Netgear RAX80 and Amysen / any other similar smart socket / plug and Smart Life App

[thegadgetguy]

Having an issue with new smart plugs trying to add to app / network. 

So I bought the same brand a year ago (at the time I had an older Netgear 2.4/5GHZ Router) and they connected no issue with Smart Life App.

Now I have been through 3 sets of plugs and realize its not the plugs / sockets but maybe something I am not doing with router to de-emphasize 5GHZ and strengthen 2.4.

I have done the following:

- Tried connecting with 2.4GHZ on phone wireless and app connection and nothing

- Tried AP and the suggested names didnt even show up in my list of APs

- Tried reducing the transmit power control to 25% for 5GHZ and nothing

- Have also tried hiding 5 GHZ SSID and nothing

- Have tried lowering the mode on 2.4 Ghz to 54MBps and nothing

Have checked some other knowledge bases and cant seem to find a solution.  Amazon must think I am crazy buying and consequently returning them over and over again.  HELP would be greatly appreciated!

[FURRYe38]

Might try disabling Smart Connect if enabled on the router and separate the SSID names. 

Try changing channels, 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz. 

Netgear has set up a community forum specifically for the NightHawk RAX WiFi 6 Router products. Might be more likely to find someone who has a solution if the question is posted there:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-Routers-with-WiFi-6-AX/bd-p/en-home-routers-nighthawk-wif...

Please use this link to the main forum product list to review and choose where to make your posts. 
https://community.netgear.com/t5/NETGEAR-Forum/ct-p/en-netgear

Thank you.

[thegadgetguy]

So Smart Connect is not on, but will try changing the Wifi SSID.  Right now they are just separated by 2.4 or 5 but the name is the same, meaning network 2.4 and network 5g (for example).  Are you suggesting i change the name completely to something else to test this?

Should I throttle it down to 54mbps as right now under 2.4 its set at "up to 1200 mbps"?

[thegadgetguy]

Ok so tried changing SSID for 5 ghz to something comepletely different and still nothing.

Have switched from Channel 1 to another Channel and still nothing.  

[FURRYe38]

As a quick test, disable WPA security on the wifi router, connect the setup mobile device to the wifi while in the open. Can you connect these devices to the router then? 

Re-enable WPA2 and AES after checking this...

[thegadgetguy]

I was so hoping this would solve it, the easiest hurdle to climb.  Still not working however.  But with that said i had restored the rest of my settings back to normal aside from the removal of WEP on 2.4ghz.  This is crazy because I had an older 5GHZ Netgear router which worked fine with the same kind of plugs about a year ago.  The only thing that changed was I upgrade to the RAX 80 to take advantage of the new fiber internet I have coming into my house.

[FURRYe38]

So disabling WPA on the RAX doesn't work? 

WEP is old wifi security and is not longer supported on most current generation routers. WEP was compromized years ago and removed from service from most current generation routers. If you have WEP devcies, these will not connect to current gen routers. You may need to find an older router that supports WEP or upgrade these WEP devcies to something that supports WPA2 and AES at least. 

Seems like there maybe some compatibility issues with these particular devices and RAX. You might contact the mfr of these devices for additional help and information regarding there product. 

[thegadgetguy]

So here are the settings I have currently I have tried everything else you have suggested insofar.

[FURRYe38]

So try setting Security Options to NONE. 

Disable AX mode and OFDMA on both radios. Remove the check mark in the box. Apply the change and reboot the router. See if the devices connect or not. 

Reenable these settings after checking this. 

If they don't connect, There maybe a compatbility issue with these devices. I would contact the Mfr of these devices for additonal help and support information. 

[thegadgetguy]

So I tried the disabling AX on both radios and still same result.  So I this is my 3rd set (as I mentioned earlier) of similar plugs so I am sure its not a hardware issue on the IoT Devices.  Has to be some kind of setting on the router because my first set of these plugs are working fine with the Smart Life App today I am able to use them still (when I upgraded to the RAX80) is there a security setting that might block devices like this?