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Psychopasta's avatar
Psychopasta
Aspirant
Jul 20, 2022
Solved

When to Use IoT on Orbi RBRE950

Hi,

 

I have an RBRE950 with two satellites, all working fine.

 

I have my main network running on 2.4 and 5 GHz, and I also have an IoT version running 2.4 only. When should I use this? I'm imagining the IoT is a VLAN and so items connected to it won't show up on the main WiFi connection, but since I want to control all my  IoT stuff via my iPhone, I can't see why I'd use it.

 

Like I say, everything is working: just don't see what the IoT variant is for.

 

- Pasta

  • This IoT network SSID satisfies the desire of customers who demand a "2.4G only" SSID.  If the smartphone and IoT device are both connected to this SSID, then all those "issues" with turning off 5G disappear.

     

    Once connected, most IoT devices can be controlled through their "cloud" connection (i.e. from anywhere in the world) and thus it doesn't matter if the smartphone is put back on the primary SSID

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  • This IoT network SSID satisfies the desire of customers who demand a "2.4G only" SSID.  If the smartphone and IoT device are both connected to this SSID, then all those "issues" with turning off 5G disappear.

     

    Once connected, most IoT devices can be controlled through their "cloud" connection (i.e. from anywhere in the world) and thus it doesn't matter if the smartphone is put back on the primary SSID

    • Psychopasta's avatar
      Psychopasta
      Aspirant

      Thank you both!

       

      As I try to keep all my SmartHome stuff on the local network and as little as possible on the cloud, and I'm using modeern equipment, I presume I can turn this off without any problem? -- Mark

      • TC_in_Montana's avatar
        TC_in_Montana
        Virtuoso
        You can absolutely turn off the IoT SSID if you have no need for it without any issues.

  • The IoT SSID is NOT segregated in any way from your main network.  Devices on your main network SSID will see the devices on your IoT SSID (they all get the same 192.168.1.xxx  IP addresses).

     

    The IoT SSID was provided to assist (in my opinion) in attaching those stubborn IoT devices that sometimes don't play well with newer or mixed mode security, or those who require the device being used to set up the IoT device to be on the same 2.4G/5G band that the device uses.   

     

    For example, many older and not well coded IoT device APPs would fail to onboard the device if the phone was not on the 2.4G band. And there was no "Netgear Supported" method to separate the 2.4G and 5G SSIDs.  It was the onboarding process that failed - not necessarily the connectivity to the device itself.

     

    By providing the IoT SSID and allowing the user to choose 2.4G only or 5G only, the user could enable that IoT SSID in the required band, log into the SSID with the phone,  and onboard the device.   Once everything was onboarded, you could enable back to 2.4G and 5G both and devices would still be attached and functioning.

     

    Is there a requirement to use the IoT band?   Not really.