How to allow a Nest Protect to connect to the 2.4ghz network on a dual band Router

[kdawg67]

I'm trying to set up a new Nest Protect and it requires a 2.4ghz network. What do I need to do to my router to allow it to connect? Is there a way to turn off or deprioritize the 5G network to complete the set up?

[michaelkenward]

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@kdawg67 wrote:

I'm trying to set up a new Nest Protect and it requires a 2.4ghz network. What do I need to do to my router to allow it to connect?

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What does "it" mean there? The Nest thing or the device you use to set it up?

If the Nest works on 2.4 GHz it will connect to 2.4 GHz on the router. It won't connect to 5 GHz because it can't connect to 5 Hz.

You need to ask Nest how to connect to a Mesh wifi network or one that uses a single SSID.In other words, they need to support 21st century wifi.

Most IoT things work on 2.4 GHz. They will not see, and cannot connect to, 5 GHz wifi.

Many makers of IoT devices use an app on a mobile device to set up the thing. Mobile devices usually connect to 5 GHz wifi and don't let you choose 2.4 GHz. Poorly designed apps fall over because they cannot handle installation using a mobile connected to 5 GHz wifi while the IoT toy is on 2.4 GHz.

A widely used strategy that works for many people is to forget about separate SSIDs and to follow this strategy:

1. Go into your router's wifi set up
2. Disable broadcast of 5 GHz SSID
3. Tell the mobile device to forget the connection to that SSID
4. Reboot the mobile device
5. Connect to the SSID
6. Set up the IoT device
7. Go back and reverse step 2

You may be able to miss out steps 3 and 4, depending on your phone and the app.

This approach has worked for many people. The solution appears in this discussion several times, but, like decent advice on how to separate SSIDs for those who really do need to achieve that, is buried in the noise.

This approach has worked for many people.

[kdawg67]

Thanks,@michaelkenward,

To answer your question, 'it' refers to the Nest Protect device.

I will follow your instructions and see how it goes. I did try this already, but with slightly different steps and wasn't successful. User error most likely. When you say 'go into the router's wifi settings', you mean through it's IP address, correct? Which is what I did previously, but want to clarify before proceeding.

[michaelkenward]

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@kdawg67 wrote:

To answer your question, 'it' refers to the Nest Protect device.

The Nest device will connect to the router's wifi.

The challenge is to set it up with whatever mobile device you are using.

The issue has come up here several times over the years:

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