Really pissed off at netgear

[Pappydan]

I have an Orbi mesh system that I bought not too long after they were introduced and until recently I was in love with it. But this love affair quickly came to an end when I was installing a Honeywell wifi thermostat. When reading the install info I learned that the thermostat would only connect to a 2.4 ghz network. I understand why many smarthome devices need to use this wifi frequency but I thought Honeywell should at least give us a choice. Apparently they have not heard about mesh networks that can give you a good signal throughout the house. The Orbi does not give one the option of temporarily turning off the 5ghz transmitter . But it does allow you to turn down the transmitter power to 25%. WHY THE HELL NOT MAKE IT WHERE YOU CAN ST IT TO 0%. Would this not be possible through a simple firmware upgrade.????

[FURRYe38]

Nope. Just turn down the 5Ghz power to 25% and on Orbi AC you can disable the 5Ghz SSID broadcast, then walk your setup mobile device out to a good range and have it re-connect. Disable the wifi radio on the setup mobile device before you walk out to a distance, then re-enable it. It should connect to the 2.4Ghz signal over the 5Ghz signal long enough for you to get your IoT connected. 

[Pappydan]

Thanks Furry.... That is finally what I did. Well...... I had to drape a piece of foil over the router and unplug both satelites to force my phone to connect to 2.4 ghz. I am now having a problem getting the stat to sync with the phone app but that isn't a Netgear issue. Still frustrating that Netgear built the router with ability to enable different power levels and not 0% power.  incredibly mundane to have to jump through all these hoops to accomplish a simple task. But....I'm just getting old and grouchy.

[FURRYe38]

Its how it goes. Most router mfrs don't have a 0% power settings. Some may have a disable feature on non MESH systems. MESH is different and more complex so some things your used to on non MESH Routers, may not be seen on MESH systems. 

Good Luck.