Assign HomeKit devices to 2.4Ghz Band

[jbh8063]

I'm having some issues with some devices staying connected to Homekit, including Hunter Fan, Nanoleaf & Meross bulbs.  Still other devices have had no issues at all, including Circle View doorbell, Kasa plugs and VOCOlink light strip

Per recommendation, I disabled 5Ghz and was able to add the Hunter fan to the app and HK, but days later I noticed streaming services being pixelated so I re-enabled 5Ghz for streaming Apple TV.  Two days later - probably when the DHCP Lease renewed - the fan became unresponsive, as did the Nanoleaf bulbs.  The Meross bulbs worked fine on the Spectrum router, but drop minutes after being added now on the Orbi router.

Can I do anything to allow both bands to be up, but assigning specific devices to 2.4Ghz only?

[FURRYe38]

Can you confirm which Orbi model system you have? 

New FW for the RBK 7 and 8 series has IoT support for a separate 2.4Ghz network for those problematic IoT devices. 

[jbh8063]

I think it's actually the RBK752 (difference appearing to be, only one satellite).  AX4200.

ROUTER INFORMATION

Hardware Version	RBR750
Firmware Version	V4.6.14.3_2.3.12
GUI Language Version	V3.0.1.54_2.1.30.3

[FURRYe38]

Would need to update the system to v7.x FW to get the new IoT WiFi Network feature. 

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-WIFI-6-AX-AND-Wi-Fi-6E-AXE/New-RBR750-RBS750-Firmware-Version-...

[CrimpOn]

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@jbh8063 wrote:

Per recommendation, I disabled 5Ghz and was able to add the Hunter fan to the app and HK, but days later I noticed streaming services being pixelated so I re-enabled 5Ghz for streaming Apple TV.  Two days later - probably when the DHCP Lease renewed - the fan became unresponsive, as did the Nanoleaf bulbs. 

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A couple of items  in this narrative "do not add up" for me.

The 5G Issue.

• Nearly every Internet of Things (IoT) device includes a radio that supports only 2.4G WiFi.
  • 2.4G WiFi chips are less expensive than dual band WiFi chips.
  • 2.4G WiFi has greater effective range than 5G WiFi.
  • Thus, it makes both economic and performance sense for a device with limited bandwidth needs to use only 2.4G.  (How much bandwidth does it take to command "Turn On" or "Turn Off"?)
• There are some smartphone apps that are poorly written and struggle to set up their IoT device when the smartphone itself is connected at 5G, so one solution is to (temporarily) turn off 5G during the setup process.
• Once the device has been connected successfully at 2.4G and is working correctly, enabling the 5G WiFi can have no effect on the device.  The device cannot detect 5G WiFi.  Simply not possible.

DHCP Lease. The default DHCP lease issued by Orbi routers is one day (actually 86,400 seconds).  Devices ask to renew their lease when half of the time remains (e.g. 12 hours). See the Wikipedia artlcle:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Host_Configuration_Protocol Thus, if the devices worked correctly for two days, that means they have successfully renewed their IP lease at least three times already.

I suspect the issue involves Apple Home Kit.

[jbh8063]

Got this downloaded and applied to the router.  The Satellite prompts for a user/pw, and when I enter the same one that works on the router, it just give me another prompt.  If I intentionally enter the wrong credentials, I get an "access denied" message.  Not sure how to proceed on the Satellite.

Are there best practices on how to set up/enable the IoT Network settings?  I know most of the instructions insist the new device and iPhone be on the same network; I assume that means I also need to add my phone to the IoT network?

[jbh8063]

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@CrimpOn wrote:

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@jbh8063 wrote:

Per recommendation, I disabled 5Ghz and was able to add the Hunter fan to the app and HK, but days later I noticed streaming services being pixelated so I re-enabled 5Ghz for streaming Apple TV.  Two days later - probably when the DHCP Lease renewed - the fan became unresponsive, as did the Nanoleaf bulbs. 

---

A couple of items  in this narrative "do not add up" for me.

The 5G Issue.

• Nearly every Internet of Things (IoT) device includes a radio that supports only 2.4G WiFi.
  • 2.4G WiFi chips are less expensive than dual band WiFi chips.
  • 2.4G WiFi has greater effective range than 5G WiFi.
  • Thus, it makes both economic and performance sense for a device with limited bandwidth needs to use only 2.4G.  (How much bandwidth does it take to command "Turn On" or "Turn Off"?)
• There are some smartphone apps that are poorly written and struggle to set up their IoT device when the smartphone itself is connected at 5G, so one solution is to (temporarily) turn off 5G during the setup process.
• Once the device has been connected successfully at 2.4G and is working correctly, enabling the 5G WiFi can have no effect on the device.  The device cannot detect 5G WiFi.  Simply not possible.

DHCP Lease. The default DHCP lease issued by Orbi routers is one day (actually 86,400 seconds).  Devices ask to renew their lease when half of the time remains (e.g. 12 hours). See the Wikipedia artlcle:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Host_Configuration_Protocol Thus, if the devices worked correctly for two days, that means they have successfully renewed their IP lease at least three times already.

I suspect the issue involves Apple Home Kit.

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Not sure what to tell you.  It's not a "narrative," it's what happened.  I disabled 5Ghz (not to confuse 5G cellular service), and it worked, re-enabled and it stopped working.  Also no longer listed under the router's connected devices, so it's not only HK or a poorly written app.

[FURRYe38]

Try admin and password on the RBS web page. 

There is two link in the initial post of the FW update thread that should get you started on IoT network configuration. 

I highly recommend getting the RBS update first before doing anything else. The RBS should have been updated first, not the RBR.

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@jbh8063 wrote:

Got this downloaded and applied to the router.  The Satellite prompts for a user/pw, and when I enter the same one that works on the router, it just give me another prompt.  If I intentionally enter the wrong credentials, I get an "access denied" message.  Not sure how to proceed on the Satellite.

Are there best practices on how to set up/enable the IoT Network settings?  I know most of the instructions insist the new device and iPhone be on the same network; I assume that means I also need to add my phone to the IoT network?

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[jbh8063]

Unfortunately, it wasn't very clear on how to go about doing it, nor the recommended sequence.

Again, when I check the checkbox to "update" the Satellite, I get a prompt for user/pw, which I enter the same as for the Router, and it just blinks (no denial, nor access), and when I purposely put garbage, I get a denial.  Cannot log into the Satellite.  

This lead me to upload to the router first, which appears to have been successful, as the FW version is showing 7+ rather than 6+ now, but I'm still getting the same inability to log into the Satellite.  Thoughts?

[FURRYe38]

Is there a IP address for the RBS that seems to be connected? If so, try putting that address in a web browser to see if it opens up the RBS web page and should see a long in window. Try the RBRs log in info or try admin and "password" to see if this will get you in to the RBS web page. If you can, send the v.21 RBS FW File down with in the RBS web page. 

[jbh8063]

Yes, I get the same result entering the IP of the Sat directly into the browser, as I do from the manual FW update page pop-up.  Entering my set password or "password" both just blink.  Admin+admin I get a denial.  I tried Edge instead of Chrome too.  Same

[FURRYe38]

Can try this to get the RBS updated:

You need to update the RBS before updating the RBR. Keep this in mind for future updates.

What you need to do is factory reset the RBS. Wire connect a PC to the 1st satellite📡. Already have the most current FW version files downloaded on to this PC.

Wire connect 1 PC to the back of the RBS. Factory reset the RBS, wait about 5 minutes. The PC will get a IP address from the satellite📡. The RBS will be 192.168.1.250. Or Set a static IP address of 192.168.1.49 on your PCs ethernet configuration. Use this IP address in a web browser to log in to the satellites web page. Log in as admin and password. Use the satellites 📡 web page FW update feature to select the FW update file that was unpacked from the .zip file. Then factory reset and then re-sync the satellites 📡 to the RBR.