Smart plug on 5Ghz WiFi

Karl_T

Karl_T

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I bought this:

Found out it does not work with my WiFi as its 5 gHz. Dumb me, I thought WiFi was WiFi. OK, I am looking all over for an outdoor smart plug timer that will work, no joy so far. Is it made? Is there some sort of WiFi signal converter to add this frequency? I do NOT want to mess with the WiFi setup that is working with so many other devices.

I also need a temp humidity sensor to work with the 5GHz WiFi .Going to be a problem here too?

The project here is to monitor temp and humidity, turn on a cooler if needed. Need to do this from 2000 miles away.

Is there a better way to skin this cat?
 
If you have a dual wifi router, it will have 2.4ghz and 5ghz.

If you have a standard router it will be 2.4ghz.

**Most** modern routers are dual. My ISP supplied router (bag of junk that it is) has Dual wifi.

Have you looked at the router itself to see if it is dual and whether 5ghz is disabled or not via the software on the router itself?
 
As far as i know, its a 5ghz router. comes with the ATT fiber setup.

We spent A LOT of time trying to pair the smart plug, no joy. Then learned it won't work with the router we have.

messing with this thing is above my pay grade. I'll just ruin what is already working.
 
Last edited:
Karl_T said:
As far as i know, its a 5ghz router. comes with the ATT fiber setup.

messing with this thing is above my pay grade. I'll just ruin what is already working.
Click to expand...

Dang it, forgot US was a different setup....

In UK we have dual wifi routers.
 
they exist here too, it's just not on everything.
 
You likely have dual band router, but the nature of the beast, your device will not work.

First, use local admin to access the router.

You should be able to break apart the 2 bands, use same name but add 5 to the 5g and 2 to the 2g.

Your device should now see the 2g network.


They are all tied together at the network level.
Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk
 
Step one is to physically look at the router it's self. There WILL be a sticker somewhere that lists what frequency or frequencies it has inside of it. You can get into most (most....) routers from most (most....) internet providers pretty easily with standard passwords that Google happily provides. (Very reassuring stuff right there, Tech support hates it, but I fix that before anything goes "live" every time their "cheapest they can buy" obsolete routers get replaced by the next "cheapest they can buy but still not quite obsolete" upgrade comes along.

Anyhow, don't go switching anything in the router until you physically look at the case. If it's not advertised, the FCC label will have that information. If you have that feature on your router (it's been common for quite some time now), that will be the easiest way out.
 
I have a whole home automation system, irrigation, lighting, HVAC, etc. I use Hubitat as a controller and z-wave devices. z-wave is a mesh RF protocol designed for automation systems and supported by a few dozen different vendors. After upgrading to a z-wave network all my problematic WiFi devices went in the trash. It is likely that devices with WiFi implementations over 5 or 6 years old are no longer able to connect to a modern WiFi router due to updated security protocols. I have had this problem many times! Even if your switch is brand new the WiFi implementation may be too old to connect to your router.

Just because you have a 5 Ghz device and a 5 Ghz router doesn't mean they will talk to each other. The same with 2.4 Ghz.
 
Maybe they added this to the description after you purchased yours, but it's in there:
Network security: Requires a secured 2.4 GHz wifi network connection(does not support 5.0Ghz networks.) Trouble connecting? Try AP mode, ETL Listed (Products are guaranteed with our Hassle-free 15 months warranty).
Click to expand...

In general, most recent routers will support 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. However, since it's an ATT provided router you may have a more difficult time adjusting the settings, but if you can get to the admin page, enabling 2.4Ghz shouldn't mess with any other connections.

For me, all my IOT devices are on a guest network and do not have access to my home network. Also, 2.4Ghz is still very common because you will achieve far better range (not throughput).

ATT Fiber uses 5Ghz because you would be bandwidth limited at 2.4Ghz. Essentially, if you want 1Gbps, you need a 5Ghz connection. If you're ok with 500Mbps then a 2.4Ghz connection will suffice (barely). Pretty sure your smart plug would work with a 56k modem, but those are long gone ;)

I would just send it back and find a smart plug that says it works with 5Ghz, far easier than messing with your router if you're not sure what you're doing.
 
I’m a network admin by training. Yes, just find something that works with 5ghz if you don’t want to hassle with it.

I run Unifi devices at home and work because Cisco is too expensive and licensing makes it more so.

If you’re using the router provided by your ISP options will be limited.

More fun to make stuff in the shop anyway.

John
 
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