@DrMike wrote:
So, I was hoping once and for all to get definitive answers to a question that I have never been 100% clear about.
I have an XB7 (and formerly and XB6) where I was careful NOT to enable band steering and kept my 2.4 and 5 GHz SSID's separate. Reason for doing so is that I have a number of smart home IoT stuff - lights, air purifier, heater and so forth ALL of which ONLY work on the 2.4 band. I will use the 5GHz band for laptops or phones etc but make sure that all my IoT appliances/devices have a dedicated 2.4 band always.
Up until my recent modem swap everything worked well but now that I have the newer modem, ironically it does not seem like my WiFi coverage is as good as with the old one. I drop connection more readily on things like front doorbell and it made me wonder if I need and pods or similar boosters. Except I understand that to use the Rogers wifi pods you MUST enable band steering. Is that true, first of all?
To install Ignite WiFi Pods, you must use a common network name and passphrase on both the 2.4 and 5GHz bands on the Ignite gateway and you must have band steering enabled. Once Pods are installed, you will lose the option to configure separate network names.
And, if so, and *IF* I did that, would I be potentially fixing one problem by creating a new one? Specifically, what actually happens under band steering protocols given that most of my connected devices will NOT work unless they are on the 2.4 Ghz band?
That all depends on why band steering is problematic. Band steering does not necessarily prevent a device from communicating on the 2.4 GHz band. However, if the problematic device can only discover the Wi-Fi network through passive scanning, it won't be able to connect when band steering is enabled.
Some devices can operate on both the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands but, for whatever reason, they insist on making their initial network connection on the 2.4 GHz band. However, with band steering enabled, the AP will often only accept connections from 5 GHz-capable devices on the 5 GHz band.
Sometimes, a device merely needs a firmware update to be able to work with band steering... but the problem is that they need a network connection in order to fetch this update.
In your case, before going with Pods, I would still try to see what you can do to stabilize your 2.4 GHz connectivity. The 2.4 GHz band is problematic because signals on those frequencies are blocked by metal and absorbed by water. The first step to resolving connection problems is to make sure that the signal path is free from anything that could be blocking or weakening the signal.
Test your WiFi connections using the Ignite WiFi app. You should see this option on the app's main screen. You need to identify which devices have poor Wi-Fi connectivity.
I would also install a Wi-Fi scanner on a mobile device and walk around your house looking for Wi-Fi dead spots. I recall you mentioning that you have an iPhone, so try installing Apple's AirPort Utility. This tool is really for configuring Apple's AirPort Wi-Fi base stations but it also has a Wi-Fi Scanner that you can activate in Settings. It's free, it comes from a trustworthy source, it's simple to use, and it works. Ideally, your devices should see an RSSI of -70 dBm or better. If you see a lower (more-negative) number, that's not good; the device will barely be able to hold a connection and performance will be horrible.
The XB7 also has 4 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi antennas; the XB6 only has 2, so your 2.4 GHz performance should have improved. If something about your home's construction is blocking the signal, you may be able to improve your Wi-Fi performance by moving your gateway. You may only be need to move it only a few inches to make a HUGE difference. You really need to walk around your home with a Wi-Fi scanner to see where the trouble-spots are and identify the root cause of why signals weaken, especially if the signal strength drops off sharply.
@DrMike can you have a look at the modem's 5 Ghz channel to see what the channel width happens to be and what channel its running on. And, is the doorbell running on a 2.4 or 5 Ghz channel. I suspect its a 2.4 Gz channel, in which case it doesn't matter what the 5 Ghz channel is doing.
Also, if you have access to the specs, can you have a look at the wifi security for the doorbell. I'm wondering if its a TKIP/AES security setting and if it can be changed to AES only. There's a post from today or yesterday concerning connecting a printer. The printer in question appears to be running TKIP/AES and I suspect that the modem is probably set for AES only. TKIP (short for Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) is no longer secure and shouldn't be used. So, its possible that the modem is rejecting devices set for TKIP/AES, or at the very least, giving those devices some degree of difficulty when attempting to connect to the modem.
In theory if the modem and doorbell are set to run WPA2 AES, then there shouldn't be any issue with connecting the two. But, if the doorbell is hardcoded to TKIP/AES, I could see the modem giving the doorbell some grief when you try to connect the two.
If you're using a Windows laptop, consider loading Winfi Lite from: https://www.tethabyte.com/download
That's a very good windows based wifi analyzer. If you do load it, you can select the 2.4 or 5 Ghz channels, or both for display. If you select the 2.4 or 5 Ghz channels for display, you will see the channel count on the left hand side near the top of the display. It would be good to know what those channel counts happen to be, just to know how many other networks you're competing with.
Using a router for short test purposes would allow you to confirm if you're dealing with a connectivity issue with the doorbell, or ongoing stupidity from the modem. At the very least, you'd be able to call a spade a spade.....
@DrMike I don't think that this has anything to do with your Wi-Fi security settings.
The XB7 has a different Wi-Fi chipset an driver than your XB6. It's possible that there could be a interoperability issue with your doorbell that needs to be investigated.
Also, there are a HUGE number of Wi-Fi parameters beyond the 5 or 6 that are visible through the admin tools that we have access to. My commercial Wi-Fi APs have a more extensive admin and management UI than most routers; you can fine-tune EVERYTHING. With the Ignite gateways, all the settings that we have access to are managed automatically, and I don't know if Rogers has any Wi-Fi parameters configured differently from the recommended defaults.
When a 2.4 GHz-only IoT device has stability issues, despite getting a strong Wi-Fi signal from the AP, one of the culprits may be that Beamforming is enabled. With a modern Wi-Fi chipset, beamforming should only be enabled in 802.11ac mode; the 2.4 GHz band on the Ignite gateways are set by Rogers to be 802.11 g/n, so beamforming should not be active and should not be a problem. That said, I'm pretty sure that the Broadcom Wi-Fi 6 chipset and drivers DO allow you to enable beamforming on 2.4 GHz band, in any mode. I wonder whether somebody on the Rogers (or Comcast) network team thought that it would be a really great idea to do this. (Perhaps @CommunityHelps can contact the network team to find out whether the Ignite gateways have been configured or provisioned with any non-default Wi-Fi settings.) That said, if Beamforming was the thing that was causing stability issues, then I would expect more of your 2.4 GHz IoT devices to be dropping off the network.
Also, how frequently does your Nest Doorbell lose connectivity? Does it happen like clockwork at specific time intervals? If so, then there are a number of things at the protocol level that could be causing this to happen.
As I have suggested before, if you have an old router that you can put into "Access Point mode", i would try disabling the 2.4 GHz band on the XB7 (or renaming the network so that no devices will connect to it) and use an external access point for 2.4 GHz network connectivity just to see whether this improves stability.
@DrMike ASUS has instructions on how to put your router into "Access Point Mode" on their support site: https://www.asus.com/support/faq/1005259
You mentioned that signal strength was not a problem, and you will need to connect your ASUS router to the XB7 by Ethernet, so I would just place the router/AP right next to your XB7. We're only trying to see whether your doorbell's connection on the 2.4 GHz band stabilizes when connected to something other that the XB7, so disable the 5 GHz band on your router/AP and either rename the 2.4 GHz network on the XB7 or disable it while your perform your test.
Fwiw, I wouldn't place the modem and router side by side. Thats' just to avoid any potential EMI issues between the two.
There are a couple of potential issues here, a wifi issue and a "connect to the modem issue".
If the Asus router is set up initially to run in full router mode, with its firewall running, its in charge of its own network. Being able to connect the doorbell and phone to the router and seeing that the doorbell works as advertised rules out issues with the doorbell wifi capability.
If you flip the router into Access Point mode (Administration ... Operation mode), the modem is in charge of the network and the router should now be running as a dumb access point. If you're still able to run the doorbell and phone via the router's wifi, that rules out any issues with how the modem deals with the doorbell, in terms of the modem allowing a connection to the doorbell, and points to an issue between the doorbell and the modem's wifi.
If you find that the doorbell can't connect to the phone as previously seen, that indicates a problem with the firmware design of the modem, or more specifically, restrictions imposed by Comcast when it comes to connecting with certain devices.
As @-G- indicated, this is just for test purposes. Does the doorbell work as advertised when connected to the router, or is there some issue with the doorbell itself. You can either run the router's wifi with its own network name and passphrase, or disable the modem's 2.4 Ghz network and run the router with the same 2.4 Ghz network name and passphrase. That's your choice....
@DrMike you raise an interesting question. I'll pick on Asus here just because I use an Asus RT-AX86U. The question is, can you run an Asus mesh network and leave Smart Connect and Roaming disabled, so that you would have a 2.4 Ghz mesh, and a 5 Ghz mesh network running. I don't know if enabling an Asus mesh network automatically enables Smart Connect and Roaming between the two networks. I think that would be logical for enabling a Mesh network. If it does, then you can force a device to stay on one network by using the Roaming blocklist. Seems to me that the way to set up a Mesh network on an Asus router is to set up the main router using separate network names, enable the Roaming blocklist and enter the MAC addresses for those devices that you want to stay on their assigned network. The blocklist on my AX86U can hold 64 MAC addresses. When that is sorted out, enable the Mesh network and add the mesh nodes using the same network names as used by the main router (I believe). The only question I have is what happens to Smart Connect and Roaming. I'd have to see if there's an answer for that.
If you wanted to do some research on this, post a question on the ASUS AX Routers & Adapters (Wi-Fi 6/6e) forum which is located here:
https://www.snbforums.com/forums/asus-ax-routers-adapters-wi-fi-6-6e.56/
Enabling (wifi) Smart Connect will result in the same network name used for both networks. Roaming will allow the user to set a power level where the roaming from one network to another will occur.
So, what you really want to know is the best sequence of setting up a mesh network, main router and then mesh node, so that you end up with the IoT devices locked into using a particular network, either the 2.4 or 5 Ghz network. Since the Smart Connect setting results in both networks using the same network, what happens the minute you enable it? Does it attempt to force 2.4 Ghz devices onto the 5 Ghz network? And if so, will the Roaming Blocklist keep the devices on the 2.4 Ghz network? Or, is it better just to leave the Smart Connect setting disabled so that you have a 2.4 Ghz mesh network and a 5 Ghz mesh network? There are some idiosyncrasies here that need some explanation. If you do some digging in the Asus forums on that site, you might discover the answer.
Here's one possible solution, create a MAC address filter set to Reject for the band in question:
So, in that thread, the OP set up a Wireless MAC Filter for 2.4GHz in order to force a device to stay on the 5 Ghz network. Looks like it worked perfectly. Maybe thats the way to do this. Set up the mesh network then set up MAC filtering on the band that you don't want the device to use. Reboot the router and in theory you should be there.
I wonder if the XB7 has the same capability, that is, to use a MAC filter for a specific band so that one particular device stays on the other band.
Just to point out, each device that operates on wifi should identify the bands that it can use. So, a 2.4 Ghz only device should not be forced onto a 5 Ghz band by a modem or router. That simply should not happen. However, as usual, there are caveats here. Is the device correctly reporting its transmit/receive band correctly, and, is the modem or router correctly interpreting the same data? A failure to correctly transmit or receive that data, by either device would result in a modem or router attempting to force a device onto a band that it can't operate on.
Fwiw, if you wanted to put the modem into Bridge mode and run your own router and mesh network that shouldn't be a problem. I'm running an XB7 now (grrrrr) in Bridge mode and I haven't seen any issues other than getting back into the modem. But, I don't use Rogers TV and the set top boxes that go along with it. If you happen to use Rogers TV with the set top boxes, that should not prevent you from running your own router. The only caveat is that if you run into problems, you need to configure your network in the standard Rogers/Comcast configuration so that tech support can do any necessary troubleshooting.
So, part of the problem that you're facing is Rogers backend system which is controlling the wifi network. I suspect, and don't quote me on this, that even if you flip the modem to Bridge mode, you will still end up with wifi networks running on the modem, which the set top boxes will communicate with, regardless of your intention to run them off of the router. Maybe @-G- can add further comment to this issue. So far, after a couple of days, I haven't seen any evidence of hidden networks transmitting from my XB7, but, if I look around the neighbourhood, I can see hidden networks transmitting from Technicolour modems. There shouldn't be any hidden networks transmitting from my XB7 as I don't have any set top boxes and from what I can see on WinFi Lite, there are no hidden networks running.
So, to the present situation. You shouldn't have any issue disabling the wifi networks on the modem and running your own router in Access Point mode, with separate 2.4 and 5 Ghz networks. The only question is whether or not the modem's wifi will be completely disabled. The same comment about hidden wifi networks can be said here, "are they really disabled?"
If it turned out that the router provided all the coverage throughout the house that you needed, hurrah, it works. Only concern at this point is updating the router to the latest Asus stock firmware or Merlin's Asuswrt.
If it turns out that the router doesn't cover everything, then you're into some type of mesh network where the base unit will most likely have to be running in full router mode. That means running the modem in Bridge mode. Now, just to point out, you can run a double Network Address Translation (NAT). In that configuration, with the modem in Gateway mode and router running in full router mode, each device is providing a Network Address Translation from the external WAN address to the correct LAN IP address and port. That's not efficient, but, it can be done, and as long as you don't have any extraordinary requirements in your local network, you might not see any problems with that configuration. If you're a gamer or you have an application with a low latency requirement, that configuration might not work. But, that's something that you might not know until your there. You would have to set up that configuration and run it for a couple of days, looking for any problems that might arise. If you have to use port forwarding, this might not work due to the double NAT configuration.
So, what would I do at the present time:
1. Download WinFi lite onto a windows laptop if you happen to have one. This can be downloaded from:
2. With WinFi lite running, select the RSSI column so that it sorts the data via received power level with the highest power level at the top. You can sort the column up and down by selecting (clicking) the title bar at the top of the column. Stand just inside the door, close to the doorbell and watch the RSSI value. While you're standing there, have someone slowly rotate the modem, clockwise 90 degrees, and then counter-clock wise 90 degrees from its original position. Watch the RSSI value to see if the rotation makes any difference. See if you can manage to identify a peak and low value for the RSSI value. Maybe the rotation won't make any difference, but it never hurts to give this a try. If you could manage to reach a peak, that is higher than the current value, maybe that will solve the problem at not cost other than a little experimentation. This modem has 4 antenna for 2.4 Ghz and 4 antenna for 5 Ghz. The question is, is the antenna pattern 90 degrees or 180 degrees for each antenna. Maybe there's a null and peak in the radiation pattern? I don't know if the FCC data for the modem will have that, but, I'll have to have a look. No guarantees....
If this doesn't help in any way, shape or form, its onto plan B.
Plan B:
1. Set the router up nearby. When you're ready to kick it into Access Point mode, disable the modem's wifi and set the router to run in Access Point mode. At this point you would need to assess the operating range from the router and determine also if the modem might still be presenting issues with any IoT devices. If it does, then the modem is using a MAC whitelist or blacklist or some combination of the two. If the modem doesn't present any issues, then its a question of how well the router covers the whole house and move on from there.
Now, its been a while since I've seen someone running a router in Access Point mode who then had to kick the router back into router mode. If you disconnect the router from the modem and restart/reboot the router, it will end up with some IP address, not too sure what that might be. It might revert back to 192.168.50.1 which is the Asus default IP address after a factory reset. In any event, for a connected pc or laptop, you should be able to run a ipconfig command to see what IP address the router actually has, so that you can log back into the router and switch it back to full router mode.
What router to you happen to have on hand? And. do you know what firmware is currently loaded?
Just to point out, the modem wifi can run Modes A, G, N, AC, AX. So, depending on the age of the router, it probably doesn't run 802.11ax, and possibly doesn't run 802.11ac. That would drop your wifi speeds by a wide margin, but, experimenting with the router in Access Point mode would help you determine if the problem with the doorbell or any other device is caused by the modem. At that point its a question of whether or not you want to spend any money on a new router.
Hey @DrMike, your very welcome, but, I'm not sure that I'm helping at this point 😞 Everything that I post is usually typed in handraulically, unless I can copy small bits and pieces from some of my previous posts. Sometimes I'll go back again and again until I'm satisfied that I think I've covered all of the possibilities. Sometimes the answer will be very easy, a one or two liner, and sometimes it will take a little longer 🙂 At times, doing this is like being a detective, its supposed to work this way, but, it actually works that way .... soooo, what's the next step? A little imagination comes into play at some point. Most of this is pretty logical, except for times when device instructions are clear as mud, or the firmware is absolutely lacking in terms of a thoughtful design and user interface.
Ok, so, thinking a little more on this issue, I'll pick on the Asus router again, given what I've read. Here's an experiment you can try to bounce a device back and forth from the 2.4 to the 5 Ghz network. I'll suggest using a dual band phone as a test subject and a wifi laptop to control the test, and to test out the the laptop connection via wifi when when the wifi band MAC Filter setting is set to "Deny" during the test.
1. Connect the Asus router's WAN port to one to the modem's LAN ports.
2. Fire up the router in full router mode, log into the router, set up the 2.4 and 5 Ghz networks with test network names so you don't have to change the XB7 network names. You could disable the XB7 wifi, depending on a possible revolt from the family. If so, keep the test to the Asus router only. Set the wifi's Smart Connect to enable. That will or should change one of the network names change so that their both the same. Ensure that the phone and laptop are connected to the router via wifi. You could do that prior to enabling Smart Connect, depending on which network name actually changes when you enable Smart Connect.
3. Navigate to the System Log .... Wifi Log where you will see the devices running on the 2.4 or 5 Ghz network. This step is just to see where the networks are listed within the two bands.
4. Keeping in mind which band the phone is connected to, navigate to the Wireless .... Wireless MAC filter for that band.
5. Set the MAC Filter Mode to Reject, and in the drop down menu, select the phone as the Reject test subject. Hit Add (+) to add the phone to the filter list and hit Apply.
6. Navigate back to the System Log .... Wifi Log to see if the phone has flipped to the other band. I don't know if the change will be immediate when you hit the apply button, or if you have to reboot the router to see the change occur. Either way, the result is that the phone should flip to the other band.
Say for the sake of the argument that both phone and laptop started on the 5 Ghz network and you select the phone as the denied device for the 5 Ghz band. That should leave the laptop connected to the router without any restrictions on access to the router or access to the internet. So, that's one item to check out at the same time that you're attempting to bounce the phone back and forth between the two networks.
7. When you can see that the phone has flipped to the other band, go back into original band where you enabled the MAC Filter and disable the filter. Hit apply and then change the network band so that you're looking at the MAC Filter for the band that the phone is operating on. I'm assuming here that the phone doesn't flip back automatically. If it does that blows away this part of the test, but, if you parked the phone at a distance from the router, then it should remain on the 2.4 Ghz band if it was forced to go there, or if you forced the phone there and then carried the phone to the far corner of the house. Now, you should be able to force the phone back to the 5 Ghz band by enabling the MAC Filter for the 2.4 Ghz band, select the phone as the target and hit Apply. Same as before, I don't know if the change is automatic or possibly you have to reboot the router. You'll have to determine that when you're there.
Throughout all of this, the laptop should remain connected, with trouble and without any requirement to enter the passphrase for its connected network. It should operate normally. So, you're looking for two answers at this point, the first being the ability to bounce devices off either band at will, when Smart Connect (Band Steering) is enabled and second, to ensure that the MAC Filter Deny setting doesn't have any adverse effect on other connected devices.
If this goes according to plan, it should prove that Asus routers have the ability to run Smart Connect (Band Steering) and have the ability to easily deal with single band devices, like doorbells, printers, etc. Even if Smart Connect attempted to force a device onto the wrong band (usually the 5 Ghz band) on device start up, you will have the ability to force the device back onto the 2.4 Ghz band and keep it there. Fwiw, the Asus Mesh system apparently has the ability to pin a device to a specific node (router) in the mesh network, so, that should allow the user to force a device to run off of a specific node, and on a specific 2.4 or 5 Ghz network.
Now, the next question is whether or not the XB7 can do the same thing? I didn't have a close look at the settings this week when I set up my XB7, so I don't know if it has a MAC Filter that can be set to Accept or Deny. I read a short Xfinity post last night that alluded to an Accept / Deny capability, but, you or someone else would have to confirm that it exists in the wifi settings.
The post that I read thru indicated that when the user attempted to deny access to a device, it resulted in other devices requiring a sign on to access the wifi network. At this point the moderator took it off-line and that was the end of the thread. So, it looks like a similar function is built into the XB7, but, it also looks like Comcast mucked up the implementation. Instead of denying access to a single MAC address, it looked as if the network was denied to all devices. Oops...... That post was over a year old, so, maybe Comcast has fixed the problem?
So, if you can get a good handle on the Asus router, in terms of bouncing a device off of either network, try the same with the XB7. In this case I'd probably start out with the control pc or laptop running an ethernet connection so that you won't loose access to the modem. If you have a second laptop, or wifi connected pc, use that as a test subject to see if it will continue to access the modem or internet when you attempt to bounce a phone off one of the XB7 networks.
Fwiw, if you can figure this one out, it will help a good number of other customers who have connection problems with single band printers. They'll owe you a few rounds of your favorite beverage.
One last item comes to mind, and that is the use of Band Steering itself. I don't use Band Steering and probably never will. Looking at the nearby network last night with WinFi lite, I can see thirty 5 Ghz networks running and at least one hundred 2.4 Ghz networks running. That's from the front of the house which faces the neighbourhood. If I'm upstairs those numbers increase. I've seen at least one hundred and fifty 2.4 Ghz networks running within RF range. So, do I want band steering shifting a device from where my 5 Ghz network runs essentially without competition for airtime, to a low 5 Ghz network where most of the 5 Ghz competition runs, or possibly over to a much slower 2.4 Ghz network where I'm competing with one hundred or more other networks for airtime. No thanks. I know what works well, and what doesn't work. So, just suggesting that a little snooping on the neighbourhood with WinFi Lite is worthwhile to determine if you're really getting the most out of the channels that your networks are running on. They might be fine where they are, or, perhaps, running separate networks on channels chosen by you might, or should result in better wifi performance. Food for thought ......
@DrMike wrote:
So while all that was going on I was doing a bit of reading myself and I got the general feeling that the whole Smart Connect/band steering thing is likely not just a Rogers imposition, but is the way most mesh networks work. Makes sense when you think about it since if you are relying on Mesh to regulate and optimize, you are de facto giving up control of what connects to what.
But I also read that MOST newer devices are more than capable of telling the system what they need and getting the band that they work on. So if a device ONLY works on 2.4Ghz, that's what it gets. The problem, it is seeming clearer to me is less about RUNNING devices under Smart Connect/band steering ONCE they are set up, but in getting them set up in the first place if the setup demands ONLY 2.4GHz.🤣
Yes, it's true that most Wi-Fi mesh networks employ Band Steering... and it can cause various problems.
- Some older devices can't detect the presence of the Wi-Fi network
- It causes problems where the IoT device connects on the 2.4 GHz band but cannot communicate with a smart phone that is connected on a different band
- Sometimes, the Wi-Fi chipset in the IoT device has interoperability issues with the Wi-Fi Access Point chipset.
My biggest issue with Ignite Wi-Fi and the Ignite gateway itself is that the implementation is too simplistic. All but the most basic configuration options have been removed or hidden. Users have little control over how the gateway operates and the Rogers/Comcast implementation does not provide way to work around problems if a device refuses to connect, nor can it accommodate common quirks associated with getting Smart Home / IoT devices online.
My Linksys Velop mesh allows me to split the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. (I can't do it through the Linksys app but can do it through the web admin UI (via the special CA login))
Some Wi-Fi mesh networks allow you to configure a 2.4 GHz-only Guest network. However, Guest networks are typically blocked from communicating with other devices on your in-home network, so this option can be problematic. However, others find a way to make this work and consider walling off IoT devices from the rest of the network a good thing from a security perspective.
The newer Netgear Wi-Fi mesh gear has a dedicated IoT network that only operates on the 2.4 GHz band. It's implemented like a Guest network but still allows connectivity with all devices on your main in-home Wi-Fi network.
The eero also has a nifty feature that allows you to temporarily "hide" the 5 GHz band.
I think the TP-Link Deco mesh also allows you to temporarily disable the 5 GHz band.
However, if you have a mesh network like Ignite Wi-Fi or Google Nest Wi-Fi, that has no workarounds for getting problematic IoT/2.4 GHz devices online, the option of last resort is to install a simple, cheap Wi-Fi access point. Something like this. Connect it via Ethernet and place it in a location that will provide as much coverage as possible within your home.
One thing that I would DEFINITELY avoid is using Wi-Fi Range Extenders. Yes, they are a nice cheap alternative for expanding Wi-Fi coverage. The problem is that they typically rewrite the MAC address when they relay traffic -- this causes roaming devices to appear twice in the Ignite Gateway's device list, depending on whether they are connected directly or through the RE. It also causes problems for the IoT management app, that also sees the device differently depending on whether it is connected to the Gateway or to the RE.
Good evening @LegacyXXII,
Thank you for posting the details of your issue to the Community. Not being able to connect your Nests hub and thermostat certainly sounds frustrating. Depending on the model, it can only connect to the 2.4 GHz band of your home network.
You should have therefore been successful connecting them with your WiFi network by disabling band steering and labeling both individual networks. Have you also reviewed the recent discussions in this thread?
Once these steps have been completed, connect your Nest smart devices to the 2.4 GHz network. After they're connected, log back into your Ignite HomeConnect app and de-select that use different names box and it will put the network back to its previous state with band steering enabled. Your Google hardware should remain connected.
If you are still experiencing trouble, facing an error message or if you have uncovered additional details that could allow us to guide you better, please let us know. Have you ever reached out to Google Support with regards to this?
We want to help you in reaching a resolution!
RogersMaude
@LegacyXXII If you go the Google Nest Community support forums, you will see many users reporting problems connecting their Google home products to (Comcast) Xfinity Wi-Fi. (The Rogers Ignite Gateway is a Comcast-developed product.)
e.g. https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Wifi/connecting-Google-Nest-WiFi-to-an-xfinity/m-p/44511
Hopefully you can find suggestions and a solution in that Forum.
Most of the time, temporarily disabling the 5GHz Wi-Fi radio will allow the device to connect.
Another problem that you could run into is that the Google device successfully connects to Wi-Fi but cannot initialize because its connections to Google DNS get blocked, and this can happen if Advanced Security or Parental Controls are enabled on the Ignite Gateway. Go into the HomeConnect app and verify that these security options are disabled.
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