RBR50V2, 5GHZ not working, 2.4 GHz working

[Udayan]

Hi,

Lately, I realized, that the 5GHz of channel my Orbi RBR50v2 is not even showing up, and only 2.4GHz shows up. This is the chronological events I can think of.

1. I bought the router back in 2020 Jan.
2. I have never upgraded the firmware myself, unless it does it automatically (I have no clue)
3. Once I bought the router, it only showed 5GHz, and I created the 2.4GHz channel for the required 2.4 GHz devices.
4. My ISP is AT@T, which comes with its own model/wi-fi router. I have hard wired the Orbi RBR50 wi-fi router to AT@T's modem/router directly downstairs and the two staelites at the upstairs. This is my set up. It worked fine for the past 1+ year.
5. 2+ monthss back, the fiber optic cable broke, and I had to call AT@T, they came and fixed it. 
6. I never realized (I think) that Orbi's 5GHz stopped working (can't locate when), until my fdaughter started complaining about getting slower speed upstairs "for a while now". That is when I realized, Orbi's 5GHz vanished and only 2.4GHz is connecting.
7. I have no idea, whether it because of one of the following
     a. The AT@T reboot of AT@T's modem/router, while fixing the fiber cable - Most likely not, makes no sense.
     b. Some Orbi firmware update screwed it up. How does it even uipdates? over wifi?

     c. Something got messed up in the OrBi itself, and nothing to do with the above two, which I can fix myself.

This is what I have done until now.
1. Power cycled the AT@T cable/modem - kept it unpowered for 5 moutes and re-connected back - the Orbi was also unconnected during this time. Then waited for 5 more minutes more and powered up the orbi - no luck
2. Called up Netgear. They have done the hardware test and everything loks fine. They are saying it is an issue which can be fixed, infact I can do it myself, however, they will charge me $50. Hence I am looking for your help,in case I can fix it myself.

I am a hardware engineer, hence decenty savvy with electronics. Please let me know, what else I can try to fix it.

[CrimpOn]

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@Udayan wrote:

Hi,

Lately, I realized, that the 5GHz of channel my Orbi RBR50v2 is not even showing up, and only 2.4GHz shows up. This is the chronological events I can think of.

3. Once I bought the router, it only showed 5GHz, and I created the 2.4GHz channel for the required 2.4 GHz devices.

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What method established that the Orbi was not providing a 5G WiFi signal?

In normal operation, the Orbi  broadcasts the same WiFi name (SSID) on both 2.4G and 5G WiFi channels.  Devices typically display only one entry for the SSID and connect to whichever signal they prefer. (The device decides.)

Some users (in the past) decided they wanted to assign different SSID's to the 2.4G and 5G WiFi channels and used a hack to make it happen.  Recent firmware releases have made that hack no longer work.

Could there be a chance that the router is now broadcasting only one SSID (for both WiFi channels) and it is the SSID that was given to the 2.4G channel?

I like to use some sort of WiFi analysis application that shows the actual WiFi access points (by MAC address and what channel they are broadcasting).  For Andriod, I like WiFi  Analyzer by Kevin Yuan and for Windows I use WiFiInfoView by Nirsoft. (both are free).

[Udayan]

Thank you so much CrimpOn. I think you are spot on. Now I remember, I indeed followed a Youtube Video to create a "hack" to create a separate 2.4GHz SSID (I think), once I got the new Orbi, as my printer, Ring Camera etc would only work on 2.4 Ghz channel. All I remember I followed the hack from youtube, so that my devices can see both the channels. No wonder my daughter complained that the wireless printer is not "working"..If the recent firmware update, overseeded that hack that it is very possible.

Now, the million dollar question. I need to have both the 2.4GHz and 5 GHz work for the obvious reasons. 5 GHz for bandwidth (that's why I have the satellites for boosting), and 2.4 GHz for my network printer, Ring, Ecobee ad so many of such. How can I do that?

1. Should I go back to the firmware version which supported both (rather supports the hack)? If yes, how do I manually do that, and do you know the firmware version, I should go back to see both the 2.4 GHz and 5GHz channels?
2. If I keep the existing firmware, how do I get both the 2.4 and 5GHz channels?

Also why would Netgear override that "hack" and force us to chose one, when me as the user would like to have both?

Thanks again....

[Udayan]

Hi CrimpOn, I just ran WifiInfoView 2.71 (windows version), and found two channels with the same SSID names but different MAC address are getting broadcasted. The 5GHz channel name was BhattNet (which vanished), and BhattNet_2.4GHz is showing twice. Please see the attached screenshot. What does it tell me? Finally, how can I have two separate SSIDs to see 2.4GHz and 5GHz separately for the obvious reasons. Thank you so much.

[CrimpOn]

Well, this is a predicament.  The alphanumeric 'name' of a WiFi channel bears no relationship to the frequency apart from our natural desire to have names convey meaning. We add tags such as "5G" and "2.4G" to aid our memory. (Could you imagine, "hey dad. Is the 5G signal "Bhat-Blue" or "Bhat-Red"?)

The immediate solution is to manually load the firmware version that you used for the hack and do the hack again. But I fear it will not last long.

My advice is to get devices to work with a single WiFi SSID. Devices that require 2.4G are not aware of, or capable of connecting to a 5G channel.  (Just as they cannot connect to the cordless phone channel or cell phone channels.)  None of my Internet of Things (IoT) devices had any problem connecting to the Orbi.  And, I believe that the "Ring problem" that consumed so much attention years ago has long been solved.  I cannot remember any posts about Ring for months and months.  The post "How to set a separate SSID..." rages on, now at 913 messages! https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/How-to-set-a-separate-SSID-for-the-5-GHz-network-on-your-Orbi/... 

The main reason for my advice, however, is that Netgear appears very close to not allowing customers to manually load older firmware on their Orbi routers and not allowing that hack to work ever again.

It will be a chore (perhaps a big chore) to change the devices to use a single SSID.  If there are specific devices that do not connect easily, people on the forum can help get them working.