I just got off the phone with their support, which was useless

[whigmaleerie]

I just got off the phone with their support, which was useless. They told me to separate my network and rename them different names for the 2.4GHz and 5.2Ghz bands. I have a boatload of devices connected to my network, I am not going to go through and reconfigure everything and reconnect them all with different SSIDs. I spent $250 rekeying my locks to this stupid lock and now they tell me it won't work unless I separate the networks. That and the bluetooth barely works either.

I am just livid, I have no idea why it is so favorably reviewed, they must be paying reviewers. I'm out a bunch of $$$ even if I return the thing, 

It is not that difficult to make it work, I have dozens of devices that work just fine with my Orbi without any gyrations. Ultraloq just has lousy programming.

[whigmaleerie · Accepted solution]

Yes, it's really annoying to have to dig for tweaks anymore. It's just not that hard to code for.

Anyway, I also thought about turning off SSID broadcast on the 5GHz network yesterday. By itself it still didn't work. What did work was also turning off 20/40MHz coexistence, essentially favoring the 2.4GHz network. Together, that finally worked. What a pain. 

Thanks for taking the time to try to help. I forwarded the solution that worked for me to them, but you should definitely hit them up for a contract to improve their product and customer experience.

[CrimpOn]

Aside from venting, it is not clear (to me) what the purpose of this post is.  Does an error code appear during the WiFi setup process?

It would help to know which specific Orbi system is installed.  Some are a lot easier to manage these "2.4G WiFi Issues" with than others.

[schumaku]

This post appears to be a follow-up of some discussions we had on Utraloq, yet another wonderful pile of ***** App which requires a 2.4 GHz wireless session from a mobile. Read about it here - unluckily, the OP decided to start with a new post.

[whigmaleerie]

I have a houseful of network connected devices. Dozens. I have had no issues managing other 2.4GHz devices, just this lock. There is no error code. That would have been some help at least. It just times out and displays a message that it failed and I should check my network.

However, after the disappointing conversation with their phone support, I got an email with a much more logical suggestion. Great idea actually (other than recoding the app for better network handling), whitelist the lock's MAC on the 2.4GHz and blacklist it on the 5GHz band. Haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I will let you all know if it works.

[CrimpOn]

I believe you will find that Orbi has no mechanism to whitelist a device on one channel and blacklist it on the other channel.

Would be really useful to know which specific Orbi model you have.

[whigmaleerie]

Really? I have to look at the admin settings again. Darn, seemed like such a good idea. I'm much more used to enterprise switches and routers. Haven't had to tweak my home network for much of anything. I'm also not there now will have to wait until I get back to look for the specific model.

[CrimpOn]

The original Orbi models, such as the RBR50, have the ability to disable broadcasting the SSID on the 5G channel.  This allows the user to:

• Temporarily disable broadcasting the 5G SSID. (an advanced WiFi setting in the admin interface).
• After the router WiFi radios restart, on the smartphone "forget" the Orbi WiFi.
• Bring up the list of available WiFi networks. The Orbi WiFi will appear.
• Connect.
• Perform the product setup process.
• After verifying that the product works correctly, go back to the Orbi web interface and enable broadcasting the 5G SSID.
• On the smartphone, "forget", then connect again.

This is tedious, but takes just a few minutes.

New firmware was released for most of the AX models that allows them to create a new "Internet of Things" (IoT) WiFi SSID with this capability.  i.e. broadcast this SSID on 2.4G, 5G, or both.

Before this new firmware, there were methods that people used, such as:

• Keeping an old WiFi router that has the ability to disable the 5G radio.  The TP-Link Archer C-20 sells on Amazon for about $22.  Temporarily unplug the Orbi router, connect the old router to the internet and give it exactly the same SSID/password as the Orbi.  Connect the smartphone.  Perform the setup.  Verify that it works.  Unplug the old router and plug the Orbi back in again.
• Create a WiFi Hot Spot on one smartphone that is using LTE data (not connected to the Orbi LAN) with exactly the same WiFi SSID/password as the Orb.  Power off the Orbi.  Use another smartphone to go through the product setup, connecting to the Hot Spot.  After verifying that the producct works, disable the Hot Spot, power up the Orbi, and "voila".

[schumaku]

A simple fix on the **** code would solve all problems. There is no reason for the App to check if the connection is established on the 2.4 GHz band - all there is is to double check if there is a network IP connection, then an IP broadcast (as proprietary Apps or programs do it for decades), or a multicast (like Bonjour...) to the network (WiFi, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, Bluetooth, whatever does not matter at the end of the day)... and voila, the devices will be discovered. Nothing on your infrastructure requires adjusting - Orbi (and the Nighthawk Mesh) are nice systems. 

I'm happy to go into a consulting job for this lock manufacturer (and any other OEM implementing the same poor chipset code) - usually, I'm can be hired for a one-off fee of 10% of the annual product volume they make.

There is no reason for a "new" Mesh system, all the additions crafted allowing to create an SSID (connecting to the very same L2 network at the end of the day!!!!) are just hacks to work around dumb IoT design. Waste of time, energy, money, and valuable resources to "fix" something some **** engineers created years ago, with ZERO understanding on how networking works since abut the year 1980. About the year I started my first Ethernet deployments with DEC. 

[schumaku]

---

@CrimpOn wrote:

The original Orbi models, such as the RBR50, have the ability to disable broadcasting the SSID on the 5G channel. 

Any Orbi, and Nighthawk Mesh, any WiFi router, any Ethernet switch, ... everybody out here is able to connect one or many devices, run a program (for example the Netgear Switch Discovery tool, QNAP QNAPfinder, even Netgear RAIDar in the early ReadyNAS days [before Netgear]had the capability years ago already). Even iOS and Android are able to find all the HP printers on the network, even my Windows system does nicely list all NAS (various vendors), printers, scanner, DLNA, cameras, smart locks, dishwasher, food center,  ... Wonders of SSDP, WDP, ... all more or less based on Bonjour tech and simple Multicast. Oh yes, even the classic HP OpenView had discovery mechanisms to locate the SNMP devices on the network decades ago already.

At no point, I have to tell any of my computers or mobiles which WiFi band it has "to connect to". Matter of fact, the WiFi clients do not offer this, even if some IoT makers and their support organizations are still talking about this nonsense.

Welcome to networking in December 2023! 

[whigmaleerie · Accepted solution]

Yes, it's really annoying to have to dig for tweaks anymore. It's just not that hard to code for.

Anyway, I also thought about turning off SSID broadcast on the 5GHz network yesterday. By itself it still didn't work. What did work was also turning off 20/40MHz coexistence, essentially favoring the 2.4GHz network. Together, that finally worked. What a pain. 

Thanks for taking the time to try to help. I forwarded the solution that worked for me to them, but you should definitely hit them up for a contract to improve their product and customer experience.