ex8000 extending both 2.4 and 5 ghz from r7000

Question

I bought&nbsp; an EX8000 extender to improve signal from existing Nighthawk r7000. Eventually, got the R7000 fw updated to R7000-v1.0.11.106 and got the EX8000 fw updated to EX8000-V1.0.1.224.&nbsp; Manual setup of both from factory reset (both devices). EX8000 configured to One Wifi.&nbsp; Reads the nework SSIDs and passwords from the R7000 ok. For this discussion let's call the R7000 SSIDs "N_Home" for the 2.4GHz one and "N-HomeP" for the 5GHz one.&nbsp; Only connecting to the 5GHz wifi and broadcasting the 5GHz SSID "copied" from the R7000 (N_HomeP).&nbsp; I have older devices that need to connect to the 2.4GHz SSID (N_Home), but don't see that SSID being extended.&nbsp; The home page for the EX8000 shows both bands as "green", but the SSID for both is the SSID from the 5GHz R7000 SSID (N_HomeP).&nbsp; Any suggestions?&nbsp;

cmulrooney · Answer

Thank you for the explanation and help.&nbsp;

cmulrooney · Answer

Update:&nbsp;The EX8000 started showing alternating Red (poor connection) and off (no connection) every 3-5 minutes.&nbsp; WiFi Analyzer tool would show the signal drop just long enough for all of the connected devices to drop off. Since this was a brand new device, I contacted NetGear support and was connected with a support person. They were very polite and walked me through a factory reset and manual reinstall. No improvement in the device's behavior. I moved the device to approx 10' away from the R7000 router (but one floor above it).&nbsp; No change in the EX8000 behavior still.&nbsp; The support person suggested returning the devices to where I purchased it and have them replace it, with the guess of the initial fw update failure possibly having damaged the unit.&nbsp; Since I just needed stable, perfrorming WiFi in the house for everyone to use, I opted instead to return the EX8000, retire the R7000 and install an Orbi RBK50 mesh system.&nbsp; My thoughts were "just install something that is designed from the ground up to work together for what you want to achieve.".&nbsp; I installed the Orbi mesh this past Sunday morning and it is working beautifully!&nbsp; Signal everywhere in the house. No dead spots.&nbsp; Up to 850 Mbps - nice surprise!

plemans · Answer

so the EX8000 uses 1 of its 5ghz bands just for router------extender communication.

With "onessid" setup, the other 2.4ghz and 5ghz are combined into 1 ssid. it doesn't mean both aren't broadcasting, it just means the average scanner will only see 1. to see both them both,you'd need more than the built in scanner. Something like acrylic or inssider.

cmulrooney · Answer

Thanks for the reply.&nbsp; I don't have Smart Connect enabled.&nbsp; I do have the One Wifi Name feature enabled, with the understanding (perhaps incorrectly) that this setting allows me to have the same SSIDs (and passwords) of my R7000 used by the EX8000 (excluding my guest networks, as I've discovered).&nbsp; This appeared attactive, because:I would not have to make changes to the various client devices in the house, regarding the networks to which they're connecting.I could still keep the slower devices on the slower network, thereby not restricting the performance of the faster band.As portable devices move throughout the house, they could just connect with the same SSID, without having to think about "am I supposed to reconnect to a different network, based on where in the house I am?"I thought this extender was a way to make a whole home mesh network out of my existing network.&nbsp; If I'm expecting too much from this setup it would be good to know.&nbsp; If I should be able to see both network SSIDs extended, I just need to know how.&nbsp; My scanner is not a scanner at all, in this case.&nbsp; It's a Windows 10 PC, or a MACbook Air, or an iPad, or an Android phone, etc. just looking for the available network(s) to connect.&nbsp;Thank you again for your comments, but I'm hoping to get a better understanding of&nbsp; what's possible.

plemans · Answer

The OneWifi feature is really similar to smart connect. Its just smart connect is hosted on a router and uses bandsteering. Onewifi has the extender set the same ssid as the router (both bands) and then bandsteers.

So you won't see the name seperation unless you disable onewifi.
i'd leave it on. It does steer devices between the 2.4ghz and 5ghz band as needed

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ex8000 extending both 2.4 and 5 ghz from r7000

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