NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Disable 5GHz
My printer only supports 2.4 GHz WiFi, but my Orbi system keeps steering it to 5 GHz. This causes the printer to go offline, fail to wake, and requires the Canon app to reconnect. My Orbi model does...
Sad that Canon's program failed to lock the printer to 2.4G.
Why should it? These printers come just with poor to avarage wireless client. And the big majority of dual-band WiFi clients, being in IoT, mobile phones, tablets, notebooks, ... the user has no such choice, never, nowhere.
Since there is no such choice, it's up to the printer manuafacturer investigating, why their printers (equipped with extremely cheap WiFi adapters) are failing badly if the customer WiFi environment is not that basic as intended in their product specs and design!
But, good news that an inexpensive WiFi extender did the job.
Yes, these (even inexpensive) extenders allow (just like consumer and business wireless access points) to define an SSID active on e.g. the 2.4 GHz band only. Thats why some senior community members here (including yourself in a differet fur) have suggested that approach.
The extender only broadcasts 2.4GHz - which the Canon printer prefers.
So you know wehre you should complain to....
Now, if I tell you that the Netgear EAX80 extender (a Broadcom platform, with BCM43684 WiFi ...) does, when operating on all bands, and in mesh mode, fail miserably in a typyical environment with business class APs (Qualcomm platfrom, Netgear WBE71x and WBE75x, almost the de-facto standard with all vendors), what does that mean to us? The IT worls is - when it comes to WiFi - is not perfect.
In my opinion the problem is shared between Netgear and Canon. Netgear because they offer no means to control band steering. Canon because they should not even be configuring their printers to work with 5GHz. But since Canon is allowing users to use 5GHz - they should offer the ability to toggle it on or off. I spent 2 hours with Canon Tech Support not solving my problem. It wasn't until I dug deeper on my own to discover that 5GHz is crap. Canon sent me a survey to measure the results of my satisfaction with their tech support. I happily responded and I have not heard back.
Something that may help in resolving the printers wifi issues with MESH systems, try a USB to ethernet print server. Maybe getting the printer on a Ethernet connection and then point your printer driver to this IP address instead of using WiFi may be one solution.
https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-100Mbps-Ethernet-Network-Server/dp/B016A4MSA4?th=1
Orbi only offers the platform for devices to connect too, dual band or signal band. It's always been up to the devices to pick the signal to connect too.
Good Luck.
As mentioned..... Problem was solved using an internet extender limiting the band to 2.4GHz. I disagree with your 2nd paragraph. As a user, I I can select what band to use. However, when devices have no human interaction to select the band, Orbi determines the signal band the device will use. For this reaspon I will continue to blame both Net Gear and Canon for creating this problem.
No, Orbi only offers up the bands that devices can connect too. It's up to the devices to pick and choose the band they connect too based on what they support. Been like this since Orbi first appeared. Wireless design. Dual band devices mostly perfer 5Ghz or the highest band that is available. All up to the device. Not a NG issue.
Long time problem on the device Mfr side. IoT has been problematic having only 2.4Ghz devcies and there setup software only using 2.4Ghz, while dual band phones and pads perfer 5Ghz. Also the fact that 2.4 and 5Ghz are on the same NETWORK. Orbi and Mobile devices have both. But the IoT Mfrs don't allow there setup SW to work on a 5Ghz dual band mobile phone or pad. Thats all the IoT mfrs, Not a NG issue. NG has newer generation Orbi systems that has seprate IoT networks that users can configure for either band now since IoT Mfrs are not supporting there software on dual band mobile devices.
Also the 50 series is long time EoL. NG didn't do anything with it during it's life time and won't be.
Glad you got it working.
Good Luck.
Netgear because they offer no means to control band steering.
There is not a single Netgear documentation explicitly or implicitly stating, that any Orbi systems are doing active band steering. A little bit different on the business grade Netgear wireless access points like the WAX6xx and WBE7xx models: There is an option to enable Band Steering if it's wanted by the network admin - by default it's disabled.
But since Canon is allowing users to use 5GHz - they should offer the ability to toggle it on or off.
Why oh why please? Not a single standard wireless client implementation does - on Windows or Apple systems, and not on most Linux systems - offers -any- kind of band selection. Just some cheap wirelss extenders might do ...
This was discussed up and down back at the times when some **** had the idea, that the configuration of certain IoT using brainded App implementations falsely requiring (and testing) if the mobile device with the App is currently connected to the 2.4 GHz band.
Industry standard wirless clients supporting 2.4 and 5 GHz, and much more those supporting all three bands 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz are depending on 802.11k and 802.11v, sometimes in combination with 802.11r (allowing fast roaming), even with WPA3-Personal (-AES) and WPA3- Enterprise, using SAE (Simultaneous Authentication of Equals) and IEEE 802.1X/EAP to temporary key snooping and replay impossible.
Even without any band steering - technically band steering to the better 5 or 6 GHz bands would for a short moment deny wifi access on the 2.4 GHz band, allowing the wireless client re-associating to the assumed better performing, more reliable 5 GHz band - any wireless client (unless it's sticky) will re-associate to the 5 GHz band extreme likely. This, and onls this, is what you wrongly claim to be band steering.
It wasn't until I dug deeper on my own to discover that 5GHz is crap.
5 GHz WiFi has - for physical reasons - a shorter reach than the 2,4 GHz band.
Sure, there can be some other systems disturbing 5 GHz systems, especially those located very near to your environment. For examle yet another WiFi router, also operating on the lower channels like 36...48, where the Orbi like the RBR50 and RBS50 are operating the client-facing connections.
I have a Canon printer. When I set it up, it is linked to my Net Gear mesh - via 5GHz. I did not request 5GHz. It was assigned to 5GHz by Net Gear. I call this Band Steering. Maybe there is another name for that. But for now, I am done. My problem was solved using an extender - to prevent Orbi from assigning 5GHz to my printer.
When I set it up, it is linked to my Net Gear mesh - via 5GHz. I did not request 5GHz. It was assigned to 5GHz by Net Gear. I call this Band Steering. Maybe there is another name for that.
Again for the records:
The user has no choice which band a multi-band capable WiFi client does associate to. The SSID (wireless name) does define which network the client does connect. With the same SSID (key and security) is available on multiple BSSIDs, in combination with 802.11k and 802.11v - this is what makes up a WiFi Mesh system, regardless of how many routers, satellites, or technically speaking access points - are forming the same network. Consumer marketing is designating such a system as a Mesh.
Like every other WiFi client supporting 2.4 and 5 GHz or for the sake 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz band, it's fully up to the client which band to use: It can (and will if required) associate to any band available.
If you are going to McDonald's, a train station, an airport and connect to the public Wi-Fi you have no choice which band your mobile phone, your tablet, your notebook does connect to: All you can do is to select the Wi-Fi - everything els happens automatically
On sone printer technical data sheets, Canon does designate this as
Wi-Fi Agile Multiband - a feture from the Wi-Fi Alliance that improves home network efficiency, device roaming, and band balancing across multiple frequencies. It enhances connection stability and reduces switching times between access points.
Key Features
Band Balancing: Shifts devices to less crowded frequency bands during heavy traffic.
Fast Roaming: Speeds up transitions as you move between different access points.
IoT Compatibility: Provides stable connections for smart home and connected devices.
My problem was solved using an extender - to prevent Orbi from assigning 5GHz to my printer.
This extender is (as suggested) either a very inexpensive 2.4 GHz only unit, or it gives the user the ability to operate on one band only, in absence of any modern Mesh capability
Still, that makes just a workaround feasible, this does not identify what tech does not work correctly.
