How to conifgure smart light bulbs with Nighthawk MR60

[italianbeef]

I'm afraid of the answer I'm going to get...but can you configure smart light bulbs with the Nighthawk MR60? They almost all require 2.4ghz (at least to initially connect). This also requires the mobile device with the configuration app to also be on 2.4ghz, at least temporarily.

It doesn't look like you can disable the 5ghz wireless network on the MR60, or force a mobile device to use the 2.4ghz band. Which means, smart bulb users may be in trouble?

[dacker]

I'm having the same problem with a Wi-Fi camera. Setup is supposed to be done by connecting your smartphone to a 2.4GHz access point because 2.4GHz is the only band the camera supports, and completing setup with an app.

I too cannot find any way to temporarily disable 5GHz so I can execute the installation.  This, I now recognize, is a major ommission by Netgear. I've never had a router or AP where this could not be done.

I had someone suggest disabling "Smart Connect," however, I cannot find any such feature in the browser-based setup. It is mentioned in the MR60 datasheet but is not mentioned in the MR60 users manual.

[schumaku]

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@dacker wrote:

This, I now recognize, is a major ommission by Netgear.

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No, much more it's a problem your camera maker or the OPs IoT garbage must resolve. Complain with them. All the LAN and Wi-Fi interfaces are connecting to the very same network, the very same broadcast domain, the very same IP subnet. There is _no_ reason for such a requirement!

It's completely irrelevant if a device does only support 2.4 GHz, only 5 GHz, or is an Ethernet connected device.

[schumaku]

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@italianbeef wrote:

Which means, smart bulb users may be in trouble?

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No, the smart bulb makers are in trouble. They have to fix their rubbish discovery App and process, they need to learn about basic networking!

Complain with the supplier and the makers/manufacturer of this IoT blubs!

[italianbeef]

Appreciate the sentiment, but many low-cost IoT devices use a low-cost wifi chip. That's what makes them low-cost.

And note that this is only an issue for initial setup - once you have connected one of these low-cost IoT devices with their low-cost wifi chips to your mesh network, everything is fine. This is only an issue for the initial configuration.

Googling around shows a few possible solutions, including:

• Using an old phone or tablet that is 2.4GHZ only for the initlal configuration.
• Walking far away until your mobile device switches to the 2.4GHZ network.
• Turniing off your wifi and creating a wifi network with the same name on a mobile hotspot. Typically, mobile hotspots on phones are 2.4GHZ. Then use another device for the initial configuration. Turn off the mobile hotspot and re-enable your mesh wifi.

[schumaku]

Zero sentiments. It's my personal time when writing here. After having answered these kind of posts certainly at least a hundred times, ... figure.

The point is you ask the Netgear community, nagging about a feature which does not make any sense on a Mesh system - while these proposed answers are around here in the community for a long time.

The problem is probably not the chip in the bulbs - the problem is most likely simply a poorly implemented discovery App, on a product not fit for purpose.

Provide names: Shop where you bought this, the manufacturer, pointers to the App in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, ... 

Complain where you have ordered this bulbs. Head out to the business selling this low-cost crap. They know where they are buying the blubs. It's their business to make the App source working right with Mesh systems in the market for years.

[italianbeef]

Totally understand. It's just that many of us are new to mesh networks and are surprised to find this feature can actually work against us when we have a variety of smart devices. For example, I came from a previous Netgear router where you can combine the 2.5 and 5 GHZ bands into a single SSID but still manually disable each. Not a mesh network, obviously.

Sometimes, cutting edge can put us a bit too far advanced of the environment it's operating in. 🙂

[paulz]

Well everything that’s being said about the manufactures is correct, so too was everything being said about the taxicab industry or Blockbuster for video rentals and then they got disrupted. The problem is there is not a good consortium of open standards for this sub segment and you can see what results: chaos.

I think they should add feature, it isn’t a big deal, to enable legacy type applications or cheaply made applications or the hardware made by these networking naïve individuals. The whole purpose of selling a product is to deliver value and remove friction. It isn’t to point blame at e supply chain. It’s a one or many to solve. I won’t go on, I have years of experience in the Apache open source community, have written 20 books in the area I’m an expert in, and have seen this okay everywhere. Even the switches are horrid for LEDs ... Lutron has this issue. But some networks do this and it will be a differentiator.

As a suggestion most people’s routers that bring the Internet into the home likely have a built-in modem. I have created a 2.4 GHz network there and then made it hidden and connect to it when I need to connect these poorly written apps. If you’re a Mac user with a TimeCapsule same thing. Or see what connection a spouse’s or child’s phone tethers at when sharing it

[schumaku]

@paulz Yes and no.

The problem does go ways beyond of the initial IoJ discovery. In a Mesh environment, additional APs can become available at any time adding coverage to the SSID Mesh, offering much better signal level for the wireless clients. Because these IoJ device WiFi clients are much to cheap, they won't take care about the neighbourhood information distributed offering alternate APs on air, they won't automatically re-iterate the situation, they won't re-associate to better AP.

With a mobile device like an old tablet or notebook which does come and go to the network this isn't a big issue - it will most likely re-associate to the temporarily best radio on every reconnection. More static infrastructure devices like smart lights (switches, bulbs, ...) or e.g. wireless printers/scanners it's becoming much more critical. These devices will remain up 24*7, except of a power failure virtually never - so these IoJ will never re-associate and take any advantage of the Mesh system.

[paulz]

Great comments. Learning from you. But man. No way manufacturers will do it. I think I just got disappointed by some cheap ass plugs tonight. How ironic. Lol.

[striker69]

I Found That You Need To Use 2.4 mhz, I Have An Older Tablet That Connect's With 2.4. Once You Connect The Smart Bulb You Can Use Other Devices Even If They Are On 5 mhz.

[Gillian37]

I ended up buying Phillips Hue as it had a hub, it would not work with LIFX, but the hub connected no problems, the light bulbs talk to the hub, everything worked. I have no patience for workarounds, it should just work