help understanding WAP6804

Hello: Not very tech savvy, so any help here would be appreciated.  Signed up for new internet service provide about a year ago, they provided my router (Zyxel EMG3425-Q10A) and an extender (Zyxel WAP6804) for upstairs.  My son has a PS4 and, to maximize speeds, we selected "client mode" for the extender and ran an ethernet cable to the PS4.  Things worked great!  Bought a 2nd WAP6804 for my daughters room and ran ethernet cable to old desktop computer for e-learning.  All worked fine.

Recently, we started to experience connection issues, wifi would drop and PS4 would lose connectivity. Tried power cycling, checked connections, no improvements.  Called ISP today, they had me unplug son's unit and bring close to the main router and set in AP mode.  Full green link quality, so they had me bring upstairs and reconnect to PS4.  Still full green link quality, but had to connect via wifi (which is much slower). So I swapped back to "client mode" and all was good!  Fast speeds, son is happy.

Tried the same process with the WAP6804 from daughter's room and am not getting same results.  Always get flashing or solid red link quality in "client mode".  If I swap to "RP" or "AP" modes, get full green link quality. When I bring unit downstairs close to router in "client mode" I get full green link quality.  But as I move further away (not even all the way upstairs), it changes to red. 

Am I doing something wrong?  Fully admit I don't understand AP/RP/CL, but it all used to work!  Prefer not to run those devices upstairs off of straight Wi-Fi. 

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

All Replies

  • tonygibbs16
    tonygibbs16 Posts: 825  Guru Member
    First Anniversary 10 Comments Friend Collector First Answer
    edited December 2020
    Hello @tquigley17

    There is a quick start guide for WAP6804 at ftp://ftp.zyxel.com/WAP6804/quick_start_guide/ which has a good picture in it.

    In AP (Access Point) mode, the WAP6804 needs to be connected to your router by a cable.
         - other devices then connect to WAP6804 by WiFi.

    In Repeater mode, the WAP6804 uses WiFi on both sides (no cables except probable power cable) to extend the range of the WiFi signal from your router or an Access Point.

    In Client mode, the WAP6804 connects a client (e.g. a PC or Mac) to an existing WiFi by WiFi.

    What might be happening in your situation is you might be getting interference from nearby equipment and WiFi run by your neighbours, reducing the range of WiFi that you had before.

    What might work for you is have one of your WAP6804 in Repeater mode connected to the WiFi of your EMG3425-Q10A router, in order to extend the range of your WiFi signal, and then have your 2nd WAP6804 in client mode connected to the PS4.
        - chapter 6 of the user guide at ftp://ftp.zyxel.com/WAP6804/user_guide/ explains how to do this.

    If your daughter's  old PC also needs WiFi access then you might need a third WAP6804 in client mode to connect her PC to the WiFi signal being repeated.

    I hope that this is helpful.

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

    Tony
  • Hello Tony,
    First of all, thank you for taking the time to reply to me!  Strangely enough, right after I wrote, everything worked.... for awhile.  Yesterday, things stopped working again and I'm back to where i was before.  So, if I understood your thoughts and implemented them as you instructed, i still did not have any luck today. 

    I'd like to explain my setup again and ask another question, so here it goes:
    I've got my main desktop computer connected to my router (Zyxel EMG3425-Q10A).  Things are solid there, happy to report my internet speed is 400+Mbps. 

    Like many, my son is on his PS4 all the time.  Originally, it was connect via Wifi, but to improve his connect speed, we bought a WAP6804 AC2100 unit.  With this unit set in "Client Mode", we ran a cable from it to the PS4.  Speeds were greatly increased (I think we were close to 200Mbps).  Everything is still great, no problems there, either.

    With the kids stuck at home for e-learning, we needed to set up an additional desktop unit in my daughters room.  Its an older unit and does not connect via Wifi.  Knowing how well the first WAP6804 unit worked, we bought a 2nd (from here on out, I'll call the one in her room #2).  Plugged #2 in, connected a cable from it to the computer, set it in "client mode" and it works- for a bit.  Now, the connection link quality flashes red, so it is very poor.  I brought #2 downstairs closer to router and re-started and the signal strength was solid green.  When I bring back #2 to her room, I still have signal strength issue. 

    The two bedrooms with with WAP6804 units a very close to each other, so distance shouldn't be an issue.  I've hit the reset button and things were still the same for #2.

    Can I not run two WAP6804s at the same time?  If I understand the earlier suggestion correctly, I may need 3 WAP6804 units, one set in "repeater mode" and then one unit in each bedroom (both set on "client mode"), correct?  If I knew that would solve the issue, I'd bite, but I'd prefer to feel confident that it would solve the problem first!

    I've tried going thru the manual, but I must admit that its a little over my head.

  • CL mode: red bars flashing                                        RP mode



    AP mode: green bars are flashing

  • tonygibbs16
    tonygibbs16 Posts: 825  Guru Member
    First Anniversary 10 Comments Friend Collector First Answer
    Hello @tquigley17

    Thank you for your reply. You are welcome.

    If bringing your daughter's computer and client #2 downstairs and changing nothing else makes it work, then I think that you do have a WiFi signal strength issue.

    I understand what you are saying about wanting to know that it will work.

    I cannot guarantee that it will work, but you could try a use WiFi range extender made by Zyxel, set up as per this quick start guide for WRE6505 see ftp://ftp.zyxel.com/WRE6505/quick_start_guide/

     There are some second-hand / pre-owned WRE6505 devices available on EBay at https://www.ebay.com/itm/ZyXEL-AC750-Universal-Wireless-Range-Extender-WRE6505/224316743907?hash=item343a51e0e3:g:JjQAAOSw~wdgAQ1W for about $15 that you could try out if you want.

    I hope that this is helpful.

    Kind regards,
        Tony
  • tonygibbs16
    tonygibbs16 Posts: 825  Guru Member
    First Anniversary 10 Comments Friend Collector First Answer
    edited January 2021
    Hello @tquigley17

    The following screenshot is an extract from the user guide from ftp://ftp.zyxel.com/WAP6804/user_guide/ about what the link quality LEDs indicate.



    It says that when the bars are Red and On, then in Client or Repeater mode then it has a low signal.

    But when they are Red and Blinking then there is no wireless connection at all.

    If you have the Red and Blinking bars as your photos suggest, then the client is out of range and is not connected to a WiFi access point.

    Your helpful photos suggest to me that you have a WiFi signal strength issue.

    Possible ways around this are:
        a. see if you can reduce the distance between the Access Point and the Clients.
              - perhaps put the Access Point on a longer Ethernet cable and reposition it.
                      - but long Ethernet cables can be untidy.

             - perhaps use a Zyxel home powerline extender to extend the Access Point by connecting its Ethernet connection to the Router via your house electricity wiring by using some of these adapters https://www.zyxel.com/uk/en/products_services/home-powerline_and_adapters.shtml?t=c#:~:text=Powerline%20and%20Adapters%20Connect%20quickly%20and%20easily%20with,router%20and%20connect%20them%20with%20an%20Ethernet%20cable.

          b. Repeat the WiFi signal with a range extender or repeater.
                  - to boost the WiFi signal strength.
                        - I had to do this in my home during 2020 because I had dead-spots at one end of my home furthest from my router.

                              - I personally used a TP-Link RE300 to do so, see https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/range-extender/re300/ , connected to a Zyxel VMG1312-B10D router and it worked very well.

    I hope that this is helpful.

    Kind regards,
         Tony

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