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RS700 Doesn't connect to old devices...why?
Hi all and thanks for taking my question/s into consideration. I'm looking or some assistance as to why my new R700 Router is AWESOME, but not perfect. Backstory - Since the beginning of the p...
@ netgear hasn't been used in a while if at all. I don't think that account is used any more.
Can post here:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Idea-Exchange-For-Home/idb-p/idea-exchange-for-home
Or we can tag BH_C
@ netgear hasn't been used in a while if at all. I don't think that account is used any more.
Can post here:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Idea-Exchange-For-Home/idb-p/idea-exchange-for-home
Or we can tag BH_C
Since the 6GHz connection requires WPA3, Smart Connect combining bands including a 6GHz band (2.4GHz + 5GHz + 6GHz in the case of RS700) must include WPA3. So we use WPA2+WPA3 as a compromise to give more compatibility. This is the same situation for mesh systems that uses one SSID for all the bands which include 6GHz.
We did see compatibility issue with some devices with old WiFi technology, e.g. 11n. The solution is like what you have done to disable Smart Connect and use WPA2 only for the 2.4GHz and the 5GHz, and leave the 6GHz for WPA3 only. If you use the same SSID and password for all the 3 bands, the change basically is from "the router tells each client which band to connect" to "each client makes its own decision for which band to connect". The advantage for the router to make the decision is the router can balance the loading among all the bands. For a mesh system, it also knows the backhaul connection topology, which clients cannot know and take into considerations for roaming. When you disable SSID boradcast, the situation is more complicated, I'm not sure if a client will switch band automatically in this case, different client device could have different behavior.
Another option is to use the Guest Network to connect those devices that have compatibility issues with WPA2+WPA3. You still keep Smart Connect for the main network and enable 2.4GHz Guest Network with WPA2 only for the garage door opener... One thing to note is that if you run into problems for a device to be discovered by its corresponding App, you need to connect the phone, where the App is running, to the Guest Network as well, or you have to enable the option "Allow guests to see each other and access my local network" from the Guest Network Settings.
We do have a plan to add other WiFi networks like IoT network to RS700, but I don't have a schedule to share.
There’s a lot of great info here, thank you BH_C & FURRYe38 !
In a perfect world, the split Between WiFi 5 and WiFi 6/7 getting along well with differing security protocols would be awesome, but you’re the engineers and I’m the (wanna-be-above) average user that just spent a lot of money on a router that’s 3 steps above what we needed under the guise of High-Speed, Simple and Future-Proofing.
I do really like the Guest broadcast working as the sub-standard wifi protocol for the older devices. I never have used the Guest Network anyway, and if I can get it to work properly, that might be a great work-around. Even tho it’s a work-around.
I’ll keep looking for the IoT additions to WiFi 7 you speak of and see if that is an additional fix here, too, but in the meantime, thanks to the Community and Engineers that helped me out here and responded so quickly and the great information provided!