Connect a Printer to a Wi-Fi Extender Without Losing It

A range extender is often the first thing people buy when the printer sits in a room with weak Wi-Fi. It usually helps, but it also adds a second network name to the list and a second place the printer can connect. This guide explains how to connect a printer to a Wi-Fi extender so that every computer and phone can still find it, and what to check when they cannot.

How an extender changes your network

An extender listens to your router’s Wi-Fi and repeats it further away. In its normal extender (or repeater) mode it does not create a separate network: devices connected to it get addresses from your main router and can talk to devices connected directly to the router. For a printer, that means it can join either the router or the extender and still be found.

What does change is the name. TP-Link explains that an extender’s default name is either identical to the router’s or the router’s name with “_EXT” added. Netgear says its extenders add “_2GEXT” for the 2.4 GHz band and “_5GEXT” for the 5 GHz band by default. Both describe ways to make the extender use the same name as the router instead.

Before you start

• Note your router’s Wi-Fi name and password, and whether the extender uses a different name.
• Check which bands your printer supports. Many home printers only use 2.4 GHz; if so, choose the 2.4 GHz extender network. Our guide to 2.4 GHz printer setup explains how to tell.
• If your router uses WPA3 only, an older printer may not join either network; see printer WPA3 Wi-Fi setup.

Option 1: wire the printer to the extender

Many plug-in and desktop extenders have one or more Ethernet ports. Plugging the printer into one gives it a wired connection while the extender handles the wireless link back to the router. The printer then does not need to know the Wi-Fi name or password at all, and the printer’s own wireless signal stops mattering.

1. Turn off the printer’s Wi-Fi if it was set up before (some printers switch automatically when a cable is connected).
2. Connect a network cable from the printer’s Ethernet port to the extender.
3. Print a network status or configuration page from the printer’s menu and check it shows a wired connection with an IP address.

Our Ethernet printer setup guide covers the printer side in more detail.

Option 2: join the printer to the extender’s Wi-Fi

1. Stand where the printer is and look at the Wi-Fi list on your phone. Note which networks are strongest there.
2. On the printer’s control panel, open the wireless setup wizard and choose the strongest network name the printer supports.
3. Enter the password. On many extenders it is the same as the router’s, but check if you changed it.
4. Wait for the Wi-Fi light or screen to confirm the connection, then print the network status page.

If the printer has no screen, use WPS on the extender if it supports it, or the maker’s setup app. After a router change, our guide to connecting a printer to a new Wi-Fi network walks through the screenless methods.

Same name or separate names?

Apple’s recommendation for Wi-Fi routers and access points is a single name for all bands and that all routers on a network use the same name. Phones and laptops then move between router and extender without you choosing.

Netgear adds a caveat: with an identical name, some devices may stay connected to the router even when the extender gives a stronger signal. Printers are a common example, as they tend to stay on whatever they joined first. If your printer keeps dropping off with a shared name, a separate extender name lets you pin it to the extender deliberately.

When computers cannot find the printer

Compare the printer’s IP address on its status page with your computer’s. On a typical home network they share the first three numbers, for example 192.168.1.x. If they do not:

• The extender is acting as a router. Some devices, or an old router reused as an extender, hand out their own addresses. Switch the device to extender, repeater or access point mode, or disable its DHCP server, so the main router assigns all addresses.
• The printer is on a guest network. Extenders can repeat a guest network too. Guest networks usually block access to other devices; see printers on guest Wi-Fi.
• The printer’s address changed. Computers that added it by IP address will look in the wrong place. Our guide to finding a printer’s IP address shows how to check it and set a DHCP reservation on the main router.

You can also open the printer’s web interface from a computer by typing its IP address into a browser. If the page loads, the network path is fine and the problem is the print queue on that computer.

Extender or mesh?

If you are buying something new, a mesh system replaces the router and its units work as one network with one name by design. That avoids most of the issues above. Our guide to printers on mesh Wi-Fi explains what to check there, since printers have their own quirks with mesh too.

Finish with a test

Once the printer is connected, print a test page from a computer and from a phone. If both work, write down the printer’s IP address and the network it is on, so you know where to look if it ever disappears again.