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Just added two of Netgear's Nighthawk mesh-extenders (a Nighthawk X4S and a Nighthawk X6S) to my network (a Nighthawk X6 R8000).
Setting up the mesh, however, has a unexpected - and rather negative - impact on my system due to the method Netgear has implemented to establish the mesh:
The trouble is, that if a device connects via one of the extenders, the system makes a new MAC-adress for the device instead of using the original (described under "I have enabled a wireless MAC filter" almost in the bottom at NETGEAR WiFi Range Extender FAQ).
My WiFi is central in my home automation setup and a lot of automations are based on network status of distinct devices, identified by the devices MAC-adress and/or IP-adress (E.g. power to my printer is turned on, when my laptop is online at the WiFI and cut when the laptop is offline again).
However, due to the nature of the mesh, my laptop can now take on the identity of three different devices: F4:8C:50:ED:1F:CF (connected to the router), 02:0F:B5:ED:1F:CF (connected to the X6S), and 92:3B:AD:ED:1F:CF (connected to the X4S).
Consequently, all automations in the system need to be adapted to be able to identify three different devices as the same.
A possible solution could be to identify the device by IP-adress. However, due to the fact that IP-adress reservation on the router is based on the MAC-adress, this is in fact not possible, as the translation of the MAC-adress directly leads to the assignment of a new IP-adress to the device in question (when moved around in the mesh).
Further, it seems like the translation of the MAC-adress interferes with functionality of various "smart home" services/devices connected to cloud-services.
E.g., I have found the MAC-adress translation to effectively disrupt communication with devices from Ring,
(Ring Video Doorbell)
, that when devices from Miele (my dishwasher, my washing machine and my tumbledrier) are
2 Comments
Something went wrong during posting - only some of the post was saved and I cannot find a way to edit the post :-(
This is how it was supposed to be:
Just added two of Netgear's Nighthawk mesh-extenders (a Nighthawk X4S and a Nighthawk X6S) to my network (a Nighthawk X6 R8000).
Setting up the mesh, however, has a unexpected - and rather negative - impact on my system due to the method Netgear has implemented to establish the mesh:
The trouble is, that if a device connects via one of the extenders, the system makes a new MAC-adress for the device instead of using the original (described under "I have enabled a wireless MAC filter" almost in the bottom at NETGEAR WiFi Range Extender FAQ).
My WiFi is central in my home automation setup and a lot of automations are based on network status of distinct devices, identified by the devices MAC-adress and/or IP-adress (E.g. power to my printer is turned on, when my laptop is online at the WiFI and cut when the laptop is offline again).
However, due to the nature of the mesh, my laptop can now take on the identity of three different devices: F4:8C:50:ED:1F:CF (connected to the router), 02:0F:B5:ED:1F:CF (connected to the X6S), and 92:3B:AD:ED:1F:CF (connected to the X4S).
Consequently, all automations in the system need to be adapted to be able to identify three different devices as the same.
A possible solution could be to identify the device by IP-adress. However, due to the fact that IP-adress reservation on the router is based on the MAC-adress, this is in fact not possible, as the translation of the MAC-adress directly leads to the assignment of a new IP-adress to the device in question (when moved around in the mesh).
Further, it seems like the translation of the MAC-adress interferes with functionality of various "smart home" services/devices connected to cloud-services, that is, by disrupting the communication...
E.g., I have found that my doorbell (Ring Video Doorbell) and my domestic appliances from Miele (dishwasher, washing machine and tumbledryer) are effectively disconnected from the cloud services if they are connected via the mesh (that is, given a "translated" MAC-adress).
Possible solutions:
1) MAC-adress translation should include "re-translation" back to the original MAC-adress (in my opinion, the translated MAC-adress is only a tool needed for keeping track of the devices internally in the mesh/in the Netgear software, not something needed for the customer).
2) IP-adress reservation should be "network wide" - that is, no matter the MAC-adress is translated, the IP-adress should stay the same. When making rules for IP-adress reservation, it is only possible to specify one MAC-adress to one IP-adress - it should be possible to a) select "include translated versions" when making the rule, b) to use wildcards when specifying the MAC-adress and thereby be able to make rules based only the last six digits of the MAC-adress, c) add several MAC-adresses to one rule, or d) define several rules to the same IP-adress (although this will cause other problems and therefore might night be the way).
Raised this issue at support, who asked me to make this suggestion as it is "intended behaviour".
However, this intended behaviour does in fact actively work against integration in my "smart home". I cannot use the devices, as they ruin my setup totally - and I cannot send them back to the retailer and get my money back, as the devices are "working as they should".
Hope for a solution within a short while.
I agree completely and do not understand how my Nighthawk 7500 router will assign an IP address outside of my defined range, instead using 169.254.189.8. My Public range is supposedly disabled as is my 5g network (for now). If I try to give it a fixed address it doesn't allow me saying "the item should be on the same subnet". I have no control over the subnet the printer attached to other than the fact that I attached to the 2.4g network using id and pw and that is configured for an IP range and subnet that everything else attaches to. I also see an unknown item also attached with a 169.254 number. This is very frustrating and I'm beginning to regret getting this Nighthawk.