Apparatus, system, method, and computer-readable recording media for onboarding of a wireless extender in a wireless network

An apparatus, system, method, and computer-readable recording media perform onboarding of a wireless extender in a wireless residential network. A mobile device, obtains a media access point (MAC) address or serial number from a wireless extender, and transmits to a residential gateway a request to add the wireless extender to the wireless residential network. The residential gateway performs a protected onboarding operation that includes transmitting a unique onboarding trigger SSID to the wireless extender, the unique onboarding trigger SSID including an identifier with part or all of the MAC address or the serial number from the wireless extender and being provided as a signal to initiate a standard WPS operation on the wireless extender. The wireless extender initiates the standard WPS operation for establishing a wireless backhaul link between the wireless residential network and the wireless extender.