Problem adding Netgear R7000 as an AP to the AX88U

[Tame]

Hi,

As most of you know the AX88U has an issue with low signal 2.4Ghz network.
I am enjoying this router's management and thought of extending it's 2.4 network range with my old and reliable R7000.
I reset the R7000 to factory settings (running its latest official firmware), and use the built-in wizard to configure it as an AP.
I gave it the same 2.4 SSID and passphrase.
I also configured it to use the same channel as the AX88U, as I heard that it's a good way to make devices hop from one router to another (router to AP and vise versa) according to the actual signal strength and not stay stuck connected to the farthest antenna.
I connected the R7000 AP in the remote area of the house using a network cable.
When I boot both routers everything starts off fine, but after a few minutes, the R7000 gets disconnected from the AX88U.
Using a laptop that is connected by wire to the AX88U I try to ping the R7000 and it's not available.
Is there anything I need to configure to make it work?
What am I missing?

Thanks!

 

[dfunked]

Are both routers on the same subnet and they definitely have different IPs?... I'd make sure the R7000 is connected to a LAN port instead of WAN also.

 

[Tame]

Are both routers on the same subnet and they definitely have different IPs?... I'd make sure the R7000 is connected to a LAN port instead of WAN also.

Yes, they are on the same subnet and I gave the R7000 a reserved IP in the AX88U DHCP.
The routers are connected between them using a port of their regular LAN ports.

 

[Tame]

Update, it appears that the switch part of the AX88U partially stops working at some point when the R7000 is connected.
I've noticed that some ethernet connected clients (to the other ports of the AX88U get disconnected.
When I disconnected the R7000 and restart the AX88U these clients resume the normal operation.

 

[Tame]

bump?

 

[L&LD]

Have you tried a different Ethernet cable? A quality one (or two)?

Do you have a cheap switch to put between them? At least as a test?