Hello I am a little stumped. For years owned my own modem while with Xfinity. Well over the last month or so I was told by an Xfinity employee it would be a good idea to upgrade to one of their gateways. I thought about it and decided to go ahead and get one of theirs as mine was a few years outdated. So I was sent the Xfinity XB7 gateway. So here is where my issue lies. I have a Linksys EA7500 and a TP-Link C7. I am looking to hook these two routers up to the gateway. I would like to keep the XB7 as a full gateway with the router functions enabled. And would like to set up both the EA7500 and the C7 to function as routers as well to extend coverage through out my home. I would like for them to be hardwired. Do they need to be set up as Access Points or can I set them up to function to work as routers? I originally had all my devices connected to the EA7500 when I had my own modem hooked up.
My devices connect to the Linksys 7500 automatically since that is what they were connecting to when I owned my own modem. I would like to change the name on my Linksys to follow the name on my XB7 main gateway. Should both my XB7 and my Linksys EA 7500 have the same SSID name?
Now for the TP Link C7 I don't mind if that has a different name, I just would like to hardwire this router out further out past the XB7 and the EA7500. Through many more walls. I also don't really mind if this device sees the other devices or not.
All in all I would like to be able to connect devices to the XB7, the EA7500, and the C7 all to be able to assign specific IP ranges to devices connected to them for example I would like the XB7 to be able to assign IPs from 10.0.0.2 to 10.0.0.100 and the EA 7500 to assign IP address from 10.0.0.101 to 10.0.0.200 and the TP Link C7 to assign IP address from 10.0.0.201 to 10.0.0.250 or something along those lines. I just can't seem to find a way to get this set up 100% correct.
Also another question I have is with smart devices should I get another cheaper router to connect them all to so it frees up bandwidth on my other routers? And should they be connecting to 2.4GHz or 5Ghz band? I have several Amazon Alexas, Google Homes, IP Security Cameras.
Another thing to add my Xfinity Gateway has both the 2.4GHz and the 5GHz set to the same SSID. Is that a good thing or will that cause conflict later on?
Thank you!!
My devices connect to the Linksys 7500 automatically since that is what they were connecting to when I owned my own modem. I would like to change the name on my Linksys to follow the name on my XB7 main gateway. Should both my XB7 and my Linksys EA 7500 have the same SSID name?
Now for the TP Link C7 I don't mind if that has a different name, I just would like to hardwire this router out further out past the XB7 and the EA7500. Through many more walls. I also don't really mind if this device sees the other devices or not.
All in all I would like to be able to connect devices to the XB7, the EA7500, and the C7 all to be able to assign specific IP ranges to devices connected to them for example I would like the XB7 to be able to assign IPs from 10.0.0.2 to 10.0.0.100 and the EA 7500 to assign IP address from 10.0.0.101 to 10.0.0.200 and the TP Link C7 to assign IP address from 10.0.0.201 to 10.0.0.250 or something along those lines. I just can't seem to find a way to get this set up 100% correct.
Also another question I have is with smart devices should I get another cheaper router to connect them all to so it frees up bandwidth on my other routers? And should they be connecting to 2.4GHz or 5Ghz band? I have several Amazon Alexas, Google Homes, IP Security Cameras.
Another thing to add my Xfinity Gateway has both the 2.4GHz and the 5GHz set to the same SSID. Is that a good thing or will that cause conflict later on?
Thank you!!