Cannot connect Smart WiFi Pro Extender to WiFi 7 Router

[Herbhead]

Ok, What am I doing wrong.

Firstly received my new WiFi 7 router at the weekend and set it up. Used the transfer devices option (I guess this 'just' renames my new router to my old router settings). Setup the Hybrid Connect as well.

This evening (1 day on) I have tried to connect my Smart WiFi Pro Extender (SW40J) to my Smart Hub Pro. Distance between the two is 5 metres with 1 wall between them, 1950s standard build house.

Firstly tried using WPS. No luck, I get to the flashing Amber light press WPS on both units, both flash Blue then the Router stops whilst the Extender continues flashing.

Moved it closer to the router to use an Ethernet Cable. Turn on, green light, green flashing, Amber flashing solid Aqua - device shows up in the Home Network (both in App and Internet Explorer). App says it is too close so I unplug it and move it to its intended location but when I plug in the Amber light comes on and it will not connect again.

I tried the old turn it off and on - on the router. Still no connection to Extender (now on WiFi and in same room) but also I had to re-pair my Hybrid Connect to the router, that had been connected fine until I turner the router off.

Have tried a reset on the extender and repeated, but get the same.

Just pulling my hair out now.

[MadViking]

Hope that means all is well. Always interested in anything you find along the way.

[Pal1n]

@Jim11  and  @MadViking I regret to report no change ie no connection between hub and extender....  I've even reset the SW40J but the outcome remains the same - I get a connection between the SW40J extender and SH40J hub via (10m) ethernet - both showing solid turquoise and the EE all 'view home network' function shows both devices connected and connecting to iPhones etc. 

However, when I power the SW40J down on the device and remove the ethernet capable, even after 36 hours like this, I only get flashing orange on the SW40J, whilst the SH40J hub continues to work normally some 6m away from the extended and with an internal wall between them.  I also tried pressing the connection buttons on both devices but after turning blue the go back to turquoise on the hub, and flashing orange on the extender.  In this state the app does not show the SW40J under 'view home network'.  I'm next going to try plugging and unplugging the ethernet without powering down or moving the SW40J extender

EE's solution is to book an engineer (9th Dec!) but I don't know what they would do that I cant do...  The joke is that moving to full fibre and WiFi 7 was meant to fix an ongoing fault (since early summer) on the copper Fibre50 connection and this'll be my 6 engineer visit in 4months.

My suspicions are now turning to a faulty device but any further advice from his community would be very much appreciated!
N

Supplementary as at 28 0915...  Disconnected the SW40J extender ethernet cable and the light stayed solid turquoise.  However, no sign of the extender being connected via the app and 'view home network'.  Nor can I see it using Hub Manager as this shows 'WiFi Extender Devices - 0'.   

[MadViking]

Hi N , I feel for you. Because I thought my extender was faulty I called EE and they sent me another one really quickly and free.

They even did a check on my line and Hub and reset my system remotely (very impressed) I agree that you should try removing the cable when the extender is powered on (that worked for me) Regarding extender devices 0 in Hub Manager mine says that in the box top left box but on the bottom right it shows me 15 devices connected to extenders so maybe you can check that. One last question if you are only 6M from the Hub do you need an extender? I started by running the Fast.com speedtest by my hub and walked around the house and the hub gave great speeds on the ground and first floor, (I only needed the extender for garden and attic. ) If this is not the case with you then definitely check you have working equipment. Good luck again!! MV

[Pal1n]

Thx MV,
The reason the two devices are only 6m away is that I'm (trying to) set up downstairs before moving the extender upstairs.  But every time I power down and disconnect the ethernet to move the damn thing it loses connection.  It makes no difference if I try to make the WiFi connection upstairs or down - all I get is flashing orange and no devices connected to the SW40J extender.

Sadly I do need an extender upstairs as I have some low (<5Mbps) speeds and this will help with the garden too.  Previously with BT we had two extenders, but then managed with the one on 'joining' EE. And these things now come as a package for £10pcm!

It looks like I'm doomed to have to wait until the Qube engineer visits on 9th Dec as the last guide I spoke to said they couldn't do anything more than had already been done.
N

[MadViking]

Sorry to hear that, I do hope the engineer gets you sorted out!

[MadViking]

just to say Hope you get this sorted today. If you have any feedback it would be really useful. MV

[Pal1n]

MV & Chums...

Successful WiFi connection between the  SW40J extender and the SH40J hub achieved today curtesy of Qube engineer, Danny.

For info (and hopefully to save others the time and grief expended chez moi,) the trick used was to -

• power down (and take the power cable out of) the SW40J extender;
• power down (and take the power cable out of) the SH40J hub;
• wait for 10-20s to enable the hub's RAM to clear before powering the hub back up;
• when the hub shows solid turquoise, power up the extender in its desired location and leave for a few minutes.

The SW40J light went from green to flashing orange and to then solid turquoise after a few minutes and without any other action ie without using either the EE app or connection buttons to make the link. The issue seems to be the router needing its memory to be clear before the connection can be made for some reason.  [It is worth mentioning for any new readers that I had the SW40J connected by ethernet for a couple of days beforehand to ensure any s/w firmware updates had taken place.]

Huzzah for Danny! I've also shared this information (and thread) with the second line EE support too.
Huge thanks for your help and moral support!

N

[MadViking]

Wow ,  Thanks for the update N , I am not sure any of us would have come up with that so good to know!!! Well done Danny! regards MV

[Lockstar64]

Yep, massive thanks to N from me too! Was able to successfully set up a SWP too thanks to the advice shared.

After factory resetting the device, and leaving it on for over 24 hours to ensure that any potential firmware updates could install, we followed the instructions, and that worked after many headaches the day before trying to get the hub to recognise the device once it was no longer directly connected via ethernet.

One additional thing I want to recommend is to monitor the Pro through the online manager. By going to Advanced Wireless -> WiFi Extenders (here), you can check the status of the extender, which was useful during the stage when it's connected to the hub. You can check its firmware version, connection status and uptime, the latter being especially handy for knowing if it's restarted during the night and/or installed firmware. Similar functions may be possible in the EE app, but the extent to which it compares I'm not certain.

Massive thanks again for the advice - initial performance tests have been very promising. Take care all 🙂

[MadViking]

This is really good and important information and what a learning curve. I am sure this is going to help a lot of new users. Thanks to each of you for the feedback, I actually went through the process even though my system was working fine but the wi-fi speed on my pc actually went up significantly, so really useful to know!! Regards MV