Issue with N300 WiFi Range Extender

[bocaboy]

I have been using the N300, model EX2700 successfully for the last 4 years. I recently dumped Xfinity and started using T-Mobile Home Internet, which is working perfectly. My original configuration was Xfinity internet into my own Motorola cable modem, then to a TP-Link router, which connected to the N300. I could always discover the IP of the extender and then connect to it.

The T-Mobile gateway that is supplied by T-Mobile is an Arcadyan KVD21 5G Gateway which does NOT support NAT. While I have no problem with the N300 connecting back to the gateway, I can't get to the extender's configuration screen.

The devices that are connected to this extender are working just fine, can see the extender's network and successfully connect to it.

I suspect that there is some sort of NAT that is going on between my T-Mobile gateway and the extender. I think this because when I (successfully) connect to the extender's network, my laptop says the extender and my computer have the same IP address.

Is there a way to configure the extender so I can get to the configuration screen? Is NAT in play here? Can the extender be put into Access Point mode to work around this issue?

Many thanks for any input anyone can provide!

[bocaboy · Accepted solution]

I reset the Extender this afternoon and voila, everything returned to normal. I guess moving from one ISP to another was something it didn't like! Anyway, a hard reset and then using the same SSID returned everything to normal.

[plemans]

The tmobile device should have some type of attached devices page. You need to navigate to that to find out the netgears ip address. Then you can use that ip address to access the extender. 

In terms of access point mode, no you can't. Reason why is the EX2700 doesn't have an access point mode. 

[bocaboy]

You would think that is so, but here is what I see when I track the EX2700 down via MAC address: no IP. If I switch to the WiFi network on the EX2700 and then check the details on my Macbook Pro, it has the same IP address as my Mac.

[plemans]

You might have to contact tmobile about it. If the range extenders working, the router is giving it an address. If its not displaying it, that'd be on the tmobile device. 

[bocaboy]

The T-Mobile tech support people are not the brightest stars in the sky, so if the problem is off-center, like this one, I am pretty sure they will not be helpful.

I don't quite understand how a device can register itself as a client and then not be assigned an IP. The only explanation I can come up with is that the Arcadyan KVD21 5G Gateway is doing a form of NAT in order to send the signal to the EX2700.

Tomorrow I'm going to reset it and try setting it up from scratch and see if I still get the same result. I realize I could be shooting myself in the foot (if it ain't broke, don't fix it) but I guess I'm just too neurotic not to try and figure this out!

[bocaboy · Accepted solution]

I reset the Extender this afternoon and voila, everything returned to normal. I guess moving from one ISP to another was something it didn't like! Anyway, a hard reset and then using the same SSID returned everything to normal.