Purchased a EX8000 Mesh Extender second-hand and cannot put it into AP mode.

[w0rm3r]

Good morning,

Curious if anyone could lend a hand. I bought a mesh extender, the Nighthawk EX8000 (AC3000) second-hand and due to the other person registering the product under their name, I cannot login to the device to turn it to AP mode. The seller gave me the original receipt and I've tried getting help from Netgear directly, but they do not have a solution unfortunately.

Thanks!

[michaelkenward · Accepted solution]

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@w0rm3r wrote:

When I click on "username and password help" it asks me recovery challenge questions that the original owner has set up to recover their login info when they set up the device initially. 

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This means that you have yet to complete the reset process.

There is a bug in Netgear's implementation of password recovery on some devices. You can get locked into a closed loop.

If password recovery is enabled, but you have not set the answers to the questions, it keeps sending you back to the beginning of the process. If you haven't already given the thing your personal answers, they are not in its memory and it has no way of knowing if they are correct.

If the standard factory password (password) does not work, then you will have to factory reset the thing to get back to that. Then either disable password recovery (check the manual for your device) or provide some answers to those questions.

How do I perform a factory reset on my NETGEAR router? | Answer | NETGEAR Support

Believe me, you do  not need to mess around with emails or anything else.

If you really want an industrial strength reset, try this:

• Press reset for 30 seconds
• Keep pressing reset while removing power
• Keep pressing reset for another 30 seconds while apply power

First, try again with the standard reset, but press it for longer.

And note the bit in the Use the Extender in Access Point Mode section of
manual that says:

"If you want to use an Ethernet connection, you must do this before you connect
your extender to your modem router or router."

[michaelkenward]

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@w0rm3r wrote:

Curious if anyone could lend a hand. I bought a mesh extender, the Nighthawk EX8000 (AC3000) second-hand and due to the other person registering the product under their name, I cannot login to the device to turn it to AP mode.

---

Being registered under another name has nothing to do with your ability to set up and use a device. All that registration does is to cover you for 90 days free support and the warranty of one year or more, neither of which transfer when you sell a device.

You don't say what problem you need to fix, but the first move is to factory reset the EX8000.

How do I perform a factory reset on my NETGEAR router? | Answer | NETGEAR Support

Then get the manual and read up on how to set the thing up in AP mode.

Visit the support pages:

Support | NETGEAR

Feed in your model number and check the documentation for your hardware.

Check the section in the manual Use the Extender in Access Point Mode.

You may have done this already. I can't tell from your message.

You might get more help, and find earlier questions and answers about your hardware, in the appropriate section for your device. That's probably here:

WiFi Range Extenders & Nighthawk Mesh - NETGEAR Communities

[w0rm3r]

Sorry, should have been more clear as to why the registration matters.

The product is registered under the email of someone else, so logging into the web client to change it from Mesh to AP, per the instruction manual, is not possible. Changing the password requires an email being sent to the original email, so I cannot recover it. 

I need to be able to gain access to the online portal. I did a factory reset, but that does not allow the web-client to work (unless there's a different stock password that I missed somewhere, but I do not believe that to be the case).

Thanks for the help so far!

[w0rm3r]

Sorry, it asks challenge questions about the original owner. I do not have their contact info any longer to ask

[michaelkenward]

---

@w0rm3r wrote:

The product is registered under the email of someone else, so logging into the web client to change it from Mesh to AP, per the instruction manual, is not possible.

That's not what it says in the manual.

Visit the support pages:

Support | NETGEAR

Feed in your model number and check the documentation for your hardware.

Check the section in the manual Use the Extender in Access Point Mode.

You may have done this already. I can't tell from your message.

---

@w0rm3r wrote:

I need to be able to gain access to the online portal. I did a factory reset, but that does not allow the web-client to work (unless there's a different stock password that I missed somewhere, but I do not believe that to be the case).

There is no "online portal". It is just the browser graphical user interface (GUI).

What do you mean by "does not allow the web-client to work"?

What are you doing and what happens when you do it?

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@w0rm3r wrote:

Changing the password requires an email being sent to the original email, so I cannot recover it. 

I suspect that hat's for something else.

[w0rm3r]

I go to my wifi ext . net via the browser so whatever the name for that is is what I'm referencing. It asks for the login information on that screen. I do not have the login information. When I click on "username and password help" it asks me recovery challenge questions that the original owner has set up to recover their login info when they set up the device initially. 

[michaelkenward · Accepted solution]

---

@w0rm3r wrote:

When I click on "username and password help" it asks me recovery challenge questions that the original owner has set up to recover their login info when they set up the device initially. 

---

This means that you have yet to complete the reset process.

There is a bug in Netgear's implementation of password recovery on some devices. You can get locked into a closed loop.

If password recovery is enabled, but you have not set the answers to the questions, it keeps sending you back to the beginning of the process. If you haven't already given the thing your personal answers, they are not in its memory and it has no way of knowing if they are correct.

If the standard factory password (password) does not work, then you will have to factory reset the thing to get back to that. Then either disable password recovery (check the manual for your device) or provide some answers to those questions.

How do I perform a factory reset on my NETGEAR router? | Answer | NETGEAR Support

Believe me, you do  not need to mess around with emails or anything else.

If you really want an industrial strength reset, try this:

• Press reset for 30 seconds
• Keep pressing reset while removing power
• Keep pressing reset for another 30 seconds while apply power

First, try again with the standard reset, but press it for longer.

And note the bit in the Use the Extender in Access Point Mode section of
manual that says:

"If you want to use an Ethernet connection, you must do this before you connect
your extender to your modem router or router."