Range Extender Issues
Tramtrist
Enthusiast - Level 3

Hey folks...

I'm using the E3200 Range Extender with the G3100 Verizon Router - two units that look identical to each other from the front - and the extender has continual recurring problems. Just wondering if anyone's had similar issues and, most importantly, has found any solutions.

After setup, the front "circle" light turns a solid white and stays that way for days, maybe weeks, after which, I find it suddenly flashing a quick yellow. This is supposed to indicate "too close to the router," but the extender is at least 25 feet away and through three interior apartment walls. In addition - and critically - nothing has changed over those days or weeks, when the unit was working perfectly.

I've had Verizon change this unit 2 or 3 times over the last 6 months or so (I've lost track), and have eventually had the same experience each time. One went months without issue, others have had problems within minutes, hours or days of initial setup. In addition, I've rebooted, reset and re-paired each extender multiple times, each time hoping it'll be the fix that will finally get the thing working.

If none had been able to work properly for extended periods, I would suspect some environmental issue, but, as I mentioned, I've had most of these extenders doing fine for long periods of time, before they suddenly decide to start blinking yellow.

Any thoughts out there? Thanks...

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Re: Range Extender Issues
Cang_Household
Community Leader
Community Leader

Besides the light is blinking yellow, is there any functional anomalies?

If the extender thinks it is too close to the G3100, maybe you don't even need an extender at the first place.

Re: Range Extender Issues
Tramtrist
Enthusiast - Level 3

Thanks for the input.

When the extender fails, it tends to flash quickly. However, it currently shows a solid yellow light, and that was after I reset it again (hit the reset button for 10 seconds, attached Ethernet to the router, waited for the extender to reset to a solid white light, relocated to the desired room, where it restarted to a solid white light).

None of the extenders I've had have been consistent, for example, flashing quick yellow every time. As I mentioned, they usually start solid white and stay that way for a while, then suddenly turn yellow (flashing or solid) after some time.

I'd go without an extender, since I have WiFi bars in the room where I use it, but the speed drops in that room, possibly because there are appliances (kitchen) in between the router and that room. Thus, I thought the extender would be the best solution.

Cang_Household - I recently saw a mention, I believe by you, of device names with spaces or other "unauthorized" characters possibly causing these extenders to reset/restart. To your knowledge, does this mean that every device connected to the extender needs "connecting" characters (LIKE-THIS) or continuous names?

Thanks again.

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Re: Range Extender Issues
Cang_Household
Community Leader
Community Leader

For the special characters in host names (except dashes and underscores), I have not conducted field tests with G3100 to verify the hypothesis. It could be a red herring at the end of the day. For G1100, however, the router automatically replaces the special characters with dashes during DHCP transactions. I believe G3100 may have the same behavior dealing with hosts with unacceptable names.

Solid steady yellow means No Internet Connection. It could mean that the extender cannot obtain an IP address from G3100 for some reason.

Do you have coax or Ethernet wires running throughout the house? If so, I recommend to uplink your extenders to the G3100 either using coax (MoCA) or Ethernet wires for better stability. Wireless backhaul is the least favored solution.

Re: Range Extender Issues
Tramtrist
Enthusiast - Level 3

Thanks again, Cang_Household.

I reset the extender again, and it's now sitting there working perfectly - as it usually does, initially. It doesn't look like there's any real commonality to this issue, or any rhyme or reason that can be determined, so I'll hope it'll hold as long as possible!

Re: Range Extender Issues
Cang_Household
Community Leader
Community Leader

Have you tried my suggestion of using a hard-wired backhaul (either Coax or Ethernet is fine)? If not, I suggest you to try that out. I mean, E3200 is really meant to be wired-backhaul. Wireless backhaul is kind of a last resort.

Are you getting any performance deterioration when E3200 blinks fast yellow?

Re: Range Extender Issues
Tramtrist
Enthusiast - Level 3

Sorry - I didn't address these questions the first time around.

Unfortunately, I don't have the option for wires in the area I'm trying to reach. If I did, I probably would have tried to figure out some hard-wired option a long time ago and forgotten about "extenders" of any sort. I'd have to imagine that's typical for most folks who need/want a wireless extender (?).

When the E3200 blinked fast yellow, I think I naturally assumed there would be no connection whatsoever. I don't remember ever checking, since, to me, yellow = no good. Based on the implication of your question, though, the next time it blinks, I'll definitely give it a shot.

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Re: Range Extender Issues
Cang_Household
Community Leader
Community Leader

@Tramtrist wrote:

Unfortunately, I don't have the option for wires in the area I'm trying to reach. If I did, I probably would have tried to figure out some hard-wired option a long time ago and forgotten about "extenders" of any sort. I'd have to imagine that's typical for most folks who need/want a wireless extender (?).


Actually no. Maybe Fios should create a product museum 😀 to showcase how far we got from the old days.

Before G3100, there is a G1100. Before G1100, there is the MI424WR Rev. I. Also, Verizon also made G1500 and G2100 before G3100, but they were never released to the public. These are the Fios routers.

There are also Fios Extenders. Let's start with Fios Network Extender (FNE) Gen 1, (model number WCB3000N), I believe it was meant to use with MI424WR Rev. I router. Then G1100 came, and FNE Gen 2 (model number WCB6200Q) was meant to use with it. Now, G3100 with WiFi 6. E3200 was its extender. E3200 is technically the FNE Gen 3, but is not label this way. Contrary to your thought, all FNEs before Gen 3 requires hard-wired backhaul, either through Coax or Ethernet. E3200 is an outlier in this respect.

Re: Range Extender Issues
Tramtrist
Enthusiast - Level 3

Understood.

I guess my point was that running wires through the length or breadth of a residence is not as common an option as the proliferation of these devices would suggest. If it were, I would guess that many would opt to simply wire their devices directly up to the router, rather than employing an extender.

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Re: Range Extender Issues
Cang_Household
Community Leader
Community Leader

Are sure that the wired devices are proliferating? I believe 5G and wireless devices are proliferating.