I have never been able to use my 5ghz channels

---

troyoo7 wrote:

Netgear has done it for the last time to this guy.. I have never been able to use my 5ghz channels because smart connect always wants to put my mobile phone into the the 5ghz channel when I have many apps that require 2.4ghz and the only way I can is to eliminate both 5ghz channels..

---

This is a well known issue, discussed here many many times over the years. It is a shame that Netgear has not come up with better advice on what to do, especially when it is a trivial matter.

The cause it the failure of the people who write apps for IoT things to realise that most wifi brands now use smart connect, with a single SSID to cover all wifi bands.

There are various strategies for dealing with the issue. In your case, it is dead easy. The R8000 is an oldish (2015) device that lets you turn off the 5 GHz broadcast, or you can disable Smart Connect and get two separate SSIDs.

Then you can use the app to connect to the 2.4 GHz to set up your  device.

You only need to do this during the setup process. The IoT devices can't connect to the 5 GHz. So they won't see it when as it broadcasts. Once connected it will just do its thing.

---

It is the most goofy setup I've ever had to deal with for the price I had to pay for my wifi router...

---

Have to agree there. But it is not Netgear that is the goofy one.

When you have set up your gadgets, complain to the people who wrote the crummy software for whatever devices you are trying to set up. They really need to stagger into the 21st century.