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Forum Discussion
RBR840 and Satallites
I cannot find anything reliable on Mr. Google, but long and short of it - I have two devices that keep roaming to my router, when a satellite is literally 5 feet away. And, what's worse - they keep ...
Test 1 - an ancient TP-Link TL-WA855RE, A 2.4WiFi only device. "End of Life" at TP-Link.
- Connected it to the network using the WPS sync button.
- Confirmed on Attached Devices that it connected to a satellite just 4 ft. away.
- Powered off that satellite.
- Sang, "Mary has a Little Lamb" and powered satellite on again.
- Two minutes later, satellite status changed from "Disconnected" to "Good"
- WiFi extender shows connected to satellite.
- Result - SUCCESS
Test 2 - an older Netgear EX3700. Apparently not End of Life, but definitely long in the tooth.
- Connected to satellite as before. (It already knew the WiFi SSID/password because I often use it to test.)
- Confirmed on Attached Devices.
- Powered off satellite.
- Sang.
- Powered on satellite.
- Two minutes later, Satellite is back on-line, but EX3700 remains connected to Orbi router.
Did not switch back to satellite. Either:- My 2.4G signals are so strong that the EX3700 felt no need to switch, or
- TP-Link's programming was better than Netgear's programming at the time.
- Result - FAIL?
Test 3 - TP-Link RE220. Combination 2.4G/4G WiFi extender.
- Connected to satellite as before.
- Confirmed connected to satellite on Attached Devices.
- Powered off satellite.
- Sang.
- Powered satellite back on.
- In two minutes, satellite reappeared "Good"
- RE220 shows connected to satellite in Attached Devices.
- Result - SUCCESS
When I installed the 4th satellite, coverage of my entire house was complete and I lost interest in purchasing WiFi extenders.
So, I have a strong suspicion that at least some generic WiFi extenders will tolerate a loss of WiFi signal from a power outage and will connect to the best signal when the system returns - if it does connect temporarily to the router, it will return to the better signal. The TP-Link RE220 is a "Best Seller" on Amazon. There are others in the same price range which are obviously "knockoffs" (maybe from the same factory?)
I am tempted to try some newer Netgear WiFi extenders..... nah.
Haha so… good news, magically the two devices connected to the right satellite based on signal strength for about 30 minutes. Then they decided it would be awesome to connect to the satellite that’s two floors up and the opposite side of the house. I just don’t understand the device logic for connecting.
My guess is that the product technical support staff lack much networking expertise, even for a $1,200 product. i.e. "Please ask your 'Level 2' people what the heck is going on!!!"
If a WiFi Extender is installed, such as that TP-Link RE220, it can have a unique WiFi SSID and those IoT devices will connect only to it because there are no other WiFi access points in the house with that unique SSID.
- Just to close the loop (I know you were waiting with bated breath)… I had a net gear extender that was in the dump pile. Put that on, worked like a charm.