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Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
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Re: Device can't connect to main network but can to guest network?

Retired_Member
Not applicable

Device can't connect to main network but can to guest network?

Recently changed my router from an Apple Airport over to Netgear Orbi. Overall I'm loving the wifi speed all over my house, but one thing is driving me crazy...

 

I have three Belkin WeMo switches - two are connected to the main (as in, not guest) network just fine so I can control them from my phone, but one absolutely will not connect to the main network, but will happily and reliably connect to the Orbi guest network. This is a pain because the WeMo app will only allow remote control of the devices on the same wifi network.

 

I would be raising this issue over on the WeMo forums if it wasn't for the fact that it connects without any issue whatsoever to the guest network (confirmed by seeing its MAC address in the device list inside the Orbi admin interface).

 

I have tried everything I can think of to get it working, including...

 

  • Making sure the Orbi firmware and WeMo firmware are all up to date (they are, all 3 WeMo switches running the same firmware)
  • Making sure I factory reset the WeMo properly
  • Trying to connect to the two identical versions of my main network that show up in the list in the WeMo app during setup (I guess it is seeing the main Orbi unit and satellite separately, I had a similar issue with two cheap IP cameras but gave up on getting those working!) - I wondered if the satellite only broadcast in 5GHz or something, which the WeMo doesn't support
  • Trying to figure out if the device is somehow blocked on my Orbi setup for some crazy reason (I didn't have much luck with that - the Orbi admin interface showing my devices seems very buggy as mentioned in other posts - some wireless devices show as wired, some supposedly 'blocked' devices are actually connected fine - it seems something to do with how you name devices and the web interface not correctly parsing HTML characters)

I am at a loss - I guess I could buy a replacement WeMo and see if that does the trick, but the fact that I can see the damn thing on my guest network (and tested at a separate household and worked fine) makes me blame the Orbi. It also worked just fine on my Airport network.

 

Can anybody think of anything else I haven't tried? Thank you fine community 🙂

Model: Orbi High-Performance AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi System (RBK50)
Message 1 of 6
rhester72
Virtuoso

Re: Device can't connect to main network but can to guest network?

It sounds like it isn't letting go of its old lease - which is odd if you did indeed do a factory reset (this has come up before).

 

Now that it's connected to guest (which should have cleared the lease), will it now connect to main?

 

Rodney

Message 2 of 6
Retired_Member
Not applicable

Re: Device can't connect to main network but can to guest network?

Nope 😞

 

It consistently refuses to connect to the main network but happily connects to the guest one.

Message 3 of 6
DarrenM
Sr. NETGEAR Moderator

Re: Device can't connect to main network but can to guest network?

Hello flppr

 

Have you tried to add the mac address of the wemo devices to the address reservation?

 

DarrenM

Message 4 of 6
Retired_Member
Not applicable

Re: Device can't connect to main network but can to guest network?

Thanks for the suggestion but I can't remember 😞

 

I eventually gave up and got a Philips Hue system instead of my WeMo switches, which seems to be working wonderfully.

 

I'll remember this if I have any future devices reluctant to connect though.

 

Message 5 of 6
Grazy321
Initiate

Re: Device can't connect to main network but can to guest network?

My WeMo wall switch would not connect.  I tried the reset of the system, install and uninstall the wemo app, rebooted everything.  The time it worked I 1. clicked on the switch to not remember the wif info 2. clicked on "show password" so the password was no longer showing in the configuration window.  After doing those two changes it was able to connect to my orbi.  After connecting it updated and I reset the device and it connected the second time just fine.  I dont know if this was really what solved the problem, but since it did work for me I thought I'd share for others who may be experiencing Wemo to Orbi onnectivity issues.

Message 6 of 6
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