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Solved
R8000P WiFi dead
I'm dealing with my second (third actually- second was brick that Netgear replaced) R8000P and it has been quite a challenge. I bought my second router back in August of 2020 to help extend WiFi to t...
Ok, I figured it out. Since the AP mode router worked after I disabled the wireless on the main router via the setup process I looked to see what settings were in place. The only difference was the that the AP mode router was set up to as a DHCP server with a range of .2 - .254, gobbling up all of the IPs, so the main router could not serve up any. Since the AP mode router got .28 from during the setup, I alloted it .29 - .254 and the primary has .2 - .27. Now both routers have the same SSID and there's a slightly weak signal inbetween routers.
Did Netgear advanced support bother to give me this crucial bit of information regarding DHCP allocations? No, which further leads me to believe that they want to cash in on selling their premium support.
I would do a hard reset and see if it revives the wifi. If that doesn't work why don't you try trying to reload a previous firmware and see if that revives its wifi. Just give it a shot hopefully it revives it.
wcalifas - Thanks, I'll give this a try when I have more time. I have a backup config from before the last firmware update, so this shouldn't be too painful. I just don't understand why a new, supposedly tested firmware patch would cause the WiFi to bomb.
Update- I was about to give up on this altogether and try to get a replacement unit (more on that later) but Netgear, in my opinion, is really horrible about making the process easy (more on this later).
I decided to go back to resetting the router again and letting the router software guide the setup process. By doing so the setup process seemed indicate that this second, AP mode router could not use the same SSID as the primary, or I had to turn off the primary's wireless access. So, I opted to disable the primary's wireless and it worked to get the AP mode router's wireless running. But, this is not how it was advertised.
I initially got this second router for the sole purpose of using it as an AP and oddly, advanced Netgear support instructed me to set up both routers with the same SSID with each of the 3-antennae (wireless: 2.4GHz, 5GHz 1, 5GHz 2) set to a different channel, so they would not conflict with each other. So I did just that-
Primary router:
Wireless Network (2.4GHz b/g/n) channel: 1
Wireless Network (5GHz a/n/ac)5GHz-1: 36
Wireless Network (5GHz a/n/ac)5GHz-2: 149AP mode router:
Wireless Network (2.4GHz b/g/n) channel: 05
Wireless Network (5GHz a/n/ac)5GHz-1: 40
Wireless Network (5GHz a/n/ac)5GHz-2: 153This is what Netgear's tier 2 or 3 support told me to do and it was not working. Should it work? I thought that was the point of having an AP- to seamlessly extend WiFi throughout a space. Now WiFi at the far end of the house is strong but not so much here in the kitchen.
Okay, as alluded to above, I was going to try to replace the unit (and I still may do that) but the process is convoluted. My phone and chat/email support have both ended but the hardware warranty is still good through August of 2021. So, I started the process by requesting a case number to get an RMA but then they tell you to call them with the case number. When you do this you end up in a ridiculous loop where you either need to still have phone/chat/email warranty time or you have to pay them premium support $$ to determine that the hardware is defective. What good is the hardware warranty when they are going to charge you be able to use it?! I explained that this did not make sense and that I wanted to speak with a manager... they put me on hold to get a manager and came back saying there was no manager available and I should try back later. Try back later?! I asked what that meant- today? tomorrow? next week? The guy (based in India) said they were all still working from home (I've been WFH since the pandemic began, so can sympathize with this) and that I should try back in an hour. He gave me a new case number. When I just checked this new case number I found that it had already been closed?! This is when I decided to try the setup (above) again.
I'm extremely unhappy with their support and their assinine warranty policy; if I can't get this AP mode functioning properly, I am seriously considering ditching Netgear products after using them for ~18-years!
If you can offer any sage advice regarding AP mode to allow both the primary router and AP mode router to broadcast the same SSID, I'd love to know what ideas you have! TIA
Ok, I figured it out. Since the AP mode router worked after I disabled the wireless on the main router via the setup process I looked to see what settings were in place. The only difference was the that the AP mode router was set up to as a DHCP server with a range of .2 - .254, gobbling up all of the IPs, so the main router could not serve up any. Since the AP mode router got .28 from during the setup, I alloted it .29 - .254 and the primary has .2 - .27. Now both routers have the same SSID and there's a slightly weak signal inbetween routers.
Did Netgear advanced support bother to give me this crucial bit of information regarding DHCP allocations? No, which further leads me to believe that they want to cash in on selling their premium support.