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2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

Flash7Gordon
Guide

2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

Hi,      Lately my iphone's have been asking for the password if I ask for the 2.5 ghz ssid on my Nighthawk.   I go to a PC and look at the password on admin and the password that fails is what I have been putting in.   I have a vacation home with a Linksys router that has the same ssid name as the 2.5 ghz on my nighthawk and have been there recently.   Could that be what is confusing the Nighthawk?

Model: R7000|Nighthawk AC1900 Dual Band WiFi Router
Message 1 of 24

Accepted Solutions
IrvSp
Master

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

@Flash7Gordon, I think the iOS doesn't work the way you think it should? In order to use FORGET the network you MUST be in range of that network. Here is the rub, as far as I know ONLY the SSID and P/W is retained. That is all that is needed to connect. The MAC address is not needed. Some large places have repeaters that use the same SSID and P/W. If it saved the MAC Address it wouldn't connect.

 

So you were NEVER forgetting the network because you couldn't connect to it. When you FORGET it it just will not AUTOCONNECT to it. That network SSID now goes into the list you can select from.

 

Again, from what I know, and I could be wrong, this is what is happening.

 

First 'forget' doesn't delete the data, it just tells iOS not to connect to it. Data is still retained. So in your case it stops trying and then still appears in the list with the wrong P/W. You select it again and it does what it did before, tries to connect. You are in a vicious circle. About all you can do is RESET the network which does wipe all Wifi and SSID data out. However, with one SSID with 2 different P/W's you still have problems again.

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Message 18 of 24

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Retired_Member
Not applicable

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

forget the previous connections then try connecting again.

 

Iphones don't play well with same SSID and different MAC addresses  the routers WLAN MAC addresses are different

Message 2 of 24
Flash7Gordon
Guide

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

Thanks, just tried "forget" on the iphone and then opening the connection again and no joy.  I have some Comcast Wifi ssid's too, but they have really different ssid names.  Strange, the 5 ghz is working fine.  I'm getting 238meg wifi download on the 5ghz band on the Nighthawk if I stand next to it. 

Message 3 of 24
ElaineM
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

Try to restart the iPhone and then connect again.

Message 4 of 24
Flash7Gordon
Guide

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

Thanks, tried full reset all network setting with a reboot and it didn't work.   Also ios 9 isn't really giving me a forget this network option for the one I am having a problem with.   Hit the little Blue info icon and all it shows is technical information.

Message 5 of 24
ElaineM
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

Do you have the latest iOS 9.3.5?

Message 6 of 24
Flash7Gordon
Guide

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

Thanks for the help.  Switched to my ipad to see if that made any difference.   I just tried a "forget" the problem network, reset all network settings on my ipad and it did have 9.3.5, in fact it just upgraded to it minutes before I tried the network changes.   I guess having the same network ssid in two different locations really confuses the part of the iphone that is always remembering the ssid passwords.  I will change my ssid in my other location.

Message 7 of 24
Flash7Gordon
Guide

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

I understand that this is not a Nighthawk problem.

Message 8 of 24
ElaineM
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

Feel free to give us an update.

Message 9 of 24
Flash7Gordon
Guide

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

Ok, some more information.  Went back to the vacation home location.  I expected my iphone 6 plus to have trouble with the ssid at this location, since it won't sign on to that ssid at home.  Surprisingly enough it signed on just fine to this ssid (lost a big bet with my wife on this one).   This ssid is broadcast by a Linksys E2500 router.  The vacation home router has a different password than the home router, but they both have the same ssid.   So I have tried a comple Network Reset on the iphone 6 plus and a reboot of the phone and I still can't sign on to the 2.5 ghz band ssid that is the same in two places.   My wifes iphone 6s won't sign on to the ssid at home either.  Maybe ios 10 will help.

Message 10 of 24
ElaineM
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

Hopefully that new iOS will help.

Message 11 of 24
Flash7Gordon
Guide

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

Unbelivable.   I thought I would be clever and do a complete "Forget Network" (all ssid's not just one) and then immediately install IOS 10 and that's what I did.   But after IOS 10  installed I tried the problem network and I got the same "Invalid Password" message so IOS 10 carried the problem forward.   I guess I should get a brand new device against the problem ssid and make sure the password still work there, but oh brother, what a pain.

Message 12 of 24
ElaineM
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

That's really strange.

I have no problems connecting my phone with iOS10 nor the previous iOS versions.

Perhaps, you may want to try to do the 30-30-30 reset on the router.

 

1. With the unit powered on, press and hold the reset button on the back of unit for 30seconds.

2. Without releasing the reset button, unplug the unit and hold reset for another 30 seconds.

3. Power on the unit while STILL pushing the reset button and count for another 30 seconds before letting it go.

 

 

Message 13 of 24
IrvSp
Master

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

I think you have 2 choices....

 

Pick which you think would be the best....

 

  1. Use DIFFERENT SSID's in each location. iPad's and iPhones will remember each and connect to the correct one that it sees.
  2. Use THE SAME P/W in both locations and the SAME SSID's.

Forgetting the Network isn't going to work as you'd have to do that each time you switch locations. However, at least on the iPad which is all I have you can forget any network by going to Wifi in Settings, tapping the one it is trying to connect too and at the top you will see 'Forget this Network'. Tap it and then the Network will be on the list of available networks. Select it and it should request the P/W. Enter the proper one for the location and you should then connect. As far as I know this HAS not been changed between iOS 9.x and 10.

Message 14 of 24
Flash7Gordon
Guide

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

Elaine,   Ok, problem solved.   I did the 30/30/30.   It was a little more change in the nighthawk than I was expecting.   It seemed to me it was a complete factory reset.   It came up with completely new default ssid's and password for the 2.5 ghz and the 5 ghz.    So I went with a different ssid for 2.5 ghz in both locations (home and vacation home) and that worked.  It seems to me I could have accomplished this by just renaming my home 2.5 ghz ssid (without the reset),  but all is well.   I'm kind of with IrvSP on this.  I think the iPhones just present the stored ssid and password to the router.   I thought maybe the iphone was storing the nighthawk mac address with the ssid or something hardware fundamental, but now I don't think so.  Thanks for your attention to my question and your help.

Message 15 of 24
Flash7Gordon
Guide

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

Irv, see my comment below.  I agree with what you said but what's interesting was that  I was doing many "Forget this Network"/"Forget All Networks" when I was at home and it still wouldn't work at home, either ios9 or ios10, iphones and ipads.   The only thing that worked at home was to go to a different ssid.   One of these routers was a nighthawk and the other was a Linksys so maybe that has something to do with it.

Message 16 of 24
ElaineM
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

That's great! Glad that it's all working now. 

You're welcome. Feel free to mark the solution.

Have a great day!

Message 17 of 24
IrvSp
Master

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

@Flash7Gordon, I think the iOS doesn't work the way you think it should? In order to use FORGET the network you MUST be in range of that network. Here is the rub, as far as I know ONLY the SSID and P/W is retained. That is all that is needed to connect. The MAC address is not needed. Some large places have repeaters that use the same SSID and P/W. If it saved the MAC Address it wouldn't connect.

 

So you were NEVER forgetting the network because you couldn't connect to it. When you FORGET it it just will not AUTOCONNECT to it. That network SSID now goes into the list you can select from.

 

Again, from what I know, and I could be wrong, this is what is happening.

 

First 'forget' doesn't delete the data, it just tells iOS not to connect to it. Data is still retained. So in your case it stops trying and then still appears in the list with the wrong P/W. You select it again and it does what it did before, tries to connect. You are in a vicious circle. About all you can do is RESET the network which does wipe all Wifi and SSID data out. However, with one SSID with 2 different P/W's you still have problems again.

Message 18 of 24
Flash7Gordon
Guide

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

Elaine,

 

     Yes, that's interesting.  An iphone can only really forget a network that it is really connected to.   And that point about large organizations using to same ssid to cover large areas with different routers makes sense too.   So maybe if you felt to absolutely had to have 2 routers with identical ssid's and different passwords (I don't feel that way, but just hypothetically) would be to "Forget" the ssid of one place as you were leaving to go to the other place.

Message 19 of 24
Flash7Gordon
Guide

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

I guess your last paragraph is saying that you just can't have 2 identical ssid's and different passwords.

Message 20 of 24
IrvSp
Master

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

Although I can't say for sure you can't, I also think you'd need to do RESET vs. FORGET. Of course RESET wipes out ALL networks which might not be practical.

 

What is the problem with using the SAME P/W?

Message 21 of 24
Flash7Gordon
Guide

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

Irv,   In my opinion I did do a "Forget all Neworks" at the Settings level on the iphone, not just the WiFi level on the phone and it still had the "Incorrect Password" problem when I tried to connect.   In my opinion Apple should make it if you Forget Network, that the next time you try it's a fresh try with no baggage and clearly that's not happening.  I work as a software developer.   I think I could write the code that says Blow this ssid out of the Hash table, no questions asked.  There's no huge problem with passwords the same.   I just didn't do it that way to start.   I can't remember the exact sequence but I also think maybe that this worked for a while (I could connect in both places if I put a password in) and then suddenly it didn't like it.    I was slightly reluctant to change the vacation home password because it was programmed into dvd players, roku's and we had given it to some guests and it was in our documentation for using the cottage.  It would have been interesting to change the password on the Home Nighthawk to the the vacation home password and see if that would have worked.  That would have been the least disruptive way to fix this and I think that was your suggestion.

Message 22 of 24
IrvSp
Master

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

I'm only working with an iPad, but I'd suspect the iPhone would be the same.

 

Under NETWORK, when you are connected to a network you can forget it. All that does is STOP the device from automatically connecting to it when in range. The network will still appear in the list below the connected network so you can change to it if you wish.

 

There is no "Forget all Neworks", at least not on my iPad? There is a RESET NETWORK SETTINGS under GENERAL --> RESET, though. That will delete ALL NETWORK data for every network you can connect to.

 

Now what surprises me is that one would think if you supplied the wrong P/W (for the SSID) you don't get prompted for a correct P/W? You'd think that would happen? Come to think of that that does happen on my iPad? Hmmm..... I'm on iOS 10.0.1 now and when I was in a Dr.'s office this morning trying to connect to my ISP's hotspot that is exactly what happened? Had the UID but needed my P/W and I had connected there some time before I had changed it?

Message 23 of 24
Flash7Gordon
Guide

Re: 2.5 ghz password not what Nighthawk admin shows

Irv,  That's a  good point.  We were all fixating on the "remembering" part but you're right.   When it failed on "invalid password" it asked me to put it in again and I did and it failed again.   Then I went to look at the nighthawk admin and the password that I put in after being prompted that failed was sitting there showing as the password for that ssid.   So there's definitely something strange going on and it's not just a clean presentation of the ssid and password from the iphone to the nighthawk.  So that's why I asked the original question.  I have a  fairly late model iphone and ipad air 2 and I agree, they both behave pretty much the same for this.

Message 24 of 24
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