NETGEAR Tri-band Wireless Mesh WiFi Internet Booster Range Extender Installation Help Needed

[Curlie028]

Bought this extender just before Christmas 2020 because all reviews suggested it was easy to set-up and delivered great results but that couldn't be further from the truth for me.

A little background.

I am not tech savy, the reason I selected this seemingly easy set up device.  I am in UK and have Virginmedia broadband and have 26 devices connected to it. I extended the house (not a big house) and needed the signal extended to the back (kitchen) of the house.

Followed the instructions and left it all to settle for a few days but the best way I can describe things was, the extender was interferring with the signal and not extending it, resulting in poorer "coverage" than before the extender was installed. Because it was Christmas, I unplugged it (Christmas tree and a few lights added to the system) to avoid the frustrations it was causing.

Since the new year I have tried numerous times to get the extender working, moving it to several places in the house but each time the frustration is intensifying as each time, rather than supporting the virginmedia signal in the house and extending it, it seems to be battling against it and making the service considerably worse than it is without it.

I tried again a couple of days ago and have had to switch it off again.

Is it not compatable with the virginmedia hub (I think it is called) or am I doing something or failing to do something that will sort this miserable experience to a positive?

Help! I'm at the end of my tether. 

[plemans]

What actual vigin hub is it? 

Are you setting it up using WPS or the installation wizard? 

What materials is your home made of (interior walls)

Firmware on the extender?

[Curlie028]

Hi plemans,

Thanks for your reply.

It's a Hub 3

I have been using the WPS buttons

The interior walls are a mix of brick and some are just plaster board I think it is called.

I'm not sure what "Fireware on the extender?" means but I can confirm I have just used it as it came from the box.

[plemans]

Try installing it using the installation assistant and not wps. Vigin hubs stink with their wps coding. 

Also, be aware of your interior walls. Brick/plaster lathe block wifi to a very large extent. and the EX8000 uses a dedicated 5ghz bandhaul. 5ghz doesn't penetrate materials very well. 

That's the problem with extenders and with wireless mesh systems. If the home they're in, isn't condusive to wireless, its not going to work well with extenders/mesh systems. Some have to resort to using powerline, moca adapters, or running ethernet in their homes to setup access points. 

[Curlie028]

That's something to go on plemans, thanks again.

I'll try to install using the installation assistant and see how that goes.

If it doesn't resolve my problem, can I run an ethernet cable from the Hub to the extender I have or do I need to buy something else now? Sorry for what may be a very silly question but if you don't know, you don't know.

[plemans]

You can run an ethernet cable to the extender. You'd need to rerun setup and set it up in access point mode and not extender mode. It'd actually free up the 3rd band for usage. 

[Curlie028]

Can't get onto the app to set the thing up. Got caught in a loop "Forgot Password?" - "Touch ID for Nighthawk" - "Incorrect Login" - "Forgot Password" ............. 

Losing the will to live, so walking away from it again for a while.

Really appreciate your help plemans but the extender gods are against me or I am stupid.

Thanks

[plemans]

Don't use the app. 

So factory reset the extender. 

then hardwire a pc/laptop into it. 

(disable its wifi so it doesn't default back to the wifi)

Then use the installation assistant. Not the app or wps. 

[Curlie028]

Thanks again plemans.

I got into the app this morning and set it up but as I guess you were predicting it just interferred and reduced my connectivity again.

I'm sure I will have a cable that fits somewhere in the house.

Am I correct to say I use USB to connect it to the Macbook?

[plemans]

No, you can't connect the macbook via usb to the EX8000 unless you have a usb---ethernet adapter. 

[Curlie028]

Hi plemans,

Thanks for sticking with me. My stupidity must be very frustrating.

Can't find a USB to USB cable anywhere, so I have ordered one from the jungle in South America and it should arrive tomorrow and I'll give it a go setting the extender up from the Macbook.

Thanks again for your patience.

[Curlie028]

Just seen your reply of 20 mins ago. Sorry.

Does that mean I need to borrow a laptop from someone, which I can do, that has .......... I guess an ethernet socket, as opposed to USB?

[plemans]

You can borrow a laptop or instead of a usb cable, get a usb to ethernet adapter. Or lightning to ethernet adapters. depending on your choice. they're handy to have around. 

[Curlie028]

My new USB/Ethernet adaptor is arriving today.

In preperation, when you say "disable it's wifi", is that turn off the Mac's wifi or turn off the wifi at the Hub?

Am I right to assume that when I use an ethernet cable to connect the extender to the Mac that "the installation assistant" will appear on my Mac, or do I need to download it before I turn the wifi off?

Apols for the questions trying to get set for the arrival of the adaptor.

[plemans]

---

@Curlie028 wrote:

My new USB/Ethernet adaptor is arriving today.

In preperation, when you say "disable it's wifi", is that turn off the Mac's wifi or turn off the wifi at the Hub?----turn off the wifi on the mac. 

Am I right to assume that when I use an ethernet cable to connect the extender to the Mac that "the installation assistant" will appear on my Mac, or do I need to download it before I turn the wifi off?-----its not something you download. when you connect to the extender, you'll go to mywifiext . net    that'll load the assistant. 

Apols for the questions trying to get set for the arrival of the adaptor.

here's a video

How to Setup your WiFi Range Extender with NETGEAR Installation Assistant - YouTube

---

[Curlie028]

Nope! 

Reset the extender to factory settings.

Connected it via ethernet cable (and adaptor at the Mac end) and turned the wifi off at the Mac.

Turned the extender on but couldn't get to mywifiext . net because I had no internet connection.

So I turned the Mac's wifi back on, went to the "mywifiext . net" place and followed the instructions.

But it's worse than ever. 

Without the extender I can get up to 200 something or other speed at the front of the house but have trouble connecting in the extension at the back. But with the extender, it's difficult to connect at all, anywhere in the house. 

I did notice when I look at the wifi connection on the iPhone, under the name of our home "network" it now says "Privacy Warning" and I don't think I have ever seen that. When I click in "i" (I guess for information), it says "Privacy Warning. The network is blocking encrypted DNS traffic."

Not sure if that is the problem or maybe could it be that I use the same name and password for the 2 extender "network/signals/channels" as the main network/signal/channel from the VM Hub. TBH, it's claimed ability to do that was one of the reasons I chose this one.

I will understand if you give up on me plemans. This is putting years on me and I fully understand you don't need this hassle.

[Curlie028]

I have a feeling I am doing something very stupid here but I just don't know what it is.

[bujase3]

The ability to seperate the 2.4ghz and 5ghz wifi is not exposed by any of the GUI management interfaces. You have to enable telnet via the debug interface and then use a telnet client to log in page to the Orbi and make the change via the command line interface.

[nahsyte644]

We have had it on a 10G XSM only stack. It's a four x XSM4348S stack with ver 12.Zero.15.Four. Random reboots/heat restarts of people in the stack. Can be 2 or more weeks aside as you can read.

[leahvid]

1. Plug in your extender. ...
2. Connect your computer or mobile device to the extender's WiFi network. ...
3. Launch a web browser and enter mywifiext .net or 192.168. ...
4. Click or tap NEW EXTENDER SETUP. ...
5. Choose your extender's admin credentials. ...
6. Select and answer two security questions from the drop-down menus.

[leahvid]

Click or tap NEXT. If your extender asks if you would like to use the NETGEAR Genie to help, click or tap YES or CONTINUE. Your extender searches for local WiFi networks. 

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