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Forum Discussion
Adding orbi voice to existing tri-band mesh extender network
Hopefully a simple question: I have 2 working ext7500 mesh extenders in my home. Can I add an Orbi voice Smart speaker as an additional mesh extender (RBS40V-200) to further extend in other areas? Is it compatible with the Nighthawk ext7500 mesh extenders?
3 Replies
Can you? Sure.
Should you? it depends.
the issue with the standard mesh extenders is that they don't have anything controlling them. With something like orbi, there's a router controlling the system. with the mesh extenders, they just run off the routers ssid and rebroadcast. This can cause issues when you're running more than 1 of them as they can end up connecting to each other or connecting in not always the best configuration.
I usually recommend people move to a full mesh system like orbi when they're needing more than 1 extender.
It gets worse when they're in closer proximity to each other. or when you're trying to daisy chain them.
Thanks for this. So far the Nighthawk router I have and two 7500 Extenders work well. I don't know that I need a further extension but thought with features of Voice Orbi (with Alexa and sound capability) it might make some sense for convenience. However I don't want to invest in the Orbi if it won't work well, nor do I want to change the system to a full Orbi mesh. If I do the former I'll re-post and comment on how well it works (or not). Much appreciated.
Let me know how it goes! I'd be interested.
If you do have issues, try disabling the "onessid" feature on one of them and giving it its own unique ssid.
