Still unsolved? Force a device to connect to a satellite

[RocketSquirrel]

I know this has been discussed for years, but I don't see any recent discussions. Is there, now at the end of the year 2022, a way to force a device to connect to the nearest satellite instead of the more distant router?

I've tried everything mentioned on this forum. Reboot the device. Reboot the satellite. Reduce the router's power and reboot the device, etc.

The device is a Chamberlain Liftmaster garage door opener. I have 2 of them and 1 connects to the nearby satellite (and reports an excellent signal) and the other, in the same garage, insists on connecting to the distant router, resulting in the opener reporting a weak signal.

Despite what I was forced to enter into the "associated products" field, this is a several year old RBK50 system with 1 RBR50 router (in AP mode) and 2 RBS50 satellites with wired backhaul.

[CrimpOn]

Alas, there remains no method to force a device to connect only to a specific WiFi access point.  The device it totally in charge of which access point it chooses to use.  Are these two Chamberlain door openers attached to two doors in the same garage?

Before wandering off into proposals, it may be worthwhile to ask, "does the opener work correctly?"  Internet of Things (IoT) devices often require very little bandwidth.  How many characters can it take to say, "open, please"?  If it is working, I'd say: leave it alone. 

Power cycling access points is not likely to alter the situation because the router will come alive first, before any satellites.

Getting the (misbehaving) Chamberlain opener to forget the WiFi and then reconnect is the obvious option.

A less palatable alternative is to install a WiFi extender (any brand) that will connect to the Orbi network and then broadcast a separate SSID that the openers can use.  i.e. locate the WiFi extender where it will get a good connection (at 5G) to the nearest Orbi and then create a 2.4G channel with a unique SSID.

[RocketSquirrel]

Thanks for the quick reply. Yes, they're in the same garage, just 1.5 car widths apart.

Oddly, they've switched access points. Now the first one is talking to the satellite and the other one is talking to the router. So I'm going to chalk this up to the garage openers choosing their WAPs and not blame the Orbis.

I just happened to look at their status today for no particular reason. As you say, if they work, leave them alone. Good advice.

[Knapster]

I also have Chamberlain door openers. My garage is on its own circuit so I can toggle the circuit breaker for the garage and these all reconnect to the nearest satellite after a power failure or Orbi reboot. Shame netgear isn’t listening to these forums. Does anyone know if Asus AiMesh has this capability?