how to disable 5ghz band on a hub5

[marshall54]

I need to disable the 5Ghz band to allow set up of my 2.4Ghz smart plug for table lamps. I have logged into the hub but the disable button is greyed out. I have taken this up already with Virgin tech but they could not understand why the disable buttom was like this.

A way to sort this is needed.

[Ayisha_B]

Hi @marshall54, 

A warm welcome to our Community Forums and thanks for your post. 

We have some info here on how to configure advanced settings on the hub. If after logging in the button is greyed out, I'd suggest a Pin hole reset of your hub for a timed 60 seconds before trying again. 

Let us know how you get on so we can offer further support if needed!

[Sputnikstokie]

I managed to do this but still couldn't get the plugs to link. Not happy. Wish I had kept the Hub3 going . WiFi keeps dropping out too .

Any tips appreciated

SS

[Gareth_L]

Hello Sputnikstokie.

Sorry to hear the same things causing you an issue.

Can you please try a Pinhole reset on the Hub.

Also when the WIFI drops do you have any wired devices that lose connection at the same time?

Gareth_L

[marshall54]

Tried the pin reset but all it did was that the hub reset to its original WiFi name and p/w. I did notice that under the Security setup it may be possible to apply a different WiFi name and p/w to the 2.4 band but as my smart sockets can't be set to only connect to that WiFi name changing it would be pointless.

Next suggestion...

[cje85]

You shouldn't need to disable 5Ghz to set up a 2.4Ghz only device. If the device doesn't support 5Ghz it can't see the 5Ghz network and will pick up the 2.4Ghz network instead. Even if they have the same name that doesn't matter, the 5Ghz network doesn't exist as far as the device is concerned.

I have various TP-LInk smart plugs and bulbs that are 2.4Ghz only and the 5Ghz network doesn't bother them.

[Ilyas_Y]

Thanks for the reply on the forums @marshall54.

If you sign in to the hub manager on 192.168.0.1 on a web browser, and then enter the setting passwords, located at the back of the hub or underneath, it will direct you to the settings page, to which you can turn off the 5ghz band.

Let us know how it goes.

Kind regards,
Ilyas.

[marshall54]

Sounds easy but the device has to be set up via my android phone using the 'smart life' app. This says you have to switch your phone to only connect to your 2.4 band. Can't do that on the phone unless of course each band has a separate WiFi name.

[jbrennand]

as cje85 says - you dont need to disable 5GHz the device simply doesnt see it - the issue is detecting the 2.4 one and the channel optimisation procedure.

Try separating the bands like this......
__________________________

If you haven't done this already - try it first - it helps sort some Hub3/4/5 wifi issues for some devices.

Go into the Hub’s settings. Type in  http://192.168.0.1  into your web browser’s url box and login with settings password on the Hub's base sticker (or your own if you changed it). Then in Advanced>wireless signal >smart wifi - tick the disable “channel optimisation” box or “Smart Wifi” box and save settings.  May be different pathways and wording on the 3 Hub types

Then, go to advanced>wireless signal>security, rename the 2.4 & 5 GHz network ssid's.  Just type over to change 'em to whatever you like and something that will differentiate them (e.g - Marshall_2 & Marshall_5) Try to avoid spaces and periods in the SSID names as they can cause issues with certain devices. Use the same password for simplicity,  Then, apply settings and restart the Hub.  Your 2 wifi networks will now be clearly separated - and you can then select the network you want each device to connect to… individually from the "available networks" list on each of your devices. 

Note all your wifi devices will need re-connecting to the new SSID's and passwords.
All things being equal, 5 GHz is always better/faster and subject to less congestion/interference (and is better for iDevice speeds than the 2.4 one - although the 2.4 one has the better "range" and will be needed when the 5 GHz drops out of range and some older/cheaper/dumber or “specialised” devices can only use this one. 

You should also use a wifi analyser App (or Airport Utility on iOS) to check which 2.4 channels are being heavily used around you and move yours to one of numbers 1,6,11 that is least so, but it wont help if there is other interference.

See if these changes help - you will lose any “seamless roaming” benefits but it may not matter and you can always change the settings back by doing a " pinhole factory reset " if you prefer the way it was - or it doesn’t help

[marshall54]

John,

Thanks for your advice. It ended up simpler than renaming as you suggested. I disabled channel optimization, applied changes and exited. Logged back in and then was able to disable the 5Ghz frequency. Saved changes again. Opened up the Smart Life app and then was able to setup my smart socket. I then only had to simply reverse the process. 

Thanks to those to suggested solutions.