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Extender EX7700 connection problems with R7000

dfp21
Aspirant

Extender EX7700 connection problems with R7000

Only way I could get these devices to connect (EX7700 is in "extender" mode) is to extend only the 5GHz band of the R7800. Result is EX7700 connects to R7800 using 2.4GHz and connected to clients using 5GHz. This is fine. My clients connect to my SSID using 5GHz, and the "backhaul" to the router is 2.4GHz.

Works well, EXCEPT jitter is terrible for all 5GHz clients. Throughput is high, but jitter is also high, which is bad for live video conferencing.

Also I have to power-cycle the EX7700 every day to make it work at all.

Model: EX7700|AC2200 Nighthawk X6 Tri-Band WiFi Mesh Extender, R7800|Nighthawk X4S AC2600 Wifi Router
Message 1 of 5
plemans
Guru

Re: Extender EX7700 connection problems with R7000

the EX7700 shouldn't be using the 2.4ghz as backhaul unless there's an issue with the 5ghz. 

the whole purpose of the tribands is the dedicated 5ghz backhaul.

 

Have you tried re-running setup and uncheck the "extender" 2.4ghz during setup? 

You'll still be able to use the 2.4ghz but it'll only use the 5ghz for backhaul

Message 2 of 5
dfp21
Aspirant

Re: Extender EX7700 connection problems with R7000

The problem is the distance between the EX7700 & R7800 is 25 feet and mostly obstructed by the corner of a wall. So even though the EX7700 shows 100% 5GHz signal strength, it eventually shows an error saying something like "move you extender closer to your router" and the relevant LED on the EX7700 shows amber instead of white. So the EX7700 doesn't tolerate less-than-perfect 5GHz environment for backhaul.

 

I'm going to replace it with an EAX18 which supposedly works well with obstructed llne-of-sight. A strong dual-band extender should be better than a weak tri-band extender. We'll see.

Message 3 of 5
plemans
Guru

Re: Extender EX7700 connection problems with R7000

try moving it laterally. sometimes that helps when something in a wall is blocking. (like hvac)

Message 4 of 5
dfp21
Aspirant

Re: Extender EX7700 connection problems with R7000

Sometimes (actually very often) it's not possible to create an optimal environment for Wi-Fi devices. This is one of those times. The problem is the EX7700 needs an optimal (near perfect) 5GHz environment to use the 5GHz backhaul and my home floorplan doesn't permit it. So the 5GHz backhaul doesn't work, but the 2GHz backhaul does work, which is OK.

Message 5 of 5
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