@richmitch wrote:
Hi, seems I have a problem faced by many others.
And here again, the problems are always the same ... 99.9% not Orbi AX related.
@richmitch wrote:
I have multiple IoT devices (fans, aircon, solar) that can only "see" 2 Ghz wifi bands.
Again, that's perfectly fine - 2.4 GHz WiFi clients don't care about the existence of 5 GHz or 6 GHz access point. Your FM radio does not care about SW or DAB, too - it continues to work with the FM band.
@richmitch wrote:
My fan app on my phone says that it needs 802.11b ...
Typical discovery app issue: It's expecting your mobile being connected to a 2.4 GHz band - despite all the same network names here are connecting to the very same network. If it does not allow to skip this requirement/check: Complain with the Fan App maker to bring thier s**t into the 21st century. Explain them an SSID defines the network connection, not a specific band. And yes, also the Orbi 6 with it's 802.11ax 2.4 GHz does support the "lower" standards on 2.4 GHz, like 802.11n (that was the highest over one decade - it's from 2009!) and 802.11b - fully backward compatible.
@richmitch wrote:
... whereas the 2 Ghz band on my Orbi is reporting 802.11 (see attached image)
...
It seems strange to me that the 2 Ghz band on the Orbi is only reporting 802.11, is that normal?
Looks like the test application does not know abut 802.11ax, or the test system does not support 802.11ax ... the test application recognizes ist as a 802.11 thing, but can't fully identify it. I'd state this is normal.
@richmitch wrote:
On my previous router these IoT devices all connected to a separate 2 Ghz band I set up to keep things separate (also on image below)
802.11n was the highest 802.11 variant supported on 2.4 GHz before 802.11ax was added on top. 802.11g is 5 GHz only.
Certain IoT require not just their discovery and configuration crApps updated, but also the drivers on the wireless adapters ... happened also to Intel and Broadcom for many legacy adapters when 802.11ax was introduced.
@richmitch wrote:
None of them can see the Orbi 2 Ghz band now. The 2 Ghz band on my previous network shows 802.11n
Talking of a IoT configured for the Orbi network name, security and passphrase - or again of some crappy discovery Apps insisting to be connected to a 2.4 GHz radio? For those with the poor drivers, there is an option to disable 802.11ax on the Orbi 6 2.4 GHz radios. Needless to say, this kills the 802.11ax capability for WiFi 6 devices on 2.4 GHz.
A possible "hack" is to configure your old router to the Orbi AX SSID and the same security and passphrase, temporarely shutdown the Orbi AX, and re-configure all IoT.
And the legislation thing with the channels 12 and 13 was partially answered by @CrimpOn - here again, the customer in Australia or Europe can expect the IoT stuff does work on all the legal channels.
