Deco Mesh X60

[troppont]

TPG Mesh Deco X60 how to change chanels without having to go through 6 steps. SInce the latest app update there are 6 steps to changing and resetting chanels. I have to regularly 10x per day change to 2.4 only, to access smart devices and then change back to 2.4 and 5 to use the PC network.

[david64]

Hi @troppont . Can you explain your problem in more detail.

Why do you need to change channels?

Wifi devices can use either the 2.4GHz or 5GHz band to connect to the router, but stay connected all the time.

What is "PC network"?   Are these ethernet computers?

Your wifi device should be able to access all devices on your router.

[troppont]

Thanks David

I have a TPG router with 6 x Deco X60s over a large area. I have about 45 smart devices including lights, motors, switches, sensors (temp and level), etc. I have 8 PCs running Windows 10, with one as a standalone server. To connect the smart devices they all specify connecting via 2.4 and won't connect if 5 is simultaeously enabled. The app indicates that this is the case (Smart Things, Smart life, Tuya and their clones). My PCs on a LAN won't connect to the server if only 2.4 is enabled. So, checking sensors I need to switch to 2.4 and then swicth back to 5 or 2.4 and 5 to connect PCs and server. I don't know why but this is the only way I can get it to work. 

Cheers

T

[david64]

@troppont . Re the business of having 2.4 and 5 simultaneously enabled. Do you have different names for the 2 bands? A device that can connect to only 1 band needs that band enabled. A device that can connect to either one should have a way of being told which one to connect to.

Are the PCs ethernet or wifi or a mix? They must use 5GHz band since you say they won't connect if just 2.4 enabled.

Regarding the Deco units, can each unit have separate wifi names? If they are spread over a large area, the wifi devices are also. If each Deco unit has its own 2 specific names (for 2.4 and 5), the wifi devices can connect to the nearest Deco unit.  On the wifi config screen is a "Share" option. What does this do?
If you can't have separate names, you might be able to do something with the guest network. Have main network for 5GHz and guest network for 2.4GHz.

For the 2.4 band, channels 1 and 6 and 11 are best to use because they don't interfere with each other. Try to get maximum spacing between units with same channel.  The channel being used might be determined by the TPG router and is the only one used in whole network.

The user manual I found describes the app used to configure the Deco units but doesn't go into much detail about each screen. There might be much more detail in the app.

[troppont]

Thanks David

Your idea of setting up the guest network as 2.4 if possible is a great one. 

The smart devices are all only 2.4 and all the apps state that they don't work if both are enabled with a pop up when setting and changing them.

The PCs are a mostly wifi although the server is directly connected to the mesh connected to the router.

All PCs are newish and in theory should connect on both bands but none can connect to the server if only 2.4 is enabled. 

It used to be easy on the Mesh app with a landing page button but that has now been buried 6 steps deep.  

Thanks again for your suggestions.

T

[david64]

@troppont . Are you using the TPG router because you need the VOIP phone or you need the RJ11 connector for FTTB/FTTN? The X60 can do all router functions, even set VLAN ID.

It seems like the PCs only connect to 5GHz band. Can they detect both bands? You should see all networks detected by PC at the time you connect.

You can use this command on a wifi PC to check all the surrounding networks.

netsh wlan show all

Your equipment is all strange if it doesn't work when both bands are enabled. Electronically, they should only be aware of the band they've been designed to detect.

Does the Deco allow different names for 2.4 and 5 bands? The website mentions seamless roaming and adaptive path selection. Wondering if these might affect your devices.