I'm considering buying a device (AmbientWeather Weather Station) that says that it only works on the 2.4ghz wifi and if you have a dual band router, you need to turn off the 5ghz radio. I already have a Skybell that also requires this but works anyway on Orbi. Anyone know if this requirement to turn off the 5ghz can be ignored universally on all devices?
Model: Orbi High-Performance AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi System (RBK50)
I'm considering buying a device (AmbientWeather Weather Station) that says that it only works on the 2.4ghz wifi and if you have a dual band router, you need to turn off the 5ghz radio. I already have a Skybell that also requires this but works anyway on Orbi. Anyone know if this requirement to turn off the 5ghz can be ignored universally on all devices?
I don't think this makes any sense, why would 5Ghz hurt 2.4Ghz only devices? Are you sure you (or whoever wrote it) didn't misunderstand instructions to set 2.4Ghz, not 5Ghz?
I have many devices that only connect via 2.4Ghz to my Orbi and work just fine with 5Ghz also enabled.
Just read the instruction manual online. I can turn off the 5ghz, connect it to the wifi, then turn the 5ghz back on. Skybell (doorbell) specifically tells you to turn off the 5ghz or separate the signals. It works without doing either on the Orbi. I had a AirPort Extreme before the Orbi, and the Skybell wouldn't connect until I separated out the 5ghz signal on a separate SSDI. I think some devices may try to connect to the 5ghz signal and that causes it to fail in the connection. I'll see if it'll connect without having to turn off the 5ghz once I get it.
When a device doesn't work with the 5GHz band then it just ignores it because it's not compatible with it, ie: it does not see it, then it will normally connect to the 2.4ghz band which is what it sees and works with.
FYI ... I had to do the same thing for my Rachio sprinker system. I think its due to the fact that SSIDs are shared between 2.4 and 5 GHz. I turned off broadcasting of SSID for 5GHz, set up the Rachio (which wouldn't find wifi until I disabled 5 GHz SSID), then re-enabled 5 GHz SSID. The Rachio has stayed connected ever since. Had the same problem with Sylvania Lightify Hub.
Good to know about the Rachio as I'm thinking about getting one soon. I think the Skybell worked right away with the Orbi because I went from the Airport to Orbi without changing the SSDI. Glad to know that this trick probably works with all devices that can't recognize dual band signals on setup.
Smitty_P, Go to Advanced tab then Advanced Set up then Wireless setting. I think if you uncheck "Enable SSDI Broadcast" on the 5ghz setting, it turns off the ability of the Ambient to connect to the 5ghz. Is that waht you've done, Tim-in-CA? The other thing I thought was taking the device as far away from the Orbi to "force" it to connect to the 2.4ghz network since 2.4 ghz travels further than the 5ghz. Let me know if this works.
Smitty_P, Go to Advanced tab then Advanced Set up then Wireless setting. I think if you uncheck "Enable SSDI Broadcast" on the 5ghz setting, it turns off the ability of the Ambient to connect to the 5ghz. Is that waht you've done, Tim-in-CA? The other thing I thought was taking the device as far away from the Orbi to "force" it to connect to the 2.4ghz network since 2.4 ghz travels further than the 5ghz. Let me know if this works.
Yup. That's what I did to get my Rachio to connect. After the Rachio was configured, I reenabled 5GHz SSID broadcast and the Rachio has remained connected.
Update: Just got my Rachio. Didn't need to turn off the 5ghz network for it to connect. Took a little longer than expected and initially gave me an error in connected, but then it connected. The Rachio is installed in the basement just below the room where the Orbi is. Don't know if that was enough distance for my theory to work where if you distance it far enough from the Orbi that the 5ghz network is too weak to connect to. Either way, up and running without having to do anything. Now just waiting for the Ambient Weather station to get back in stock to order it.
Even after turning off 5ghz SSID broadcast, my iphone still shows as connected to 5ghz. I have "forgot the network" and logged back in, to no avail. I'm trying to connect the Ambient Weather station but it needs to have the phone on 2.4ghz.
I’m a bit confused. Why does the phone need to be on 2.4ghz? Just the Ambient Station needs to be on 2.4ghz. Once the Ambient Station connects, just turn the 5ghz back on. One issue I did discover is that if the Ambient is connected to a satellite but the phone is connected to the main router (or vice versa), it won’t see the Ambient for the set up process. Some reason that causes the Ambient to be on a “different” network. That may be the issue you’re having.
I have an Ambient Weather Osprey WS-2902 system, an Orbi Router with 2 satellites, and an Apple iPad Mini and iPhone 5S. When the turn-off-5 GHz-SSID-broadcast trick didn't work, I then turned the 5 GHz power down to 25% and voila!, the WS-2902 connected immediately to the Internet. The amazing thing was, everything was within 6 feet of the Orbi router in my office when it happened.
Model: RBK53| Orbi Router + 2 Satellites Orbi WiFi System
I have never had a 2.4ghz device refuse to connect due to the presense of a 5ghz network; after all, how would a device with only a 2.4ghz radio even know the 5ghz radio was even there?
I suspect Allan Funt is out there filming me ... or would it be Ashton Kutcher for this generation?
Model: RBK53| Orbi Router + 2 Satellites Orbi WiFi System
The issue is that the Orbi automatically assigns the same SSID to both the 2.4 and the 5 GHz bands, thus confusing a device like the Ambient Weather Osprey WS-2902 which has only 2.4 GHz connectivity. That's why turning off the Orbi's 5 GHz SSID broadcast as well as reducing that radio's power to the minimum 25% (thus letting the 2.4 GHz radio signal power through) worked for me. I suspect I'll have to go through the same drill as long as I have the Orbi every time a reset of the Osprey is needed.
Model: RBK53| Orbi Router + 2 Satellites Orbi WiFi System
I have a similar issue I need to turn off 5ghz so my phone connects on the 2.4ghz connect to the smart device get that connected to my Wi-fi then turn it back on now when I spoke to the so called tech help line they told me to turn off the SSID but as we all know this does not turn off 2.4ghz just the SSID this is one of the worst and most expensive product I have ever bought, don’t get me started on the signal distance.
I had a similar issue with an Ambient Weather WS-2902 weather station. I was able to successfully connect to the 2.4 GHz side of my Orbi by not only turning off the 5 GHz SSID broadcast but also setting the signal strength to O or zero. That permitted the weather station to connect at 2.4 GHz, and it has stayed connected ever since, even after I turned the 5 GHz SSID back on at 100% signal
strength.
Model: RBK53| Orbi Router + 2 Satellites Orbi WiFi System
I tried that on my firmware you can only go down to 25%, but for Netgear support to inform me turning off SSID will sort it sounds like they have no idea how to support something they also sold that is not fit for purpose.
Hi you stated you set up a Skybell to an orbi. During your setup did you have to isolate the 2.4ghz channel on the orbi or did you just go straight into the Skybell app and set the doorbell up without having to do anything to Orbi?
I don't think I had to separate it out when connecting, but my Skybell is probably far enough away from the main router to connect to the 2.4 signal. You can try connecting without doing anything first. If it fails, then isolate the 2.4 signal, connect to the wifi, then can turn the 5 back on.
How do I disconnect the 5 GHz from my router and only connect the 2.4 so I can hook up some devices that only require 2.4 GHz? I have tried several times but it keeps Failing
Model: RBK50| Orbi AC3000 High-Performance Tri-Band WiFi System
This NetGear Community thread details a straightforward procedure to assign separate SSIDs to an Orbi's 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks:
A couple of notes:
The first item in "Step 1" instructs: "Enable Telnet on http://192.168.1.1/debug.htm." This internal page in the Orbi allows the user to "unlock" Telnet functionality in the router (a communications protocol which allows direct communication with hardware devices via text commands). You will check the checkbox labeled "Enable Telnet." Note that this creates a temporary security risk (Telnet is an old and somewhat vulnerable protocol) which makes your router vulnerable, but at the end of procedure, you are instructed to once again disable Telnet be un-checking the box.
The instructions explain how to change the 5GHz SSID, but don't explicitly describe how to change the 2.4GHz. You can change the 2.4GHz SSID just as easily by substituting:
