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Cms0721's avatar
Cms0721
Aspirant
Aug 14, 2014

WN3500RP - Devices Will Not Connect

Hi, All

I'm hoping someone can help me out. I just bought a Netgear WN3500RP to extend my wireless network to a detached garage. The devices I'm primarily concerned with connecting to the extended network are an iPhone 5s, an iPhone 5 and an iPad 3 (though the 5s will be the device that's connected most often). I'm configuring the range extnder in the same room where my wireless router (Linksys EA4500) is to avoid any signal strength issues, and will position it once it's working.

So I was able to configure the range extender using an ethernet cable from my laptop, since WPS didn't work. The lights on the range extender now indicate that I have connectivity to the wireless router, and both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz links are active. I have accepted the default network name for each network, and am using the same security settings and password as the wireless router.

The problem arises when, at the last screen of the configuration, I'm instructed to connect my wireless devices before I can continue. I'm unable to log any of the wireless devices into the range extender. Both the 2.4 and 5 GHz networks appear on the list of wireless networks to choose from but, depending on the device, I enter the password, or, as soon as I tap the network I want to log into, I get the message "Unable to join network .

I have done the following troubleshooting:

Restarted range extender after configuration
Confirmed that the Linksys router sees the range extender as a device on the wireless network
Confirmed the range extender has a valid IP address
Restarted iPhone
Reset network settings on iPhone
Manually entered the network to join on the iPhone so I could specify security type, etc.
Reset range extender to factory defaults and reconfigured several times
Checked that security type matched on range extender and wireless router (WPA2/PSK and WPA2 Personal, respectively)

As an aside, I can't login to the extended network from my laptop either, even though it's able to see (only) the 2.4 GHz network.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. If I've left any relevant details out, let me know and I'll be glad to provide them.

Thanks in advance!!!
N600
WN3500RP

3 Replies

  • storm_2003's avatar
    storm_2003
    Novice
    Aug 15, 2014
    "The problem arises when, at the last screen of the configuration, I'm instructed to connect my wireless devices before I can continue. I'm unable to log any of the wireless devices into the range extender."

    You can just continue without connecting any wireless device since you are configuring the extender wired.
    Check the firmware version and if it is not updated kindly update it to the latest version.
    Check the wireless settings of the extender by creating a new unique SSID different from the router to avoid confusion on your end.
    You can try removing the security first too just to test the wireless function of the extender.

    Lastly if it will still not work call support for further assistance.
  • Cms0721's avatar
    Cms0721
    Aspirant
    Aug 16, 2014
    Thanks for your suggestions, storm_2003.

    I had actually tried bypassing the screen that said to connect my wireless devices. I checked the box (lied) and clicked Continue, figuring that once the extender was configured I could add the devices manually, but I continued to get the errors when connecting to the networks from the iOS devices.

    The extender automatically creates separate SSIDs for the extended network. My iOS devices were able to see (my existing SSID) and and . When I tried to select or log into either of the extended network SSIDs, I got the "unable to join network" error.

    I must confess, I gave up. :( Just last night, I happened to read a very good review for a Linksys range extender. I took a chance on it since I have the Linksys wireless router, it specified a range for the wireless signal (helpful), was the same price, and I figured I could just return whichever one I didn't use.

    The Linksys was ridiculously easy - I entered my password once, it doesn't add new SSIDs that each device needs to log into, and I was testing the signal in my detached garage in less than 10 minutes from when I started.

    Thanks again for taking the time to respond, but I'm afraid the verdict is that the Netgear extender is getting returned.