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X6S AmA – Which Wi-Fi routers are compatible with the EX8000's 802.11k Fast Roaming/Fast Transition?

cybrex
Aspirant

X6S AmA – Which Wi-Fi routers are compatible with the EX8000's 802.11k Fast Roaming/Fast Transition?

Does the 802.11k roaming feature "just work" out of the box, or do I need to configure the EX8000 a certain way? Does my router (in this case, a Netgear Nighthawk x10|R9000) need to support 802.11k for best results? Does 802.11k need to be configured on the router? Can the EX8000 use Ethernet as the backhaul to extend a single network (and not be in AP mode)?

Additionally, is Netgear considering adding 802.11r or 802.11v roaming capabilities (perhaps only when the EX8000 is connected to certain other Netgear routers using identical administrator credentials and connected via an Ethernet cable for backhaul - similar to how Apple AirPort roaming used to work back in the day)?

Bonus question! Does the EX8000 support DFS channels and/or 160MHz channel width?

Apologies for the super-detailed questions. I'm very interested in potentially adding one or two these to my network, and possibly deploying a similar solution in my parent's home.
Message 1 of 3
arunkmony
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: X6S AmA – Which Wi-Fi routers are compatible with the EX8000's 802.11k Fast Roaming/Fast Transit

Hi cybrex,

Thanks for your question. 

 

Yes, 802.11k works out of the box. It's not necessary that router must support 11k but it would be ideal if your router and clients support 802.11k. Ethernet ports will act as lan port in extender mode. The connection to router will still be over wifi. In AP mode, you have the flexibility of using all three wifi bands on Nighthawk X6S and configure it to same ssid as your router if you want. It supports smart connect in AP mode. 

 

DFS will be supported in X6S. It's capable of 160MHz.

Please visit http://www.netgear.com/landings/ex8000/ for more details.

Message 2 of 3
cybrex
Aspirant

Re: X6S AmA – Which Wi-Fi routers are compatible with the EX8000's 802.11k Fast Roaming/Fast Transit

Cool! Thanks for the info.

Do you happen to know if my Netgear Nighthawk X10|R9000 supports 802.11k?
Message 3 of 3
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