@nab_it wrote:
Currently in my household, it looks like we only need 2 APs to provide wireless signal, but we have a lot of ethernet wired up, so the Smart WiFi Pro (the extender to the Hub Pro) is not so suitable.
Not sure I understand? Are you saying the two Ethernet ports on the Smart WiFi Pro are insufficient for the amount of wired devices you have? You could always connect a cheap unmanaged switch to give you more ports?
@nab_it wrote:
Also, is there a good seamless handoff with the Extender versus a normal secondary AP?
It will likely be better than a 'separate' AP.
To answer the question in the title, the Smart Hub Pro itself cannot be used as part of the mesh however, it could be used as a secondary access point at a stretch.
- Change the IP address of the secondary hub to something within the same subnet as the primary hub but preferably outside of it's DHCP range e.g. 192.168.1.10 (this then becomes the IP address you would use to access the Hub Manger on the secondaary unit).
- Disable DHCP on the secondary hub.
- Change the Wi-Fi name/passphrase on the secondary hub to match that of the first (optional)
- Connect the two hubs together using an Ethernet cable between LAN ports (don't use the WAN ports).
This would give you three usable ports on the secondary hub as opposed to one or two if you were to use the 'proper' extender. You can also expect the secondary hub to flash its lights obnoxiously at you because it will continuously grumble about the fact that it has no PPPoE/Internet connection; you won't be able to turn the LEDs off when in this state either.
