I am having an issue where my mesh network keeps kicking off one of the extenders. I have my primary extender as an EX8000 which I have zero connectivity issues with. From there I have an EX7700 that is continually losing conectivity.
During the day i have to reset this device multiple times. Sometimes it will work fine for about an hour, other times it is only about 5 minutes before i have to cycle to power on and off for it to work.
The device is setup with the most current firmware, and i have been using this setup for about 4 months before the issues started. Any advice on this would be helpful.
Are both extenders setup with mesh? If so, turn off the "onename" function. the mesh extenders work great when you have 1 extender. But they're only designed to really work with 1 extender. I wish Netgear gave a warning a little more on the issue of multiple extenders. Problem with them using the single ssid function is if the routers wifi drops at all, they connect to each other (extender<----->extender) and then there's no internet access.
I always recommend to people that if they need more than 1 extender, they should move to a true mesh system like orbi/eero/etc.
so to keep it stable, turn off the onename ssid function on one of the extenders and set it with its own unique ssid.
the only time it works well with 2 is if the extenders are out of range of each other (can't see each others ssid).
Seems odd that it worked for several months prior to having an issue. I have set it up like you recommend, and for the time being it seems to be working. If the Nighthawk gear doesn't function like a true mesh network, and is mesh only when extenders are connected directly to the router then that's the problem. NG shouldn't really be calling it mesh if it isn't. I'll have to look into the other systems that you mentioned. Do they all use their own router as a hub to create the mesh with satellites? Or can any current systems be setup as a piggyback onto an existing router? Reason I ask this is we have slow internet with CenturyLink and are looking to transition to ATT 4G lte home internet. I'd like to not have to double up on the hardware. Thanks!
The systems that are full mesh like orbi/eero/etc are setup with one device acting as main router/controller basically.
Problem with extenders was like I described. Most extenders have that problem. Its why its a good idea to look at mesh if you need to cover a larger area.
I do know that orbi has AP (access point) mode that avoids double nat situations when you're already using a router.
If you are using it as an access point doesn't it have to be hard wired or can that be wireless? If that is done, don't you lose it acting as a hub for the potential dead zone? That still holds true that NetGear shouldn't call it mesh as they advertise if it doesn't function as such.
@Bigjohn455 wrote: If you are using it as an access point doesn't it have to be hard wired or can that be wireless? If that is done, don't you lose it acting as a hub for the potential dead zone? That still holds true that NetGear shouldn't call it mesh as they advertise if it doesn't function as such.
It needs to be hardwired in if its running in ap mode.
In regards to a mesh, it is a mesh setup. between your router and the extender, it does function as a mesh setup. but its letting the device that's access it control the roaming. Its when you start adding extenders that you run into issues.
Maybe future firmware upgrades will help with that but at the current time, if you're using/needing more than 1 extender, its best to switch to an actual full mesh system and not a hybrid like the extenders offer.
And for some it works great with more than 1. Maybe their extenders are far enough apart, the wifi never flickers on the router, or some other reason. I've had people on here that its worked great for for a long period and then 1 day starts having issues. when there's issues running mesh extenders and your using more than 1, then you need to change the ssid of one of them.
