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Smart home device support with EX7500

Dhazell
Aspirant

Smart home device support with EX7500

I have had many problems connecting smart switches, sockets and camera's for operation in the mesh network. it seems there is always intermitent conflicts with having the the 2.4G channel enabled in the EX7500. I had it connected via the smart link to a R8000 router and the only way that I have reliable operation of the smart devices is to disable the 2.4G channel in the EX7500 and use it only as an extender for the 5G channel.

 

Everything now works fine with the 2.4G channel disabled in the EX7500 but I am perplexed about the combability issue. Anyone got ideas on what the problem might be as I have not found any faq's on the subject.

 

Dave

 

 

Model: EX7500|AC2200 Nighthawk X4S Tri Band WiFi Mesh Extender
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Dhazell
Aspirant

Re: Smart home device support with EX7500

Thanks for the reply.

I did disable 2.4G through set up so it would default to 5G for the backhaul but the problem with the smart devices persisted. It didnt stop until I fully disabled 2.4G in the set up so there was no chance of conflict between the router and the extender. All the smart devices continue to work now without dropouts. I'll leave it as is because having 5G backhaul and extended is enough for the phones and iPad and like you say, that setup is good for streaming. I guess other users could have the same problem so at least the question has given some explanation and a partial solution. Users will only get into a problem if they definitely need the extender range to switch the lights on. 

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plemans
Guru

Re: Smart home device support with EX7500

It might not be an issue with the 2.4ghz.

The EX7500 has a 5ghz chip just for dedicated backhaul between the router---extender. but during setup, you can also configure 2.4ghz backhaul for failover. meaning if the 5ghz drops/has issues, it drops back to the 2.4ghz for backhaul. And 2.4ghz is much much slower and sensitive to interference which is why it isn't good for streaming/gaming. Plus if it defaults back to 2.4ghz, the 2.4ghz also cuts throughput 50% and increases latency. Which is because, without that dedicated backhaul running, it has to go router---extender and then extender devices and it can't do both at once. 

 

I take it you "disabled" 2.4ghz during setup? If so, it doesn't mean you aren't using 2.4ghz. It just means it won't use it for the backhaul and so the extender only uses 5ghz. It could be the 5ghz is actually the issue and the extender was having momentary drops so would failover to the 2.4ghz. 

I always uncheck the box during setup for the 2.4ghz extender setup. again, it doesn't disable 2.4ghz (unless you actually chose the option through settings). 

Message 2 of 4
Dhazell
Aspirant

Re: Smart home device support with EX7500

Thanks for the reply.

I did disable 2.4G through set up so it would default to 5G for the backhaul but the problem with the smart devices persisted. It didnt stop until I fully disabled 2.4G in the set up so there was no chance of conflict between the router and the extender. All the smart devices continue to work now without dropouts. I'll leave it as is because having 5G backhaul and extended is enough for the phones and iPad and like you say, that setup is good for streaming. I guess other users could have the same problem so at least the question has given some explanation and a partial solution. Users will only get into a problem if they definitely need the extender range to switch the lights on. 

Message 3 of 4
plemans
Guru

Re: Smart home device support with EX7500

If you didn't have 2.4ghz selected during setup, did you make sure the router and the extender were on different enough 2.4ghz channels to avoid overlap? 

we usually recommend 1-6-11 to avoid overlap. 

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