Skinny B618S doesn't support 5GHz WiFi?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Skinny B618S doesn't support 5GHz WiFi?

siyuan

189 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#269670 1-Apr-2020 09:12

I just received my Skinny 4G broadband modem, I'm having trouble getting the 5GHz WiFi to show up even though it's enabled in Settings. Initially I thought it might be me screwing up the settings, but after restoring to factory default, the 5GHz SSID still doesn't show up on any of my devices.

Does anyone know if 5GHz is meant to work on Skinny?

1 | 2

12999 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lizard Networks

#2451999 1-Apr-2020 09:25

Does your device itself support 5ghz..

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

snnet

1410 posts

Uber Geek

#2452012 1-Apr-2020 09:39

I've had constant issues with my Spark version of this device with 5G wifi, sometimes it simply stops broadcasting to about 5 devices in my house that support 5GHz and it takes about 12 reboots and a reset to get it going again. Thought it might just be me though

siyuan

189 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2452017 1-Apr-2020 09:45

hio77:

Does your device itself support 5ghz..

Yep, I've been using my phone as a hotspot on 5GHz to my laptop, the desktop doesn't support 5GHz so it can't see my phone. Now that I've got the Skinny 4G broadband, I did a scan on both my phone and the laptop, I didn't see the 5GHz SSID.

Jase2985

13461 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2452021 1-Apr-2020 09:58

siyuan:

hio77:

Does your device itself support 5ghz..

Yep, I've been using my phone as a hotspot on 5GHz to my laptop, the desktop doesn't support 5GHz so it can't see my phone. Now that I've got the Skinny 4G broadband, I did a scan on both my phone and the laptop, I didn't see the 5GHz SSID.

are you sure you haven't hidden the SSID or have you checked on the router that its actually enabled?

siyuan

189 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2452026 1-Apr-2020 10:03

This is what the settings look like, I'm also confused by a second entry for each WiFi band, they are off by default though:

wratterus

1687 posts

Uber Geek

#2452041 1-Apr-2020 10:29

Second entry is for a guest network. I've seen quite a few of these around and not seen the mentioned issue before. Do you have an android phone? If so, fire up an app like WiFi analyzer or WiFiman and see if that sees anything on the 5GHz band.

Maybe try disabling then re-enabling the 5GHz network in the router?

Do the 5GHz options look the same as the 2.4? Maybe post a screenshot of those settings too, all we are currently seeing there is the 2.4GHz settings.

siyuan

189 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2452046 1-Apr-2020 10:37

wratterus:

Second entry is for a guest network. I've seen quite a few of these around and not seen the mentioned issue before. Do you have an android phone? If so, fire up an app like WiFi analyzer or WiFiman and see if that sees anything on the 5GHz band.

Maybe try disabling then re-enabling the 5GHz network in the router?

Do the 5GHz options look the same as the 2.4? Maybe post a screenshot of those settings too, all we are currently seeing there is the 2.4GHz settings.

Yep I tried looking in WiFi Analyzer, only saw the 2.4GHz band, the 5GHz band is missing, I only 3 other 5GHz SSIDs from my neighbours.

Apart from trying factory restting the modem, I've also tried toggling both the 2.4GHz band and the 5GHz band, I've also tried rebooting the device after toggling 2.4GHz/5GHz bands. Unfortunately none of those helped.

I also just checked for firmware updates, it's already up-to-date.

Lenovo

Shop now for Lenovo laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

wratterus

1687 posts

Uber Geek

#2452047 1-Apr-2020 10:39

If you click 'Edit' on the enabled 5GHz network (3rd option down) is SSID broadcast definitely enabled there?

If it is, a factory reset might be the best option.

hio77

12999 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lizard Networks

#2452048 1-Apr-2020 10:39

snnet:

I've had constant issues with my Spark version of this device with 5G wifi, sometimes it simply stops broadcasting to about 5 devices in my house that support 5GHz and it takes about 12 reboots and a reset to get it going again. Thought it might just be me though

Interesting.

I've never noticed an issue and my desk has a few of these sitting on it.

if its replicable i'd love to have a look at your configuration.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

Dairyxox

1594 posts

Uber Geek

#2452069 1-Apr-2020 10:54

Maybe its AUTO channel hopping?

Is there an option in Advanced WLAN to specify a specific channel? If so force it to a channel between 1 & 12.

Don't use 13 because some of your devices might not play nicely.

siyuan

189 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2452071 1-Apr-2020 10:58

I went away for a hour or so and came back to find the 5GHz band (default SSID) having appeared, not sure how. So I went in to settings to change the 5GHz SSID to my preferred name, it disappeared again. So I just performed another factory reset, the 5GHz band still doesn't show up. I'll wait for another hour or so and see if the 5GHz comes back again.

siyuan

189 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2452106 1-Apr-2020 11:16

Thanks for all your input, my hunch was correct, the 5GHz band does work, but only comes online after a long wait. I can't be bothered changing the default SSID now that it's working, I'll just leave it running as is.

hio77

12999 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lizard Networks

#2452109 1-Apr-2020 11:17

Dairyxox:

Maybe its AUTO channel hopping?

Is there an option in Advanced WLAN to specify a specific channel? If so force it to a channel between 1 & 12.

Don't use 13 because some of your devices might not play nicely.

I'm suspecting it might be DFS...

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

wratterus

1687 posts

Uber Geek

#2452112 1-Apr-2020 11:18

Could that be a DFS thing at all @hio77 ? Do those even work on DFS channels?

@siyuan try hard setting a channel like either 36 or 149 for example.

Edit - beat me to it!

siyuan

189 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2452204 1-Apr-2020 11:51

wratterus:

Could that be a DFS thing at all @hio77 ? Do those even work on DFS channels?

@siyuan try hard setting a channel like either 36 or 149 for example.

Edit - beat me to it!

Auto channel selection picked channel 116, so I manually picked that as well. 5GHz continues to work, but as soon as I change the SSID, the 5GHz band disappears again. I'll wait for a bit and see if it comes back.

1 | 2