2.4 ghc Devices Only Connecting to WiFi 7 Extender and Not To Hub

[Phone_Freak]

Hi, I have the latest EE Smart Hub Plus with WiFi 7 Extender Pro. I have noticed that when I log into the web interface on my computer it states that I have 0 2.4g devices connected and about 7 5g devices connected and 3 6g ones. but a lot more devices show up under the WiFi extender Pro, although it doesn't specify whether they are 2.4g, 5g devices, etc. In fact most of the devices connected to the extender are 2.4 devices and if I turn off the extender I lose them all. I thought the idea was that devices would connect to which ever WiFi point was nearest or had the best signal and would therefore be distributed between them. Following this reasoning, if I turn off the extender they should all appear in the main hub as that would be the only access point.

On further looking into this I figured that these were older devices which perhaps don't like WPA3 so I changed the name of my main access point and turned on Compatible WiFi with the original name to see if they would now connect without the extender. However, they still didn't until I turn back on the extender.

Can anyone throw any light on this and suggest a fix? Thanks in anticipation.

[JimM11]

@Phone_Freak Does not matter what you do, if the devices are out with the reach off the Hub with the Extender off then they will never connect to anything.

You need to work out what 2.4Ghz devices you have and in which mode the work in, ie WPA3 or WPA2.

WPA2 Devices WILL NEVER be able to connect to a WPA3 operation mode, requires both the chipset and software to do so.

Compatible mode operates over the Hub/Extender so best set that up and just enable the 2.4Ghz band in operation at WPA2.

You need to look at the combination off the Equipment in use, Plus with Plus extender, Pro with Pro Extender, and DO NOT mix and match devices or problems may occur, unless your opening description is false.

 https://ee.co.uk/help/broadband/getting-started/compare-our-range-of-broadband-hubs

Device Help | EE

[Phone_Freak]

Thank you Jim. I think both devices are Pro actually - I keep forgetting when they are always changing the names of things. All the 2.4 devices are now showing as connected to the extender and connected to the Compatible Wifi network so are on WPA2 so therefore I don't see why I'm getting this issue. Are you saying I need to turn off 5g on the Compatible WiFI to make them appear in the main hub?

[XRaySpeX]

No, if these devices are 2.4 GHz they can't possibly connect to 5GHz.

[JimM11]

@Phone_Freak They would have to be Pro, the Plus does not have a 6Ghz band.

Devices will attach to where they can, they obviously think that the Extender is the place to be if that is where they connect to, as you say extender when off, zero devices connect, have NO idea where your Pro hub is and how far the 2.4Ghz band is extending to.

Post up your web captures, hiding any IP / Mac address etc and let us look at what you have.

The EE Hub or smart wireless does NOT support chainlink connection force to a node, it's not a facility that either device has link other Hub's on the Mesh. Have a look at the link below, the Asus and the white circles are devices forced to attach on the Node, causes them not to drift about but not 100% guaranteed that they always stick....

Re: Asus ZenWifi BQ16 on EE full fibre 1.6Gbps ? - Page 4 - The EE Community

[Phone_Freak]

I'm not sure what you mean by a web capture, but attached is a screen shot of the main wifi connections screen:

I'll try and do a scrape of the network screen with the ip and mac addresses removed in another post.

[XRaySpeX]

Nowt is attached! Use the Camera icon above your text to upload an image file to here.

The image you had prepared but not posted is empty!

[Phone_Freak]

Sorry, I am visually impaired and I've no idea how to save a screenshot. I did find where to upload it. I press Print Screen and then it tells me to press Enter to select parts of the image with vertical and horizontal pixels, but there doesn't seem to be a way to select the whole screen. If you cna tell me how to do this with the keyboard I can send a screenshot.

[JimM11]

@Phone_Freak Don't worry if you cannot get the print screen captures to work, few different ways and also which versions of OS being used etc.

With regards to the Pro Hub and the SW Extender, everything is attached device wise that you can see, and as before it is hard to direct a device to attach to a particular wifi unit, understand that you have a little concern with them heading off towards the Extender as the preferred device and you would be advised to not rock the boat to much if everything is indeed in a working condition, most are on complaining about not getting devices to attach.

WPA3/WPA2 changes, can be an issue device wise, power down and sometimes reset's forget network connections etc can be required with change, but you do appear to have a handle in what you have done so far at least. 

Not sure what 2.4Ghz devices are in use, but you can try taking a device closer to the main hub, wifi off for a couple minutes then back on again, see if you can determine with the web interface, the drop off then the reconnect where it goes.

[Phone_Freak]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for getting back to me again.

I'm coming to the conclusion that you're basically right - it's better not to try and fix it if it's working. When I turn off the extender none of the
2.4 devices are connected, even the lightbulb which is in the same room as the extender. I think it maybe if I re-paired everything with the extender turned
off it would probably bring them back but I'm not sure it's worth the effort and some of the devices I can't pair myself without someone here with sight
who can help me.

On a slightly different note, now that I've turned the extender off and back on again it's showing as not being present in the network screen, and yet
the extender devices are listed. Meanwhile in the app it shows the extender but with "No signal". All this despite the fact that the extender is working
fine. I can only fix it when this happens by rebooting both the hub and extender. On a similar note if I turn off the 4g backup unit it wont' connect again
unless I reboot the router first. Has anyone else mentioned these issues?

Anyway, I have now managed to do the screenshot and attach it, but I can't remove the IP addresses, but I've got the hub's firewall on so I figure it can't do
any harm.

Adrian.