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Forum Discussion
Forcing Guest SSID to be 2.4
Hi - I have seens lots of posts to talk about how you can manually go into debug mode and setup separate SSID's for various purposes. However, I've been unable to force my Guest network to only support 2.4G. The reason I need this is because I have "Smart" light bulbs setup in my house. The setup for the bulbs requires that you configure the bulb using their app and that your phone must be on the 2.4G since that is all the bulbs support. I have had to do numerous gyrations to try and get my phone to only connect at 2.4. It can be done by artificially making it tougher to reach the phone and so it will then connect at 2.4 rather than 5. Once the bulb is configured, then I'm fine because the bulb will connect at 2.4 since that's all it supports and I no longer need my phone on 2.4 since the bulb is on the network. Can someone suggest a more straightforward approach to addressing these setup issues for my smart bulbs? Otherwise, I'm very pleased with Orbi setup which includes the router (RBR40 - FW:V2.3.5.30) and 2 satellites (RBW30 - FW: V2.3.0.4)
Any suggestions beyond using different bulbs since I already have a bunch would be appreciated.
Thanks.
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What most have had luck with is to turn down the broadcast power on the 5ghz signal during setup or you can try disabling the 5ghz ssid broadcast for setup. Once setup, you can turn it back up/on.
- Thanks for the suggestions. I will give it a try and report back.
As long as you are willing to experiment, can you please give this method a try:
- Navigate to the Orbi Advanced Tab->Advanced Setup->Wireless Settings.
Uncheck the 5G box "Enable SSID Broadcast"
Click "Apply" - On the smartphone, navigate to the WiFi control panel.
Disconnect from the Orbi and "forget" the Orbi WiFi. (this clears the password) - On the smartphone, search for nearby WiFi networks and select the Orbi from the list.
- Enter the Orbi WiFi password and connect.
- (At this point if you connected to the Orbi web interface or used the Orbi app, it should show the smartphone connected at 2.4G.)
- Open the smartphone app and set up the device.
- Once the device says it is set up, go again to the Attached Devices or Orbi app and verify that the device has connected.
- Now that the task is complete, navigate back to the Orbi Advanced Tab->Advanced Setup->Wireless Settings, check the box "Enable SSID Broadcast" for 5G and click "Apply"
- The smartphone can be left connected to the Orbi at 2.4G or can be reconnected to 5G, either be doing the "forget" process or turning the phone off and back on again. (with the password being saved, the phone will select from whichever Orbi SSID is best).
Note to JeriD, as CrimpOn says, disabling the 5 GHz temporarily SSID is reckoned to be the easiest and most reliable way of dealing with these IoT devices whose developers don't know what they are up to. Lots of satisfied customers have reported success with this strategy.
When you have done it, please complain to the people who made your life difficult by writing half-baked installation apps. They need to know that it is time to enter the 21st century.
Thanks for all of the replies. If disabling the 5 Gz SSID broadcast works, that will be the simplest thing by far. I will try that once my next bulb comes in and update the thread. As to the comment about "please complain to the people who made your life difficult by writing half-baked installation apps. They need to know that it is time to enter the 21st century.", while I completely agree, I also think it would be an easy solution for other scenarios I can come up with for Netgear to provide a simple toggle in the setup screen that allows (independently for the main network and the guest network) to have choices of 2.4/5/both with the default recommended setting being both. Is there a down side to that?
- Navigate to the Orbi Advanced Tab->Advanced Setup->Wireless Settings.
Hi,
I went to disable the SSID 5 broadcast and it is not clear that you can do that for the guest network without disabling the 2.4 also. I want all of these bulbs on the guest network for security reasons and I only see one option for disabli/ng the SSID broadcast whereas for the primary network you can disable the two frequencies separetely. Therefore, I assume it disables both on guest? Can someone confirm before I try this? thanks.
Perhaps someone will find a way to disable the Guest 5G SSID. Meanwhile, I have a different solution:
Purchase a simple WiFi Repeater, such as the TP-Link TL-WA855RE
On Amazon $11 for refurb, $15 for new.
The User Manual on page 21 shows how to set this unit as an Access Point.
https://static.tp-link.com/2019/201905/20190517/1910012581_TL-WA855RE_UG_REV4.1.0.pdf
Here is what I propose:
Configure the repeater to have an SSID/password exactly matching the Guest network.
Tell the Orbi to stop broadcasting the Guest SSID.
On the smartphone with the IoT setup app, connect to the Guest SSID. Aha! There is only one access point broadcasting that SSID, and it is only on 2.4G.
Open the app, configure the IoT device, telling it the SSID/password of the Guest WiFi.
After the device is configured and working, turn off the repeater and tell Orbi to begin broadcasting the Guest SSID again.
Does someone know WHY this will not work?
I am spending $11 on Amazon right now. Will report back in 3 days.
"Should I have to do this?" Of course not. I am free to **bleep** and moan, complain about Netgear, listen to the family say, "Why isn't it working YET?" Or, I can spend $11 (plus tax) and get on with life. Actually, my IoT devices are on the primary network, so the disable SSID strategy works for me.
CrimpOn - just curious - did your solution of purchasing an inexpensive WiFi repeater work? I purchased a set of Feit color changing smart bulbs for use outside. Three of the 4 connect with no issue; the 4th one will sometimes connect, then goes offline - I can't get it to stay connected to the network. If your solution worked, I'll likely purchase one myself and install it in the garage, where it will be (much) close to the troublesome bulb.
Thanks!
You can give separate SSIDs on Guest Network a shot and see if that solves the problem.
I will try this over the weekend and report back. Thanks.
