all; the extender is therefore useless there (it is now used in anoither section of the main home).
He also has a Nertgear AC1900 C7000 modem/router that I thought/hoped we could set up in bridge mode and connect it back to the primary router via Ethernet (we can get a CAT-5/6 cable between the two buildings). I brought the C7000 to my home to experiment with before we go to the trouble of installing a 100-foot cable at the site. But as soon as I set Router Mode to 'off' and the device reboots, the radios are turned oiff and can't be turned back on.
So to my question: is there any way to use the C7000 as a extender using a wired connection back to the primary router and, if so, how would I go about that? If that can't be made to work, is there any other wire-based option in the Netgear product mix that can addressw this application?
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
> Bridge mode disables radios
What, exactly, does "Bridge mode" mean to you? This term is greatly
over-/mis-used, leading to many misunderstandings.> [...] as soon as I set Router Mode to 'off' and the device reboots,
> the radios are turned oiff and can't be turned back on.Right. If you're looking at "Cable Your Modem Router to a Router and
Use Bridge Mode" in the C7000 User Manual, then setting ADVANCED >
Administration > Router Mode to "Off" means disabling the router
entirely, leaving only the modem (in "bridge mode", meaning about as
stupid as a piece of wire). No routing, no radios, only an Ethernet
port which you can connect to a real router (or a single
computer/device). Not what you want.> [...] connect it back to the primary router via Ethernet (we can get a
> CAT-5/6 cable between the two buildings).
If you leave out the "bridge mode" description, then what you really
want is a wireless access point (WAP). The C7000 does not formally
offer a WAP mode, but almost any router can be configured as a WAP,
including a C7000. See, for example:https://community.netgear.com/t5/x/x/m-p/1463500
That's written for a Netgear C6300-as-WAP, but the steps are about the
same for any other router (any make/model) which lacks a one-step WAP
option.
2 Replies
> Bridge mode disables radios
What, exactly, does "Bridge mode" mean to you? This term is greatly
over-/mis-used, leading to many misunderstandings.> [...] as soon as I set Router Mode to 'off' and the device reboots,
> the radios are turned oiff and can't be turned back on.Right. If you're looking at "Cable Your Modem Router to a Router and
Use Bridge Mode" in the C7000 User Manual, then setting ADVANCED >
Administration > Router Mode to "Off" means disabling the router
entirely, leaving only the modem (in "bridge mode", meaning about as
stupid as a piece of wire). No routing, no radios, only an Ethernet
port which you can connect to a real router (or a single
computer/device). Not what you want.> [...] connect it back to the primary router via Ethernet (we can get a
> CAT-5/6 cable between the two buildings).
If you leave out the "bridge mode" description, then what you really
want is a wireless access point (WAP). The C7000 does not formally
offer a WAP mode, but almost any router can be configured as a WAP,
including a C7000. See, for example:https://community.netgear.com/t5/x/x/m-p/1463500
That's written for a Netgear C6300-as-WAP, but the steps are about the
same for any other router (any make/model) which lacks a one-step WAP
option.Many thanks!! Makes sense. I'll give 'er a try tomorrow.