E3200 extender / CR1000A

[Silversurfer1]

Besides having issues with my Fios tv buffering and tiling and freezing then getting VMS connection errors numerous times throughout the day I may have an internet problem as well but I’m not sure about that. 
my question is, how do you know if the E3200 is actually pushing out a wifi signal.  The tech set it up so I could get gigabit speed on my desktop computers in my office. He felt the easiest and best way was to use the coaxial jack that was already in place in the office. He hooked up the extender to the coaxial jack and plugged it in. It took a few minutes and it had a solid white led light then we went to where the router was and reset the router.  I’m getting gigabit speed while plugged into the Ethernet ports of the extender so I know that works. It is set for SON. However, when I look at signal strength of the wifi for my tv which is in the next room it says fair or good. That is very surprising.  My cellphone also loses a bar on the signal strength meter when I’m in parts of my bedroom. Lastly a wifi device that is in another room  shows on the Fios app on my phone as being connected to the router not the extender so does the tv that I just mentioned. The only devices that show on the Fios app as being connected to the extender are the two desktop computers that are plugged in to the extender with Ethernet wires.  I am suspecting nothing is connecting to the extender wirelessly even when they are only feet away from it. The printers in the office show as connecting to the router as well.  Does the Fios app only recognize the extender and router as being the same thing unless a device is plugged into the extender?    

[Cang_Household]

Just to start off: how far is the extender from the router?

It does sound like you got the extender for the purpose boosting signal strength at a remote location from the main router. It seems the devices are still somehow decided to cling to the main router rather than the extender.

[Silversurfer1]

Thank you for your reply.  The router is on the first floor in the back of the house and the extender is in the second floor in the front of the house so they are far away from each other. I had thought that being the extended was connected via coax to the network that it would be sending out a wireless signal that is just as strong as the main router. This does not appear to be the case. 
I had a TP-Link XE75 pro mesh system that this replaced. I had no signal strength issues at all with that set up. The Verizon router and extender are in the same locations that the old mesh devices were in.   Just to be clear I have no wifi dead spots that I know of.  It’s just the signal is now weaker than it used to be and it appears that the extender oddly isn’t being used for wifi.  It has achieved the goal of getting gigabit speed to my computers via wired Ethernet cords running to the Ethernet ports of the extender. It just came at the cost of reduced wifi signal.  I can live with it as is, I’m just surprised nothing upstairs connects to the extender wirelessly, even devices that are in the same room as the extender is.   So it seems like it is only half working. It seems only the Ethernet ports in the extender are working. On the mesh system the upstairs node connected to everything upstairs giving me a max signal to all devices anywhere they are located upstairs. Of course the trade off before was that I wasn’t getting gigabit speed to my desktop computers.   I’m just trying to determine if the extender is functioning as it should. I don’t think it is. What I’d like to happen is that my upstairs devices connect to the extender, still get gigabit speed to my desktop computers and all downstairs devices connect to the main router and my phones connect to whichever is closest and has the strongest signal. I think that’s how it’s designed to work. So while I have no dead spots that I see, it doesn’t seem to be working the way it’s supposed to. 
Before Fios I started off w a Netgear AC1750 router but had dead spots upstairs.  My house is about 3000sf. Then I went to the mesh system which eliminated dead spots and I had full strength signal everywhere in my house other than the basement.  Then I got Fios and at the installer recommended still used my TP-link system instead of using an Verizon extender I had only the Fios TV stuff running on the Verizon router. Everything else stayed on tne TP-link system.   I experienced Fios TV VMS connection issues so after a few more techs came to address that issue I went to using the TP-link system in AP mode. I kept experiencing the Fios issues and still am.  A second tech came to look at the Fios TV issue and while he was here I inquired how I could get the gigabit speed that I was paying for to my desktop computers in my home office upstairs. He said hooking an extender to the coaxial jack in the home office would do the trick.  That’s how I ended up with the extender. He installed it and I was getting gigabit speed to the computers that were connected to the Ethernet ports of the extender. The last tech that came to address the Fios TV problem didn’t see the purpose in the tp-link system being I now had the extender and Verizon router. He disconnected the tp-link stuff and switched all my devices over to using the Verizon system. The Fios TV issues continued just a few hours after he left. . I went to create a guest network and IOT network and move some devices to that and that is when I discovered the now weaker upstairs signal and that nothing appears to be connecting to the extender wirelessly. I’m perplexed as to why.  I’m assuming if the signal increased to how it was before, that my download speeds on my phone when I’m upstairs would increase. I also have wireless security cams which I sometimes receive notifications for 20 -30 mins after an event occurs. I used to get notifications almost instantaneously so I am assuming the weaker signal and that they are connecting to the main router instead of the extender  is causing the delay.  So that is the main reason I’m trying to solve this problem.  A notification 20-30 minute after an event happens is far from ideal. They used to connect to the upstairs mesh node. I’m still trying to resolve the Fios TV issues as well. 

[Silversurfer1 · Accepted solution]

It was a faulty extender. Verizon sent me a new one today. I’m shocked the first one was bad out of the box.  Not that it was bad per se because that stuff happens from time to time but shocked I have had so many issues since the day fios tv and internet were installed less than a month ago.  But at least for the new extender I hooked it up and it’s working as it should. Now if I can get the Fios TV problem resolved I’d be all set.   I’m impressed I requested a new one last last night and received it tonight.  I was expecting to have to wait several days.