Forum Discussion

scubamikes's avatar
scubamikes
Joining in
11 months ago

Pod configuration for 2.4GHz only?

I have a problem with my wireless.
Scenario:
I have recently updated my router to a Hub 5.
I have a number of wifi connected devices which only work on the 2.4GHz band.
The connection strength is very poor for some of them.
I have ordered and received a Black Pod to increase the coverage to solve this.

However, for the pod to connect to the hub, it apparently needs both the 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands to have the same name & password.
I need to be connected to the 2.4GHz band on my phone to configure the end device.
I tried seperating the two bands and giving them separate names to identify, but the pod doesn't then connect.

The Pod connects fine when both the 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands are enabled, but my phone automatically picks up the 5GHz band.
I have tried disabling the 5GHz band on the hub, but then the pod refuses to sync with the hub.
I've done multiple resets of both hub and pod with the same results.

I only need the 2.4GHz band from the pod, so the 5GHz band can safely be disabled at the pod level.
Is there a way to use the pod on a single band, disabling the 5GHz band at the pod level, rather than the hub level?

Any other suggestions would be welcomed.

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    11 months ago

    There have been repeated reports that suggest the Hub 5 does not pass network traffic between the 5GHz and 2.4GHz Wi-Fi bands leading to failure to reach 2.4GHz printers from 5GHz laptops / mobiles.

    Have you tried disabling the 5GHz Wi-Fi on the VM Hub 5 for a period,
    If just the 2.4GHz band is operated it may allow enough time to configure the 2.4GHz devices.





    • scubamikes's avatar
      scubamikes
      Joining in
      11 months ago

      Hi Client62,

      I need the pod connected to allow the device to see the wifi network with sufficient signal strength.

      I have tried disabling the 5GHz band on the Hub, but then the Pod loses connection and will not reconnect.

      This was left overnight, but was still "lost connection" (Pulsing white light) the following morning.

      • Robert_P's avatar
        Robert_P
        Forum Team
        11 months ago

        Hello scubamikes

         

        Sorry to hear of the wireless network issues regarding devices and frequencies, we appreciate you raising this via the forums and welcome to the community.

         

        Have you been able to try any of the suggestions provided by the community members? The Hub 5 should be able to seamlessly pass devices between bands as long as the SSID's and passwords haven't been split or changed?

         

        Rob

  • fibreking's avatar
    fibreking
    On our wavelength
    11 months ago

    Option 2: Temporarily run a long Ethernet cable to the black pod (other stairs or wherever), disable 5Ghz, do the device config. Remove the Ethernet cable, re-enable 5Ghz?

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    11 months ago

    It might work, but as soon as you return to normal running your mobile will loose contact with the 2.4GHz devices.

  • cily35's avatar
    cily35
    Joining in
    2 months ago

    I've the same problem, I don't want add another split extender like the re tplink to my network, as will be redontant... did you find any solution?

    • Matthew_ML's avatar
      Matthew_ML
      Forum Team
      2 months ago

      Hey cily35, thank you for reaching out and I am sorry to hear about your connection issues.

      I've taken a look and everything looks fine on our end, your levels are very good.

      How has it been over the last few days?

      • Jimney's avatar
        Jimney
        Joining in
        21 days ago

        I am a new customer to VM and are experiencing the same issue with not being able to get our SolarEdge solar panel inverter (2.4 GHz only) to connect via a black WiFi pod that has been located in the same place as the black BT whole home mesh disc it replaced.

        When setting up the BT system, I just turned off the 5 GHz radio briefly and the SolarEdge inverter just connected to the whole home disc on 2.4 GHz. When connected, I just turned the 5 GHz radio back on again and everything worked as it should.

        With me trying the same process this afternoon in the VM Hub 5x, it seems that turning off the 5 GHz radio, completely disabled the black WiFi pod from working at all and there isn't enough signal strength from the hub 5x to reach across into the garage. As the hub 5x is directly connected via a fibre cable, I'm unable to temporarily move it closer to the garage by connecting it up using a longer ethernet cable as is possible with other routers.

        Also I don't understand why the SolarEdge inverter doesn't connect to the black WiFi pod anyway as I changed the SSID and password to exactly the same as the BT system it's replaced and it's the only single device out of 23 in total that hasn't connected?

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    2 months ago

    If you want a solution from VM contact Customer Support and have the Hub 5 replaced by a Hub 4.

    Failing this a Wi-Fi 4 Repeater / Wi-Fi 4 Access Point are required.  Or upgrade all the IoTs to work with Wi-Fi 6.

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    17 days ago

    You might have more luck with Solar Panel if VM's  2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax service was removed from the picture.

    May customers discovered the Hub 5 and we now read Hub 5x have 2.4GHz Wi-Fi 6 that is simply not compatible with a wide range of basic IoTs and older 2.4GHz laptops.

    Customer have had success with a retail TP-LINK Wi-Fi that produces a Wi-Fi 4 802.11bgn as well as 5GHz Wi-Fi 5 802.11ac.  A plus being retail Wi-Fi repeaters can ( should ) have the repeated signal on a different SSID making it easy to spot the Wi-Fi service to use with the Solar Panel.

    https://www.toolstation.com/tp-link-wi-fi-range-extender/p52846