topic Re: Phone will only connect to wifi through extender in Broadband & Landline

Phone will only connect to wifi through extender

ricrog — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 13:46:18 GMT

Since changing from BT to EE Smart Hub a few weeks ago, my Redmi Note 7 Phone will only connect to it through my Wifi Extender. Everything else in the house-laptops, phones, printer, TV boxes all connect directly with no problem. My phone connects to other wifi sites with no problems. If I make phone forget the hub SSID and then attempt to sign in using the password, the phone just shows 'saved' next to the SSID. If I'm signed in to the extender and try to change to the hub SSID, nothing happens at all.

Re: Phone will only connect to wifi through extender

JimM11 — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 13:55:59 GMT

@ricrog Sounds like you are saying that your Redmi Note 7 does not like to connect to the EE router, is that correct, which EE model of router do you have, and have you tried changing any settings like wpa or wireless mode of the EE router?

Re: Phone will only connect to wifi through extender

ricrog — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 17:06:31 GMT

EE router Smart Hub SH31B, There's not much you can change on it, I've tried everything on my phone that I could find on the internet, I'm reluctant to mess with WPA settings or Wireless mode as the router works fine with all the other devices.

Re: Phone will only connect to wifi through extender

JimM11 — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 17:41:17 GMT

@ricrog What is the wpa method for you phone? when there is incompatibility you have to make a choice, because say you left it on wpa3, latest standard preferred by apple devices, and a few others, but wpa2 - personal devices don't connect, the second standard has been about for 12 years, and the latest is 1 year, you need to make the choice, or buy/replace what does not work. What is the EE Smarthub+ set at just now? Edit: and your phone spec is 2019, so WPA3 was not even about then.

Not saying that this is even the fault issue, until you try you wont know, if it works with a change on the router then you can make your decision after that point.

Re: Phone will only connect to wifi through extender

XRaySpeX — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 18:33:30 GMT

I think you'll find the router is set to Wireless Mode = WiFi-6 and Security Type = WPA3 by default. Your device mayn't cope with that. Change the router settings down to WiFi-5 and/or WPA2.

Re: Phone will only connect to wifi through extender

ricrog — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 13:33:37 GMT

Thanks for your help, the Smart hub is set for WPA2 and WiFi 5, I've also tried the WiF6 Compatibility option.

Re: Phone will only connect to wifi through extender

ricrog — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 13:35:23 GMT

Thanks for your help, the Smart hub is set for WPA2 and WiFi 5, I've also tried the WiF6 Compatibility option.

Solution

Re: Phone will only connect to wifi through extender

ricrog — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 13:12:34 GMT

Solved problem by changing Security type in Smart Hub from "WPA2-Personal" to "WPA-WPA2-Personal"

Re: Phone will only connect to wifi through extender

JimM11 — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 14:56:08 GMT

@ricrog Is that you all fixed now, with the phone connecting to both devices, Router and the extender when required?

Re: Phone will only connect to wifi through extender

ricrog — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 17:06:30 GMT

Yep, all working perfectly, thanks for your help.

Re: Phone will only connect to wifi through extender

XRaySpeX — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 18:39:08 GMT

"WPA-WPA2-Personal" is quite insecure. That phone ought to work securely with "WPA2-Personal".

Re: Phone will only connect to wifi through extender

ricrog — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 11:46:19 GMT

So why does phone work on other networks which are presumably WPA2-Personal? Is there something else I should check?

Re: Phone will only connect to wifi through extender

XRaySpeX — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 11:52:43 GMT

Cuz WPA2-Personal is good & secure. In the post you are replying to I'm warning you against WPA-WPA2-Personal & telling you to use WPA2-Personal.

Re: Phone will only connect to wifi through extender

JimM11 — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 13:35:28 GMT

@ricrog From GSM arena below is your old phone spec, its all your choice but do heed the wireless security warning and make your decisions.

Comms

WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct
Bluetooth	5.0, A2DP, LE
Positioning	GPS, GLONASS, BDS
NFC	No
Infrared port	Yes
Radio	FM radio, recording
USB	USB Type-C 2.0