PC does not 'see' new EE router.

[KenS49]

Hello to all. This is my 1st contact with the community.

I have to start with a rant: I have been "migrated" to EE from BT. I had a fully functioning Broad band system with BT for 10 years with 3 levels of BT Router . With EE I do not!

My PC does not 'see' the EE router as an available network. It 'sees' two of my neighbour's BT routers and their Sky boxes plus my weather station as an AP (Access Point). The laptop in the furthest corner of the house 'sees' the EE router as does my Playstation, my ROKU box and my weather station. The PC has not been moved and the EE Router is in the same location as the BT Router.

My PC is connecting to an EE Hotspot which is possibly hundreds of metres away.  The Wi-Fi extender (my last hope according to EE's IT group, by connecting to that by an Ethernet Cable) that should have been delivered with the Router will now take up to14 days to arrive.

Can anyone suggest why I am unable to connect my PC to the EE router? I am running Windows 8.1 and my Wi-Fi Adapter is an ASUS PCE-N15 11n Wireless LAN PCI-E Card. Any help would be appreciated.

Ken

[bobpullen]

That's a pretty old, 2.4GHz-only Wi-Fi adapter.

If you access the Hub Manager at http://192.168.1.254 and navigate to Advanced Settings > Wireless, you will see an option for 'Wireless Mode' or similar.

You can try downgrading that to a lesser mode to see if it helps. Worth bearing in mind though, that in doing so, you are effectively reducing the Wi-Fi performance/capability for every device on your network.

I'd personally be looking at upgrading the (almost 15 year old) Wi-Fi adapter.

[KenS49]

Hi Bob.

Thanks for your response.

Initially I tried EE's IT Service and the chap there remotely rebooted the router with no improvement and then he switched it to 2.4 GHz only and I rebooted my PC and it still did not show on 'available networks'. He then booked for an IT engineer to call the following day.  He changed the telephone wall socket and tried to pin down the problem but could not get my PC to 'lock on'. The PC is 10 years old as is my wife's laptop and that shows the EE 7 hub. It has a  802.11N Wireless system. The EE chap also tried switching the hub to 2.4gHz with no effect. He suggested buying TP Links and using an Ethernet cable to connect to the router, but when I said that the Wi-Fi extender (that should have been sent with the router) arrived I should use that to connect via an Ethernet cable.

Today, I spent an hour on the phone to a very apologetic chap at EE's IT group who tried very hard but could not help.

I have asked the PC manufacturer if they can help by suggesting which Wi-Fi adapter I should get.

If all else fails, would a USB Wi-Fi adapter do the job?

Finally, what is the major difference between the BT-5 and EE-7 routers that means I could connect to one but not the other?

Ken

[XRaySpeX]

If those nos. in your last sentence are meant to be WiFi generations the EE Smart Hub Plus is WiFi-6.

Did you try @bobpullen 's suggestion of lowering the 'Wireless Mode' ?

You could also try lowering the "Security Type" to WPA2 or WPA-WPA2 on the same page.

[bobpullen]

@KenS49 - The EE hub introduces Wi-Fi 6/ax capability that is lacking in the earlier BT hubs. There is also support for more radio channels and higher channel bandwidth, amongst other things. In short, the hub carries support for technologies that simply didn't exist when your Wi-Fi card was manufactured.

A USB adapter would probably be fine, assuming the USB ports on the machine are at least USB2. If you were to go this route, I'd suggest something that has support for at least 2.4GHz and 5GHz (Wi-Fi 5). 

I wouldn't suggest spending any money though until some of the previous suggestions have been attempted.

[Mustrum]

Hey @KenS49   do you still have the BT Router? If so and you have not had to send it back, you could just carry on using that.

As already explained, it won't have the same features as the EE one, but if your needs were met by the BT one theb it could be an option.

HTH

[KenS49]

Thanks again to Bob, to XRaySpeX and Mustrum.

I did try to access the router via http://192.168.1.254 but the connection 'timed out', the router took too long to respond. Both EE IT chaps (one on the phone who tried remotely) and the one who called to the house, switched the Router to 2.4GHz but it did not show up on the Networks list, even after rebooting both the router and the PC.

Unfortunately, I didn't realise that I was only connected via an EE hotspot (thought EE WiFi was my new router!!) until after the BT5 router had been returned. I was advised by EE to keep the BT Wi-Fi Disc (extender) but that will not pair to the EE hub either.

So, I will wait until the EE extender arrives (up to 14 days!!) to see if that fixes the issue. If not, Plan B may be a USB Wi-Fi adapter (any suggestions on the best would be welcome) plan C: adapters that use the mains as a carrier via Ethernet cable connections(?). Plan D : a new Adapter Card (waiting for advice from PC manufacturer re: possible compatibility issues). Plan E: start saving for a new PC!!!

Thanks again to all.

Ken

[Mystiqueen]

If you have some old Android phone lying around, some of them will let you share their internet access as a hot spot. Might be worth a try while you wait. 

[KenS49]

Thanks Mystiqueen.

I am currently logged on via an EE hotspot (shows at EE WiFi on list of available networks). It means that I have to log in as soon as I open a browser. Seems to be playing tricks on my McAfee software too. However, I won't worry about that until I am up and running via my EE router.

Ken

[KenS49 · Accepted solution]

Thank you to all who responded with help and suggestions.

The EE Wi-Fi extender arrived this morning. I positioned it next to my PC, 'paired ' it to the router and connected my PC to it with an Ethernet cable. I powered up my PC, and disabled the Wi-Fi Adapter via  Control Panel.

All is now well. The system tells me I am enjoying 1Gbit/sec transfer speed !!!

Not sure if that is accurate but it is faster than it has ever been in the last 10 years.

Ken