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Re: Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Desktop WiFi Range Extender (EX7000-100NAS; AC1900)'s bad wifi connecti

ant
Prodigy
Prodigy

Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Desktop WiFi Range Extender (EX7000-100NAS; AC1900)'s bad wifi connections.

Hello.

 

Pinging Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Desktop WiFi Range Extender (EX7000-100NAS; AC1900)'s IP address are nice and stable like:
--- 192.168.1.131 ping statistics ---
37 packets transmitted, 37 received, 0% packet loss, time 36031ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.942/1.474/3.822/0.878 ms

 

However, pinging any wireless devices after it are bad:
--- 192.168.1.15 ping statistics ---
16 packets transmitted, 15 received, 6% packet loss, time 15026ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 26.374/84.310/127.654/29.640 ms


The wifi devices aren't that far to the extender too. Why is that? Thank you for reading and hopefully answering soon. 🙂

Model: EX7000|AC1900 Nighthawk WiFi Range Extender
Message 1 of 12
plemans
Guru

Re: Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Desktop WiFi Range Extender (EX7000-100NAS; AC1900)'s bad wifi connecti

A couple questions/thoughs. 

1. The computer doing the pinging. How is it connected to the network? wired? wireless? and if wireless, is it connected through the router or through the extender?  If wired, is it connected to the router or the extender? 

2. Extenders do increase ping/latency times. Reason why is they have to go device----->extender----->router---->extender---->device (if both devices connected to extender). Thats a lot of hops and increases in time. Plus wireless adds latency versus wired. 

3. Even the router could be adding latency or the modem if you have a modem/router combo device

 

What firmware is on the extender? 

What router are you connected to? 

Are you pinging over 5ghz? or 2.4gh?  2.4ghz is more suseptible to interference and is much slower than 5ghz.

Are you using fastlane or not?

Message 2 of 12
ant
Prodigy
Prodigy

Re: Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Desktop WiFi Range Extender (EX7000-100NAS; AC1900)'s bad wifi connecti


@plemans wrote:

A couple questions/thoughs. 

1. The computer doing the pinging. How is it connected to the network? wired? wireless? and if wireless, is it connected through the router or through the extender?  If wired, is it connected to the router or the extender? 

2. Extenders do increase ping/latency times. Reason why is they have to go device----->extender----->router---->extender---->device (if both devices connected to extender). Thats a lot of hops and increases in time. Plus wireless adds latency versus wired. 

3. Even the router could be adding latency or the modem if you have a modem/router combo device

 

What firmware is on the extender? 

What router are you connected to? 

Are you pinging over 5ghz? or 2.4gh?  2.4ghz is more suseptible to interference and is much slower than 5ghz.

Are you using fastlane or not?


1. Computer's network cable to the old Netgear R6300 v1 router to ping.

2. Interesting. I wonder if mesh wifi would fix this.

3. It is an old Netgear R6300 v1 router from 2012.

 

I updated the extender's firmware (v1.0.1.90_1.0.156) a couple days ago, and it didn't help.  I am pinging with 2.4 Ghz. 5 Ghz is too far and weak.  As for FastLane, it is using its default "Basic - Connect devices on both 2.4 and 5Ghz bands at the same time. Extends both WiFi bands at the same time (2.4 and 5Ghz), but reduces WiFi performance." 5 Ghz doesn't work well for far away areas. Also, I have old wifi devices that don't even know 5 Ghz. 😞

Message 3 of 12
ant
Prodigy
Prodigy

Re: Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Desktop WiFi Range Extender (EX7000-100NAS; AC1900)'s bad wifi connecti

I am fiddling with the extender's FastLane's settings not to use its default basics. From router to wifi extender, I left the 2.4 Ghz since that's far and has walls, mirrors, pipes, doors, a chimney, etc. After extender to wifi devices, I left the 5Ghz since it is closer to the wifi devices and doesn't have many walls and pipes. Strange that my old devices can still connect to the same SSID. Anyways, it's seems to be better (lower pings) but not perfect (still see high pings when using the Internet and packet losses). We'll see how this goes.

Message 4 of 12
plemans
Guru

Re: Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Desktop WiFi Range Extender (EX7000-100NAS; AC1900)'s bad wifi connecti

If you're 5ghz is to weak to connect to, the extender is to far away or has to much interference. 

The extender needs a decent signal to extend. And if its to far away or has to much interference you see dropped packets, increased pings, and lower speeds. 

Plus 2.4ghz is slow to start with. And its more sensitive to interference. 

Its not a good option for gaming. 

 

try moving the extender closer. Sometimes even laterally helps as it could be avoiding an obstruction in walls (hvac, plumbing, etc) that could be blocking signal.

You should be able to get a fairly decent signal on 5ghz. 

Message 5 of 12
ant
Prodigy
Prodigy

Re: Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Desktop WiFi Range Extender (EX7000-100NAS; AC1900)'s bad wifi connecti


@plemans wrote:

If you're 5ghz is to weak to connect to, the extender is to far away or has to much interference. 

The extender needs a decent signal to extend. And if its to far away or has to much interference you see dropped packets, increased pings, and lower speeds. 

Plus 2.4ghz is slow to start with. And its more sensitive to interference. 

Its not a good option for gaming. 

 

try moving the extender closer. Sometimes even laterally helps as it could be avoiding an obstruction in walls (hvac, plumbing, etc) that could be blocking signal.

You should be able to get a fairly decent signal on 5ghz. 


OK, I tried moving the extender closer to my old Netgear R6300 v1 router. It actually made wifi connections worse for the far away wifi devices (higher pings and more packet losses). I even tried with and without FastLane setups. So, I had to move it back to the original spot (half-way between them and the router). I guess wifi from the extender to the wifi devices are having interferences.

Message 6 of 12
plemans
Guru

Re: Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Desktop WiFi Range Extender (EX7000-100NAS; AC1900)'s bad wifi connecti

How big is your home and what is the interior made of?
Message 7 of 12
ant
Prodigy
Prodigy

Re: Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Desktop WiFi Range Extender (EX7000-100NAS; AC1900)'s bad wifi connecti


@plemans wrote:
How big is your home and what is the interior made of?

I'd say about 4K sq. ft. for this mostly one floor home. Reach far away places (up to 30 meters away) in an mostly one floor home. Family rooms, kitchen, etc. that are weak and unstable. Walls are made out of plasters, cements, and woods I think.

Message 8 of 12
ant
Prodigy
Prodigy

Re: Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Desktop WiFi Range Extender (EX7000-100NAS; AC1900)'s bad wifi connecti

FYI when pinging the wifi router from the dining room's old 2008 MacBook Pro near the extender (about a foot away):

--- 192.168.1.1 ping statistics ---
3589 packets transmitted, 3584 packets received, 0.1% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 1.597/23.281/578.131/46.721 ms

Message 9 of 12
plemans
Guru

Re: Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Desktop WiFi Range Extender (EX7000-100NAS; AC1900)'s bad wifi connecti


@ant wrote:

@plemans wrote:
How big is your home and what is the interior made of?

I'd say about 4K sq. ft. for this mostly one floor home. Reach far away places (up to 30 meters away) in an mostly one floor home. Family rooms, kitchen, etc. that are weak and unstable. Walls are made out of plasters, cements, and woods I think.


4000sqft is what I'd consider a large home especially if its all on one floor. I have 3200sqft and its a tri-level. And i was using a orbi RBK53 system. Meaning a router and 2 satellites. Its worse when its all on one level. Reason why is most routers are omnidirectional. Basically they broadcast in a sphere. Nice for when you have multiple levels but when its all on one, it doesn't cover much.

Plus, if you do have plaster lathe, cement interior walls, its literally the materials that block wifi the best.

You've got 2 negatives going for you, a large spread out floor plan and walls that block wifi signals. 

Options? 

1. add more extenders. I wouldn't do this as if you're needing more than 1 extender, you should be looking at option 2

2. Upgrade to a mesh system. The tribands have a dedicated wireless backhaul but you're going to struggle a bit regardless because of the plaster lathe walls. You'll end up needing more AP (access points) that other homes of similar size because of both the layout and the materials in the walls.

3. hardwire in anything possible. If you have ethernet throughout the house (or can easily do it), I'd be using that for the backhaul on mesh systems or even for your EX7000 (run it in AP mode). Hardwire in tv's, gaming consoles, etc.  

 

Message 10 of 12
ant
Prodigy
Prodigy

Re: Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Desktop WiFi Range Extender (EX7000-100NAS; AC1900)'s bad wifi connecti


@plemans wrote:

4000sqft is what I'd consider a large home especially if its all on one floor. I have 3200sqft and its a tri-level. And i was using a orbi RBK53 system. Meaning a router and 2 satellites. Its worse when its all on one level. Reason why is most routers are omnidirectional. Basically they broadcast in a sphere. Nice for when you have multiple levels but when its all on one, it doesn't cover much.

Plus, if you do have plaster lathe, cement interior walls, its literally the materials that block wifi the best.

 

You've got 2 negatives going for you, a large spread out floor plan and walls that block wifi signals. 

 

Options? 

1. add more extenders. I wouldn't do this as if you're needing more than 1 extender, you should be looking at option 2

 

2. Upgrade to a mesh system. The tribands have a dedicated wireless backhaul but you're going to struggle a bit regardless because of the plaster lathe walls. You'll end up needing more AP (access points) that other homes of similar size because of both the layout and the materials in the walls.

 

3. hardwire in anything possible. If you have ethernet throughout the house (or can easily do it), I'd be using that for the backhaul on mesh systems or even for your EX7000 (run it in AP mode). Hardwire in tv's, gaming consoles, etc.  


Thanks. I am getting the Whole Home Mesh WiFi 6 System with Advanced Cyber Security, 3-pack (RBK753S-100NAS; older AX4200; 7,500 sq. ft.; 8 ports; 2 satellites) from http://www.costco.com/netgear-orbi-whole-home-mesh-wifi-6-system-with-advanced-cyber-security%2c-3-p... (Item:1403595) for $429 (save $70; ends on 11/30; free UPS' delivery ETA on 12/15). I hope this works. If not, then I can return it.

 

As for hard wiring, the owners doesn't want that even though I told how to fix it easily hence the pure wireless extension requirement. 😞

Message 11 of 12
plemans
Guru

Re: Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Desktop WiFi Range Extender (EX7000-100NAS; AC1900)'s bad wifi connecti

seems like a solid system. I've heard good things about it. Never had the chance to use it though 🙂

Message 12 of 12
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