Neither the iHome smart plug, the Wemo Mini, or any other smart plug that I have seen will work.

[MelB]

Neither the iHome smart plug, the Wemo Mini, or any other smart plug that I have seen will work with my new Orbi because it does not have a separate 2.1 GHz Wireless Network.  Conversely the smart plugs that I seen do not work with a 5 GHz hiome wireless network.  This is the first serious fault that I have encountered.  Does anyone know od a smart plug that works with a 5 GHz network?  Or does anyone know a way to setup a 2.1 GHz smart plig under the Orbi network?

[rhester72 · Accepted solution]

tbh, I don't think the OP has an actual operational problem, just a misunderstanding of the technologies involved compounded with bad information ostensibly coming from product vendors.

That having been said - 2.4GHz-only WeMo works perfect fine with Orbi.  I have a mini switch, three smart switches, a light switch, a humidifier, and a crock pot all using WeMo flawlessly on my Orbi network.

Let's please not let FUD enter into this - regardless of what level 1 support told you, WeMo has zero issues with Orbi.

Rodney

[Mikey94025]

This doesn't sound correct.  What are you doing that makes you think your plugs cannot work with your Orbi.  Is your Orbi's 2.4Ghz network working with any other 2.4Ghz devices in your household?

Your 2.4Ghz devices should still work fine, even if Orbi advertises a 5Ghz network with the same name as a 2.4Ghz network (they will not see the 5Ghz network, only the 2.4Ghz).  I am using iDevices Switch smart plugs just fine with my Orbi and they only support 802.11b/g/n (i.e., 2.4Ghz).

[MelB]

Thank you for your response.  But I beg to differ.  I have confirmed with Tech Support reps for the iHome iSP5 and Belkin WEMO Mini that their smart plugs only work with a 2.4 GHz Wireless Network.  Those devices (and other smart plugs that I have researched) will only connect to 2.4 networks.  The WiFi Network that Orbi creates is not 2.4 HHz,  It is a combination of 2.4 and 5 GHz.

[Hydro130]

The 2.4 and 5 networks are separate streams, they just share the same SSID -- this is an increasingly common approach to how router manufacturers are handling consumer networks these days.

I have 6 devices (an older tablet and several IoT devices) on my Orbi network that are 2.4-only (they aren't capable at all of connecting on 5g) - they all connect perfectly fine, and did not require any unique intertvention to get set up.

[MelB]

Is your Orbi gateway 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1  Mine is the former but I found on the internet that someone solved this problem by yusing the latter.  I have not tried it yet.

[st_shaw]

---

@MelB wrote:

Thank you for your response.  But I beg to differ.  I have confirmed with Tech Support reps for the iHome iSP5 and Belkin WEMO Mini that their smart plugs only work with a 2.4 GHz Wireless Network.  Those devices (and other smart plugs that I have researched) will only connect to 2.4 networks.  The WiFi Network that Orbi creates is not 2.4 HHz,  It is a combination of 2.4 and 5 GHz.

---

It might be true that the iHome and Belkin products do not work with Orbi.  However, this would be due to poor product design of these products, not a problem with Orbi.  It is more likely that your tech support reps are misinformed and have given you bad information.

I currently have several devices connected to my Orbi that are capable of only 2.4 GHz operation.  So, it is definitely possible.

Also, there isn't really such a thing as a combination of 2.4 and 5 G networks.  If your device has only a 2.4 GHz radio, then it will only see the 2.4 GHz transmissions from Orbi.  Because the device has no 5 GHz radio, it has no way of knowing Orbi has 5 GHz operation!

[st_shaw]

One weird thing I did notice.  I have an 802.11b (2.4 GHz) device that is working on address 10.0.0.100 (via DHCP reservation).  The device doesn't appear in Orbi's list of attached devices. Orbi is in AP mode.

Perhaps this behavior is related to your problem, @MelB. It could be hard to know your device was attached and working if you couldn't see it in the attached devices list.

[rhester72 · Accepted solution]

tbh, I don't think the OP has an actual operational problem, just a misunderstanding of the technologies involved compounded with bad information ostensibly coming from product vendors.

That having been said - 2.4GHz-only WeMo works perfect fine with Orbi.  I have a mini switch, three smart switches, a light switch, a humidifier, and a crock pot all using WeMo flawlessly on my Orbi network.

Let's please not let FUD enter into this - regardless of what level 1 support told you, WeMo has zero issues with Orbi.

Rodney

[MelB]

Your comments inspired me to phone WeMo Support and ask the Tech (Katie) to walk me step-by-step though the setup process. She did and now I am able to turn my smartplug on and off from my iPhone or by voice commands to Alexa. Hurray! And thank you Rodney. You were so correct. The WeMo Mimi definitely works with my Orbi wireless network!!!

So what what different about the way Katie had me go through the setup and the way I had been doing before?
Before we started, she had me go into Settings on my iPhone and turn off Cellular and Bluetooth until the WeMo installation was complete. Then I was able to turn both back on. Thank you to everyone in the Community. Your comments were extremely helpful.

[rhester72]

Based on the solution, my best guess is something another poster noted in an earlier thread.  Did you possibly recently switch to Orbi from another system?  In their case, the network numbering system used by their old network changed when they switched to Orbi, but the WeMo didn't pick up on that and was 'locked' to the old numbering system, requiring it to be hard-reset to clear it out.

That wouldn't explain why your phone couldn't see it for setup, though.  Just hazarding a wild guess, but quite happy to hear you have it working well now!

Rodney