Ignite WiFi Modem - Connecting a 802.11 b/g Device

[Dire]

So today I brought out my Nintendo wii (not the wii u) to play on. It’s been a year since I’ve played it and since then I upgraded to the ignite package, with the new modem of course. I inputted the correct password and let the console test the connection, only to have it fail. I double checked the password and security settings only to fail again and again. It was easy to get a Nintendo switch onto my connection but either the wii or ignite modem refuse to work together. Has anyone had a similar issue, if so how did you solve it? Thank you for any help.

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[RogersAndy]

Hey @Dire!

Grats on the Nintendo Wii! It definitely has a fantastic array of classic games available! Alas as the Wii is quite a dated system, as such it's wireless security standards are dated as well and do not meet the recommended minimum for today's connected device requirements. I would highly recommend you connect the Wii with an Ethernet cable if you're using it for something like Netflix.

@RogersAndy

[-G-]

@Dire  The Wii is a bit dated...  it supports 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g and WPA2-AES but it looks like it can only discover Wi-Fi networks through passive scans; it did not see by Wi-Fi network if I had Band Steering enabled.  This might also be preventing your Wii from automatically joining your Wi-Fi network.

Can you try connecting to Wi-Fi by adding a new connection and when you do, use the Manual Setup button?  You will need to enter your network name/passphrase and select security settings manually but it should be possible to connect.

[Dire]

Thanks for the replies. I went in to setup manually, but still nothing. After spending sometime making sure all the information I was putting in was correct the wii still failed. I even attempted to use my PC as a wifi hotspot to see if that would work, but that came up empty As well. Funny thing is I found an old Nintendo ds, got it powered up and it found my internet without issue. I’m going to fiddle with the wii internet connection for a little while longer, and if I find a solution I’ll post it back here but if anyone has any ideas I’d be more that happy to hear them.

[-G-]

@Dire  Here's another trick that you can try: rename the 5 GHz network; e.g. add a "-5G" to the SSID.  When the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands have different network names, this will disable Band Steering and may allow your Wii to connect.

[Tblairhicks]

Any luck?  I also tried to hook my Wii up to my Rogers Ignite wifi the other day, but no luck.   Following this post, hopefully someone has a solution.

[RogersCorey]

Good afternoon @Tblairhicks!

I highly suspect this issue is being caused by Band Steering. The Wii doesn't support 5G, so you won't be able to connect to a network that is actively using 5G.

Have you tried disabling Band Steering to see if you can then connect to your 2.4G network?

Regards,

RogersCorey

[Tblairhicks]

how would I go about doing that?

[Hhendriks]

Acer Laptop will not connect to New Ignite WiFi hub wirelessly

Acer Aspire Laptop, with a 802.11 b/g wireless modem can see the wireless network but will not connect. When I check on my Ignite Access App, it does not se it either. Running the diagnostic (windows) Signal strength is strong, 4 bars out of 4. It said to reboot the access point which I did, but no good. after a couple of tries I get a message that states the [problem is with the router ( I'm assuming that mean the Hub) or my Laptop adapter. The wireless did work with my prior Rogers digital network just fine.

Any Ideas or is my laptop just too old?

[RogersCorey]

Hi again @Tblairhicks!

If you're unfamiliar with the process of disabling band steering, we can help!

Please PM us @CommunityHelps and we'll get you set up. If you're not familiar with our PMing process, you can find instructions here.

Regards,

RogersCorey

[Dire]

Sorry for such a long delay to respond. There seems to be 2 ways  to connect to the internet with a wii console, but Both are a bit of a pain. Just so people know I tried every conceivable method to get online, including disabling band steering, I even disabled 5-g entirely so only 2.5 b/g was available.

  What I did was I found an old router that i had previously used with the wii years ago so I knew it had only b/g. I connected it via an Ethernet cable to a pod (you can also connect directly to the ignite modem through its Ethernet) and I set it up like you normally would. After several attempts (the first 3 or so attempts the wii couldn’t even find the routers wifi name) the connection test passed and I was online. The speed is pretty bad about 1to 2 MB up as well as down, but for the wii it’s good enough. I even dl a demo from the now defunct wii shop.

the second way is similar to the first. You need to put your Rogers ignite modem into bridge mode, then use an old router connected to the modem to get online. A third way is to get a USB to Ethernet adapter, amazon sells them for as low as 16 and as high as 28 dollars Canadian and just connect directly to the Rogers modem. As I said it’s a pain but it can be done. Hope this helps anyone.

[-G-]

@Dire  Did you try deleting all of the WiFi networks that were configured into your Wii and then try to join your WiFi network using the Manual Setup option that I had suggested in a previous post?  This is what you need to do to join a hidden WiFi network, and that should allow you to connect the Wii to a WiFi network with Pods or that has band steering enabled.

[Dire]

I did, i thought for sure your idea would work. I deleted every setup and went in manually but the wii still said connection test failed. I spent a week off and on trying the manual setup process. Funny thing is after that the wii began to see 3 or at times 4 versions of my ssid. It didn’t matter which one I chose though, it still failed the connection test.

[-G-]

@Dire  Oh, fun.  I've gotten my Wii to connect to a few different generations of WiFi products, in various configurations (including a Velop WiFi mesh, although given your results, that may not work anymore on recent firmware) but I don't have Pods in my network so I was unable to test with them.

You might also be able to connect the Wii through an old-fashioned Range Extender.