Can wifi mesh extender be used as a router

Jeremiah Jobling

7 year old netgear router packed in yesterday , just bought a replacement which turns out to be a netgear mesh extender. The sales guy told me it would work when I explained what I needed, but looking at setup instructions it only works off an existing router. Is this correct or should I just remove the packaging, plug it in
connect to modem and see if it works?

Thanks.

niallb

Not enough information.
Some 'extenders' are multi functional.

What model is it.
Sales guys are great!

Jeremiah Jobling

It is a netgear nighthawk x6 tri band wifi mesh extender. AC2200 is also noted on box.

ED E

This?
https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/wifi-range-extenders/EX7700.aspx

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
2.4 and/or 5GHz 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac WiFi router or gateway

Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 8.0, Firefox® 20 or Safari® 5.1 or Google Chrome 25.0 browsers or higher

Can't work standalone.

niallb

Take it back and ask to talk to a different sales assistant...
That's a really expensive mistake and a very specific thing to sell you.

What did you say? Perhaps something in that made him assume you needed an extender?
Did you use the words "I had a netgear router" anywhere ?!?
Mustn't have been paying too much attention is more likely.

If you have an issue with coverage, maybe swap it for a mesh system.
For the same price, TP-Link Deco M4 covers a lot of bases.
If you're a bit hazy about wifi network equipment this is still likely to give you good results.

Alternatively, and if you're set on buying netgear, you could try something like this NETGEAR Nighthawk R7000 WiFi Cable & Fibre Router - AC 1900, Dual-band .

Jeremiah Jobling

Thanks NiallB.

When the sales guy suggested that kit i actually did question if it was just a booster type product and he assured it would act as a router also!

Either way, I went back in earlier and exchanged for the netgear r7000 that you also suggested, which I eventually got working after some issue due to the firmware update.

All sorted now, thanks again for the advice.

alec76

I dunno, €170 for such outdated router ( r7000 , 2013 release date) it is terrible value I think.
I rather get the refund and buy something newer on Amazon, possibly Wi Fi 6 enabled or Mesh system altogether.