NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Turn off 5ghz WiFi channels
I have an Orbi system with a Model RBR40 router. I am attempting to connect several smart home devices to my network. These smart home devices require that 2.4ghz Wi-Fi be used during setup with my mobile phone. As a result, I need to turn off the 5ghz Wi-Fi portion of my RBR40 Orbi Router temporarily to do the setup. Does anyone know of a way to shut off the 5ghz Wi-Fi signal in the Orbi router temporarily?
4 Replies
1. Just so you know, many of these 2.4G warnings are "Fear Mongering". I have five brands of smart switches and a Wyze camera that all insist, "MUST HAVE 2.4G", yet my smartphone was connected to the Orbi at 5G when I got all of them to work.
2. On the Orbi web interface, Advanced Tab->Advanced Setup->Wireless Settings there is an option regarding "Broadcast SSID". Uncheck that box for the 5G channel, and the Orbi stops broadcasting. Turn the phone off and back on and it should connect to the 2.4G channel. (I say should because I've never tried this. Never needed to.)
Hope this helps
p.s. there IS a method using telnet to completely turn off the 5G radio, but few people have needed it lately.
If the advice from CrimpOn doesn't work, try asking the people who wrote the installation routine for your smart home devices. Their programming landed you with this predicament.
You could also search this forum for messages about the devices you want to install. This issue crops up frequently.
- Thank you. Already tried that. It seems there are many smart home devices out there that can only be setup on 2.4ghz . That's stupid considering any router built in the last decade have 5 ghz.
