NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Netgear AX6000 EAX80 Mesh extender. Devices don't reconnect to the Netgear router
I have a new (its just more than 90 days old, so out of online support) EAX80 mesh extender. The router is set up as an Access Point as it is just out of range of my Broadband router. I have connected a number of devices using Ethernet to the EAX80 and they work fine. I have set the SSID username, password and channel on the EAX80 to be the same as my broadband router. I have also checked the firmware of the EAX80, which is up to date. The issue I have is that my WiFi devices do not connect to the EAX80 and prefer to connect to my broadband router. This makes the WiFi signal very weak in the room in question, making it frequently fail. If I change the SSID of the EAX80 to something different and force my iPhone to connect to a new SSID then all is fine, however, that is not really what I need from a range extender. I have an iPad that is sitting next to the EAX80. That periodically connects to the EAX80 even when the SSID is set to be the same as my Broadband router. I can sometimes see it on the connected devices list, as does an Echo Spot. However, the signal seems very unstable and the wifi devices drop off the connected devices list. I have set the EAX80 to dynamically select an IP address on start up from my Broadband router. I currently have WPS disabled. Any suggestions regarding any settings I can make to make the router more stable? Many thanks Paul
3 Replies
I have similar problems with mine. Devices that are literally within feet of the EAX80 prefer to connect using a weak signal to my main Nighthawk X10 R9000 router.
I had a EX8000 that I used for years without much problem. It mysteriously died with a blinking LED. I replaced it with the EAX80 thinking that it was going to be much better performance than the older EX8000. I was mistaken. It's been nothing but problems since I got it.
In my case it seems that devices won't connect to it after the extender restarts, preferring my main router instead. After some period of time, perhaps days, I'll notice that they have switched over to connecting to the extender. Sometimes by toggling the device's wireless on and off or restarting the device it may switch over.
Getting connected is only part of the problem. Usuallly, despite the extender telling me that it has good connections to my wireless router and good connections from my device to the extender, speed tests will reveal that I'm getting 2Mb/s download speed for 5ghz wireless (out of a 400+ Mb/s connection from the street to my main router). Oddly enough, the upload speed is what would be properly expected. 2.4ghz connections are marginally better with download speeds of around 30Mb/s.
Other wireless devices connected to the main router will get proper high speeds 5 and 2.4Ghz.
Looking through this forum there are dozens of other threads with people with the same kinds of issues and it seems that the issues with the AX6000 EAX80 is just being ignored.
I read the following on a review of a Ubiquiti Access Point.... Main point is that the Virgin Media wifi doesn't appear to be compatible with the Ubiquiti wifi and devices flip flop between the 2. I am making an assumption here, but if I buy some more Netgear Access Points then my problem might be solved. Alternatively, I just buy a set of the Ubiquiti Access Points. For now I have given my Netgear router a different SSID from my Virgin Media one.
Virgin Media user in a large Victorian House. Thick walls, floorboards and so poor wifi range. Bought to solve as fed up with plug in extenders as they work poorly in our situation. Its not posted anywhere but here is the 5 minute set up. Best to know how to configure your Virgin Media Router though as you will need to turn off its wifi signal.
Download the Ubiquiti app to your phone
Plug in the power socket
Plug in the ethernet cable from your router into the power pack socket marked LAN (you will need to buy 2)
Plug in the other ethernet cable into the POE socket on the power pack
Plug the other end of that cable into the device
Power on - device lights up
Wait a minute or two
Launch app
Click on "configure without controller"
Click on the screen away from the login popup, go to status screen
Select the device (top line) - it will find it
Configure the device
select security rather than open and give the device the same name (ssid) and password as you were using before
select save settings
Log into your Virgin Media router
You may have to turn off the Ubiquiti device to access the Virgin Media router
Go to advanced WIFI settings
Turn off wifi on the Virgin Media router (else some devices just constantly switch between the two wifis)
Job done
Once set up you can site the device anywhere that suits so long as it is plugged into the router and power
Hi PaulMN and epontius2,Good day!
Welcome to NETGEAR Community!
First of all, we do apologize for the inconvenience of not getting back to you immediately due to the backlog in the system. Have you tried changing the wireless channel of the main router to avoid interference between router and extender? Have you tried downgrading the firmware of the extender to isolate if it's a firmware issue?
Please do not hesitate to let me know if you need further assistance.
Regards,
Oliver
Community Team
