I am unable to connect my iAquaLink system to the Orbi network. I get as far as selecting the network and putting in my password. It just drops the network. I understand that the iAquaLink can only work with 2.4 MHz. Is there a way to ensure this is what Orbi uses or recognizes and pushes? I love the signal strength and got Orbi so a signal would reach the pool area... but can't connect the pool system.

At this stage, I think checking V6 would be a normal and reasonable part of troubleshooting by this voluntary community who helps people who need assistance outside of NG tech support... Seems like other settings have already been checked which could effect your network. I dont think he was advocating leaving it off, but perhaps that would indicate where the issue is or is not. Since you are the person with the issue, your willingness to participate in troubleshooting is up to you. If I were in your situation, I would give it a shot.

silver123 wrote: The pool controller manufacturer said up front they have issues with orbi and other mesh systems because their product only works on 2.4Ghz and only on 802.11b, I'm not sure if I have mentioned that specifically but not sure if that really points you in any direction. I still think it's worth checking if setting the Orbi wireless security to "WPA-PSK [TKIP] + WPA2-PSK [AES]" helps. Particularly since the device can only use 802.11b, that's so old now it wouldn't surprise me if all your seeing is device incompatibility with the Qualcomm wireless drivers on the Orbi. The wireless on the Nighthawk that worked ok is probably a different vendor chipset, possibly Broadcomm, so it will use different wireless drivers that probably have better compatibility with older wireless protocols. Anyway, try the wireless security setting change, it's not hard to do and shouldn't cause problems for other network devices. It's been quite a while since but I have sometimes seen erratic behaviour from devices where this security setting was needed for them to work ok.

silver123 wrote: Lease obtained 10 min Lease expires 5 minutes Can this be changed? Orbi is getting the lease from the ATT router. You should be able to change it in the ATT router. If your router is 5268AC then this is how you can change this time according to the router's manual:

silver123 wrote: raven_au Just switched it to that security setting, reestablished connection between iaqualink and the orbi, immedately punted the connection when trying to access the app. Switched back the security setting and connected back to the AP and solid stable connection. Oh boy, that's odd! Could you have been a little impacient? Could the later stabe connection have been a result retianed context from the previous security change? Have you checked what security encryption standards the iaqualink device actually supports?

I had offline problem after almost a year of it working properly. Orbi satellite would randomly come online but mostly stayed offline. I followed all the reconnect instructions and tried all the suggestions, but, in the end, I got it online after assigning a static IP address to the iAquaLink's MAC address. So far, so good.

Connecting Orbi to iAquaLink pool system

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tucsontico
Virtuoso
Aug 13, 2017
I'm not familiar with the iAquaLink but I do have a similar Pentair WiFi system and I have no trouble with the Orbi. Do you use your iPhone to control the AquaLink? I suggest you do a factry reset of the iAquaLink then retry going through the iAquaLink system setup. Another thing you can try is to make an IP reservation of the AquaLink in the Orbi "Advanced" tab. Under the "Setup" you'll see a "LAN" setup section. When you click on that, it will open a page to allow you to add IP reservations for items connected to your Orbi.

I've noticed that some remote systems take quite a long time to sync with the Orbi. Do not understand why that is but i've seen it with WiFi cams, etc.
- GinaFitz
  Aspirant
  Aug 14, 2017
  Thank you for the reply. I am trying to use iPhone. This is first time we are trying to connect the iAqualink and I purchased the Orbi network because it seemed to be the only one with a signal strong enough to reach pool equipment.
  I understand that for some reason the iAqualink will only connect to a 2.4ghz network (not a 5.0) ... and that perhaps the Orbi network isn't combatible even though it is supposed to be "smart" enough to know what to send and I can't imagine 5.0 would even make it as far away as my equipment/iAqualink control. I am not sure I understand making an IP reservation ... would the sytem have to be connected to do that (and would it potentially fix the ghz issue)?
  I am hearing a buzz that suggests Orbi won't work which would be too bad as it is best system it seems for my house. Please if other suggestions -- or if anyone has been able to connect Orbi to iAqualink let me know.
  - tucsontico
    Virtuoso
    Aug 14, 2017
    You are correct that Orbi is "smart enough" to transmit both the 2.4 & 5 gHz bands. I have multiple items on my WiFi that are 2.4 gHz only (including my pool controller) and they have no problem connecting to the Orbi. Some of the 2.4 gHz items are outside my house (IP cams, pool controll, etc.) and quite a good distance from both the Orbi base station and the Orbi satellite.
    
    You can manually assign an IP reservation in the Orb software. You must know the MAC address of what ever you're trying to assign to a particular IP address. If the device is connected to the Orbi, it will be displayed in a list after you click on the "Add" button at the bottom of the "LAN Setup" page. If the device is not connected, when you click "Add" there is a manual entry option displayed after the list of connected devices. Simply fill in the blanks (IP address, MAC address, Device Name) and click "Add". It will take about 30 seconds for the Orbi to reset the IP list but be patient and the Device will show up in the "Reserved IP" listing. After you do that, try to reconnect your iAquaLink by rebooting it (power off/power on). Good lUck!
mark-lutz
Aspirant
Jun 09, 2018
I had to get a separate 2.4G access point for iAquaLink to connect to (fortunately I have an Ethernet Port not too far from the pool equipment). I had no luck with getting it to connect to Orbi - having tried all of the suggested work arounds.
Joedhimself
Aspirant
Dec 02, 2018
My work around- I used an old TP_Link Wifi extender, connected it to the Orbi network and created a seperate SSID for the pool equipment. Worked like a charm!
silver123
Aspirant
Feb 13, 2019
I have pretty much the same situation except my Iaqualink worked perfect for about 2 months, then all of a sudden as soon as I would try to open the app or login, it would get kicked off the network. Iaqualink feels there's something about the mesh system that it tries to push 5ghz onto products that only accept 2.4 but that doesn't jive with the fact that accessing the app is the process that kicks it off the network.

Jandy (owner of Iaqualink) sent their rep here, he replaced the chip and the antenna, no change, we checked the settings to find that my orbi was inadvertantly set to auto on 2.4 so I changed it to channel 1.....no fix. The signal is full strength at the antenna as I am only able to get 25mb/s wifi here and it's full strength thanks to the Orbi, but whatever causes this handshake issue is unknown.

As a 2nd to last resort I have turned my uverse 2.4 wifi back on (left the 5ghz off) and re-set the antenna to connect to the att uverse, even at a whopping 1mb/s it's working and has not kicked me out.

To recap: The Antenna will connnect to the orbi router and hold it's connection UNTIL you access the app and try to use it, THEN it kicks the connection (for me this is what is happening) I understand some of you aren't even able to get connected in the first place which is also strange)
- Chuck_M
  Mentor
  Feb 13, 2019
  Has this device EVER worked with Orbi?
  
  Can you tell us your Orbi firmware version? This might be something that the beta firmware has resolved.
  
  Can you describe what the rest of your network looks like? (e.g. what hardware is upstream of the pool and/or your mobile device?)
  
  And finally what is the make/model of your cable modem?
  
  If all other potential causes arent there...
  
  In this case, I would try lowering the power of the 5G network to 25% -- forcing the Iphone to the 2.4g network by the pool and then trying a setup with your phone near your pool equiment. Then increase the 5g power back to normal.
  - silver123
    Aspirant
    Feb 13, 2019
    firmware V2.2.1.210
    
    It connected to Orbi fine but when you access the application to make changes to the pool settings it kicks it off the network
    
    I only had he Orbi running wifi until now, I Had to turn on the 2.4ghz wifi channel on the att router to get a connection that won't kick the iaqualink offline when I use the app
    
    When you say "upstream" what do you mean, is there an order to how devices are connected / level of importance for example? I have 17 devices connected to the orbi, things like iphone X 2, ipad, roku tv X 5, computer, sonos X5, roomba, lutron, rainbird irrigation, garage doors.
    
    att router is 5268ac
- ekhalil
  Master
  Feb 13, 2019
  silver123 wrote:
  
  ....................... my Iaqualink worked perfect for about 2 months, then all of a sudden as soon as I would try to open the app or login, it would get kicked off the network. Iaqualink feels there's something about the mesh system that it tries to push 5ghz onto products that only accept 2.4 but that doesn't jive with the fact that accessing the app is the process that kicks it off the network.
  
  .........................
  
  How do you see that the device is kicked off the network? Do you see it in attached devices in Orbi app or in web GUI and then it disappears?
  
  When you see the device in attached devices, what name does it have in Orbi and in the Iaqualink app?
  - silver123
    Aspirant
    Feb 13, 2019
    ekhalil On the antenna itself you can watch the wifi LED turn off as soon as you access the app on the phone (or computer)
    
    On the Orbi app you can see it in connected devices, it does take a few minutes to refresh then it goes away, and about 30 minutes later it pops back up and shows connected on the Antenna LED and it's listed in active devices (until you try to access the app again)
    
    read my experiments maybe that will give you more answers.

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Connecting Orbi to iAquaLink pool system