NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Nighthawk RS100 can't see 2.4Ghz WiFi devices
I just replaced an old Orbi with the RS100. The Orbi, and my network, were working, but the Orbi app could no longer see the router, and I wanted WiFi 7 anyhow. I set the SSID and password on the RS100 to be the same as on the Orbi, and all my latest gadgets, iPhone, iPad, watch, computer, all connected instantly.
My 2.4Ghz gadgets didn't do as well. These are all IOT (bathroom scale, washing machine, printer, smoke detectors, etc) that I've had for years. I got a couple of things to work by reconfiguring them from scratch, but a couple of gadgets simply can't see the network at all.
What have I done to troubleshoot?
- Redoing the network configuration from scratch got a couple of devices working.
- Disabled Smart Connect so the two networks would show separately. Didn't help. Reenabled it, and nothing broke that wasn't already broken.
- Tried temporarily turning off the 5Ghz network altogether, but that didn't help.
- Changed the 2.4Ghz security from WPA2/2PA3 to WPA/WPA2. That got one additional device to work.
- Rebooted everything, didn't help.
- Verified that I have the latest firmware.
- Tried contacting NETGEAR, but so far no reply.
Unless someone has a better idea, the router is going to be shipped back to Amazon along with a rather negative review.
9 Replies
True. The smartphone apps do not provide access to all of the router features. On the Orbi RBR750, the web administration menu has an Advanced Tab, Setup Menu. The Wireless page has the option to
Enable AX (separately for 2.4G and 5G)
For the RS100 Netgear seems to have prioritized ease of use. There aren't a lot of configuration options in the app.
The Orbi app on my iPhone stopped seeing my Orbi after an app upgrade.
IIRC, my particular Orbi is no longer supported. In any event, I'm not willing to go back. I want the faster WiFi.
Some older 2.4G WiFi devices struggle when the 2.4G network supports WiFi6 (802.11ax) Is there an option to disable 802.11ax on the 2.4G channel?
Try a factory reset and setup from scratch.
Check with a wifi analyzer to see if there is a 2.4Ghz signal there.If you you disabled Smart Connect and still 2.4Ghz wasn't seen by the devices, router maybe faulty and need replacing. Can try another or maybe a RS300 something.
I did try installing my devices from scratch.
I don’t have access to a WiFi analyzer, but I know that the router is serving 2.4G of some kind. When I turned off Smart Connect so each network had its own SSID, or I turned off the 5Ghz band, all of my devices that were working before were still working, but slower.
I suspect that there is just some part of the old 2.4G standard that the router isn’t supporting. All of my devices worked with my old Orbi.
I suspect that if (when) I return the RS100 my replacement router won’t say NETGEAR on the front. The reason I replaced my Orbi is that although it was working fine, the app could no longer see it after an update. Now this. I will let some other vendor disappoint me. 😢
Maybe put the Orbi back online and use it then.
There have been issues with orbi app, maybe do some troubleshooting there. Also can access the Orbi WEB UI as well as orbi app isn't required to use Orbi systems.
Good Luck.
