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Set up router to old cable modem first or install new cable modem then new router - W21

  • 10 October 2023
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I currently have a Netgear nighthawk gateway (ie modem/router along with an extender) and wanted to upgrade to mesh so decide to get a Arris S33 modem and a W121 max router/satellite.  I’m thinking of disabling the wireless radios on my nighthawk, setting up the W121 router/satellite  to talk to the nighthawk cable modem piece. Making sure everything works and is stable, THEN swap out the nighthawk to the S33 modem.  Has anyone done something similar? I’m too nervous to tear the current gear down and starting from scratch with the new gear.

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Best answer by plemans 11 October 2023, 01:03

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I’ve done mulitple iterations of things like this. I swap out modems and routers frequently. 

Its pretty easy to do. I usually just make sure to use the same ssid/password between routers so devices switch over without issues. 

What netgear gateway is it? I’ve used netgear/arris and the modems are solid for both

 

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Nighthawk c7800 and a extender 7700, which is flaky as all get out.  I may just bite the bullet and swap out everything at once!  Yikes, living dangerously.  I hope that my home office (in basement) benefits from the new mesh, when setup. Then it will be worth the pain and agony.

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Those are both pretty solid devices. I’d re-run the setup on the EX7700. during setup uncheck the “extend 2.4ghz” network. You’ll still be able to use the 2.4ghz network but it won’t use it as failover back to the C7800. that’ll should help with the extenders connection. If the issue persists, get a screensnip of the cable connections page on the C7800. Its got a rock solid modem built into it so checking the line would be key. 

Or if you’re committed to switching, put the c7800 in bridge mode. That’ll turn it into a modem only device. You can only connect 1 device to it then in port 1. then setup your new mesh system on it. 

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