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MSpeer's avatar
MSpeer
Aspirant
Jan 04, 2020

N300 wifi extender

I have 3 of these extenders that appear to all be connected to my Orbi system. When I look at available wifi connections there is only one (1) network named Orbi_ext. Where are the other 2?

5 Replies

  • CrimpOn's avatar
    CrimpOn
    Guru - Experienced User
    Jan 10, 2020

    Were they all connect exactly the same way?   (WPS button vs. Tether App vs. web page)

     

    Which device is telling you there is only one?  My Orbi shows up with only one WiFi name, even though there are actually (4) Orbi access points (2) 2.4G and (2) 5G.

     

    If you happen to have an Android device (phone or tablet), you can install WiFi Analyzer by Keviin Yuan.  It will show every access point, including the WiFi MAC address of the radio, which is conveniently written on the back of the adapter.  YOu may find that there are three access points, with three different MAC addresses, but all having the same WiFi name (SSID)

    • MSpeer's avatar
      MSpeer
      Aspirant
      Jan 12, 2020
      All 3 WPS. The Analyzer app you suggested do show 3 extenders, 3 MAC addresses. However, if connecting a device to wifi I have 3 options: ORBI, ORBI Guest and ORBI_ext. Don't know which of the 3 the ext is referring too. And thanks for the reply!
      • CrimpOn's avatar
        CrimpOn
        Guru - Experienced User
        Jan 12, 2020

        I think you are correct.  The device has scanned for available WiFi networks and found three with the same SSID.  So, it will probably pick the one that has the strongest signal and connect to it.

         

        I believe it is possible to log onto the N300 and customize the WiFi name that it broadcasts.  (I would try it, but mine is in a "odd and ends" box somewhere.)  Does the Orbi Attached Devices web page show the three N300's and an IP address for each?  If so, you could browse to one of them on port 80 and see if it allows changing the SSID.

         

        I found the Quick Installation Guide which shows three ways to set up the extender.  If you reset it, it will broadcast "TP-Link_Extender" with no password.  Connect to it and web browse to 192.168.0.254.  Then, see if the setup process allows you to customize the name.

  • michaelkenward's avatar
    michaelkenward
    Guru - Experienced User
    Jan 13, 2020
    MSpeer wrote:
    I have 3 of these extenders

    What are these extenders?

     

    N300 is not a reliable guide to model number. It is essentially a label that Netgear, and other brands, attach to hardware to describe wifi speeds.

    • CrimpOn's avatar
      CrimpOn
      Guru - Experienced User
      Jan 13, 2020
      michaelkenward wrote:
      N300 is not a reliable guide to model number. It is essentially a label that Netgear, and other brands, attach to hardware to describe wifi speeds.

      You are correct.  My TP-Link's are TL-WA855RE. I bought one on Amazon for $20 to test out connecting stupid IoT devices by temporarily plugging in a 2.4G WiFi extender, connecting the smartphone to it, doing the IoT setup, then unplugging the extender.  Turned out that the trick of stopping SSID broadcast on 5G was so successful that I never got around to testing the 2.4G "N300" method.  If I eventually run across an IoT device that cannot connect even using the broadcast method, I'll dig this thing out and give it a go.