ORBI RBR40 - Separate SSIDs for 2.4 and 5 GHz?

---

martkaufman wrote:

Box calls it an RBR40 Router - When setting up my WiFi SSIDs, can I differentiate between the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands?  The App and the User Manual are not at all clear on that.

---

The app and User Manual are not clear because Netgear does not support assigning different SSID's to the 2.4G and 5G channels. There are a number of users who have figured out how to "hack" the Orbi to accomplish this, and they are seriously furious when a firmware update interferes with their hack.

I have yet to learn of a 2.4G device that is impossible to connect to the Orbi.  Most people simply download the app, open it, and follow the directions.  There are some devices with apps that were incompetently written and the solution is to have the phone connected to the Orbi at 2.4G when setting up the device.  After the device is set up, the app works no matter how  the phone is connected.

Netgear provides a simple mechanism to accomplish this:

• Log into the Orbi web interface (http://orbilogin.net)
• Navigate to the Advanced Tab, Advanced Settings, Wireless Settings
• Uncheck the box, "Broadcast SSID on 5G"
• Click "Apply"
• All devices that are currently connected to the Orbi will remain connected.
• On the smartphone, go to wireless settings and "forget" the Orbi SSID
• Search for available WiFi networks.  Select the Orbi WiFi.  Enter the password. and connect.
• If you are curious about whether the smartphone is actually connected at 2.4G, you have to wait a few minutes, because the "Attached Devices" display takes a while to update.
• Open the app and set up the 2.4G device.
• Once the device is connected and working as it should, reverse the steps.
• Check the "Broadcast" box and click "Apply"
• "Forget" the Orbi WiFi.  Search.  Enter password.  Connect.

This looks complicated (the first time), and is typically not needed.  I have a box full of devices that people said would not set up on the Orbi when their phone was connected at 5G, and only one of the bunch required me to do this procedure.  All the rest simply got set up.  (I did have one that kept insisting "REQUIRES 2.4G", and I just clicked "Continue" until it set itself up.)