On 11/8/2013 7:26 PM, Hank© wrote:
On 11/8/2013 7:50 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:

I have an issue that is driving me crazy. Or crazier.

We recently had a full upgrade of all our Comcast provided equipment in
our house. It involved a new signal booster amplifier, two new, higher
bandwidth distribution amplifiers for the gazillion cable TV outlets in
the house and a new combination modem/wireless router.

We have a large house and the Comcast tech suggested getting a Netgear
WiFi extender to give the router more range. I purchased and installed
the extender. The extender adds another WiFi signal that has the same
name as the router except it has "ext" at the end of the name.

So, now the computers see two network connections available. "HomeXXXX"
and "HomeXXXX.ext"

The router signal was the stronger of the two from where I normally use
my laptop. So, I tried connecting to "HomeXXXX" and it would connect to
the router, but with no Internet access. Said "Local only".

I tried connecting to the weaker "HomeXXXX.ext" (extender) signal and it
worked fine. Local and Internet access.

Went back to the original router network signal ... Local only .. no
Internet.

I tried all the standard stuff, power down, power up of computer,
router, and even depressed the "reset" on the router. Same results.
Could only get Internet access on the extender's signal.

After about four days (and totally unrelated, I think) the new
modem/router that Comcast had installed **** the bed. The "on-line"
light would never stay on as it should.

After talking to Comcast tech help, I returned it to the local Comcast
service center and exchanged it for another one. Hooked it up, went
through the startup procedure and everything worked again normally. I
could connect to either the router directly or the extender signal and
both gave Internet access with no problems.

It all worked fine like this for about a week. About 2 hours ago, I
lost Internet access again on the router signal connection. Local
access only. Yet, when I connect to the extender's signal, I get both
local and Internet access.

Again tried the re-boots and resets. No change. I even "deleted" the
router connection and had to go through the process of re-installing the
security WPS number to connect to it again. But it still only gives
"Local only" meaning the computer is connected to the router but the
router can't connect to the Internet. When I connect to the extender's
signal (HomeXXXX.ext) everything works fine ... local and Internet
access.

I can' make any sense out of this. The extender signal is nothing but a
"repeater" of the router's signal to my understanding and the extender
depends on the router for an Internet connection. So why can I connect
to the Internet with it but only get a "local network" connection when I
try the router's signal?

Any insight would sure be appreciated. This is driving me nuts.

Sounds like the extender is grabbing your wi-fi and not letting the
router pass signals from your computers to the modem section. But since
you've already swapped the extender try a new modem-router or a
different brand. I'm surprised Comcast couldn't provide the solution
with their own equipment.


I haven't changed the extender. I changed the modem/router. Both
worked for a few days (could connect to either the extender or the
router) but then stopped connecting with the router.

On Friday, November 8, 2013 8:38:34 PM UTC-5, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 11/8/2013 7:26 PM, Hank© wrote:

On 11/8/2013 7:50 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:



I have an issue that is driving me crazy. Or crazier.



We recently had a full upgrade of all our Comcast provided equipment in

our house. It involved a new signal booster amplifier, two new, higher

bandwidth distribution amplifiers for the gazillion cable TV outlets in

the house and a new combination modem/wireless router.



We have a large house and the Comcast tech suggested getting a Netgear

WiFi extender to give the router more range. I purchased and installed

the extender. The extender adds another WiFi signal that has the same

name as the router except it has "ext" at the end of the name.



So, now the computers see two network connections available. "HomeXXXX"

and "HomeXXXX.ext"



The router signal was the stronger of the two from where I normally use

my laptop. So, I tried connecting to "HomeXXXX" and it would connect to

the router, but with no Internet access. Said "Local only".



I tried connecting to the weaker "HomeXXXX.ext" (extender) signal and it

worked fine. Local and Internet access.



Went back to the original router network signal ... Local only .. no

Internet.



I tried all the standard stuff, power down, power up of computer,

router, and even depressed the "reset" on the router. Same results.

Could only get Internet access on the extender's signal.



After about four days (and totally unrelated, I think) the new

modem/router that Comcast had installed **** the bed. The "on-line"

light would never stay on as it should.



After talking to Comcast tech help, I returned it to the local Comcast

service center and exchanged it for another one. Hooked it up, went

through the startup procedure and everything worked again normally. I

could connect to either the router directly or the extender signal and

both gave Internet access with no problems.



It all worked fine like this for about a week. About 2 hours ago, I

lost Internet access again on the router signal connection. Local

access only. Yet, when I connect to the extender's signal, I get both

local and Internet access.



Again tried the re-boots and resets. No change. I even "deleted" the

router connection and had to go through the process of re-installing the

security WPS number to connect to it again. But it still only gives

"Local only" meaning the computer is connected to the router but the

router can't connect to the Internet. When I connect to the extender's

signal (HomeXXXX.ext) everything works fine ... local and Internet

access.



I can' make any sense out of this. The extender signal is nothing but a

"repeater" of the router's signal to my understanding and the extender

depends on the router for an Internet connection. So why can I connect

to the Internet with it but only get a "local network" connection when I

try the router's signal?



Any insight would sure be appreciated. This is driving me nuts.



Sounds like the extender is grabbing your wi-fi and not letting the

router pass signals from your computers to the modem section. But since

you've already swapped the extender try a new modem-router or a

different brand. I'm surprised Comcast couldn't provide the solution

with their own equipment.





I haven't changed the extender. I changed the modem/router. Both

worked for a few days (could connect to either the extender or the

router) but then stopped connecting with the router.

There's an issue with the cable modem/wireless router. The repeater can't "tell" the modem to only send the internet connection to it, and the fact that the repeater has internet shows that the modem has a good cable signal and that it also has internet access.

Is there a setting in the modem/router that limits how many (internet) connections it will allow? Maybe if you're disconnecting then reconnecting your device wirelessly, while you're disconnected (powered down?) something else is connecting (cell phone?) and taking the last available connection. Then when you try to connect it won't serve you. The extender has been connected the entire time, so it still has service.

Good luck!

On 11/9/2013 11:19 AM, wrote:
On Friday, November 8, 2013 8:38:34 PM UTC-5, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 11/8/2013 7:26 PM, Hank© wrote:

On 11/8/2013 7:50 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:



I have an issue that is driving me crazy. Or crazier.



We recently had a full upgrade of all our Comcast provided equipment in

our house. It involved a new signal booster amplifier, two new, higher

bandwidth distribution amplifiers for the gazillion cable TV outlets in

the house and a new combination modem/wireless router.



We have a large house and the Comcast tech suggested getting a Netgear

WiFi extender to give the router more range. I purchased and installed

the extender. The extender adds another WiFi signal that has the same

name as the router except it has "ext" at the end of the name.



So, now the computers see two network connections available. "HomeXXXX"

and "HomeXXXX.ext"



The router signal was the stronger of the two from where I normally use

my laptop. So, I tried connecting to "HomeXXXX" and it would connect to

the router, but with no Internet access. Said "Local only".



I tried connecting to the weaker "HomeXXXX.ext" (extender) signal and it

worked fine. Local and Internet access.



Went back to the original router network signal ... Local only .. no

Internet.



I tried all the standard stuff, power down, power up of computer,

router, and even depressed the "reset" on the router. Same results.

Could only get Internet access on the extender's signal.



After about four days (and totally unrelated, I think) the new

modem/router that Comcast had installed **** the bed. The "on-line"

light would never stay on as it should.



After talking to Comcast tech help, I returned it to the local Comcast

service center and exchanged it for another one. Hooked it up, went

through the startup procedure and everything worked again normally. I

could connect to either the router directly or the extender signal and

both gave Internet access with no problems.



It all worked fine like this for about a week. About 2 hours ago, I

lost Internet access again on the router signal connection. Local

access only. Yet, when I connect to the extender's signal, I get both

local and Internet access.



Again tried the re-boots and resets. No change. I even "deleted" the

router connection and had to go through the process of re-installing the

security WPS number to connect to it again. But it still only gives

"Local only" meaning the computer is connected to the router but the

router can't connect to the Internet. When I connect to the extender's

signal (HomeXXXX.ext) everything works fine ... local and Internet

access.



I can' make any sense out of this. The extender signal is nothing but a

"repeater" of the router's signal to my understanding and the extender

depends on the router for an Internet connection. So why can I connect

to the Internet with it but only get a "local network" connection when I

try the router's signal?



Any insight would sure be appreciated. This is driving me nuts.



Sounds like the extender is grabbing your wi-fi and not letting the

router pass signals from your computers to the modem section. But since

you've already swapped the extender try a new modem-router or a

different brand. I'm surprised Comcast couldn't provide the solution

with their own equipment.





I haven't changed the extender. I changed the modem/router. Both

worked for a few days (could connect to either the extender or the

router) but then stopped connecting with the router.

There's an issue with the cable modem/wireless router. The repeater can't "tell" the modem to only send the internet connection to it, and the fact that the repeater has internet shows that the modem has a good cable signal and that it also has internet access.

Is there a setting in the modem/router that limits how many (internet) connections it will allow? Maybe if you're disconnecting then reconnecting your device wirelessly, while you're disconnected (powered down?) something else is connecting (cell phone?) and taking the last available connection. Then when you try to connect it won't serve you. The extender has been connected the entire time, so it still has service.

Good luck!



Good thoughts. I don't know, but I'll check into it. I am going to
relocate the extender a little further away from the router and see what
happens.

I did a Google search yesterday for problems with the Netgear extender.
There are many people who have had trouble getting it set up to
provide access to the Internet, but I haven't found a single example of
the extender preventing Internet access when your computer or device is
connected to the main router.