Smartlife Android app that fails on mesh surfboard

Connecting smart devices that require a 2.4 GHz network to a mesh router with a combined 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz network can be tricky. Here are some workarounds you can try:

1. Move Far Away from the Router: Move your device far enough from the router so that it connects to the 2.4 GHz band instead of the 5 GHz band. The 5 GHz band has a shorter range, so increasing the distance can force the connection to switch 

2. Use an Old Device: Use an older phone or tablet that only supports 2.4 GHz to set up your smart device. This can help bypass the issue of the combined network

3. Turn Off Band Steering: Band steering prioritizes the 5 GHz band. Turning off this feature can help your Smart device connect to the 2.4 GHz band

For you reference, here is a link below which has the steps on how to disable the band steering

http://arris.force.com/consumers/articles/knowledge/mAX-Routers-Band-Steering-Setup

Here’s the problem -

#1 I have 20 or so smart devices scattered across the property for controlling lights mainly and they all are 2.4 ghz and all work fine on my Arris modem/router dedicated SSID for 2.4 ghz. They cant be physically moved. The new Mesh devices had to be placed in key locations to cover the interior and exterior cameras and door bell.

#2 My phone is a Oukitel WP35 and I selected the mesh single 2.4/5 ghz wifi channel. The phone will connect to what ever the SSID on the phone that I chose but when the SSID wifi is on auto select as is the case with the mesh devices, no one is in charge on what to use. With the Arris Modem/Router I have a dedicated 2.4 ghz SSID and choosing that SSID on my phones ensures a 2.4 ghz connection.

#3 Band steering according to the Surfboard description IMO is the problem for some smart 2.4 Ghz devices or the smartlife app. There should be an option to select between an attempt at 5ghz connection with a fallback of 2.4ghz if the signal is too weak or force 2.4 ghz only. In other words, two SSID’s like the Arris Modem/Router.

From the many tests I’ve carried out the Smartlife app will find my 2.4 ghz devices in ‘discovery mode’ all over my home within 10 seconds on my Arris Modem/Router but it cant find them when I use the single mesh SSID wifi. To be clear, I change the wi-fi connection on my phone to match the wifi network I want to use for the 2.4 ghz smart devices but mesh doesn’t work and as a consequence I can’t switch to ‘bridge mode’ on my Arris modem/router to remove the need for two routers in serial. Luckily, there seems no degradation of TV streaming or computer use so my wife isn’t ‘beating me up’ as the Amazon Fire sticks connect to that and not the mesh. The mesh covers my PC’s, laptops, cameras and I was hoping the smart devices but for now they are on the Modem/Router.

It should be a simple matter for Arris to update their mesh software to allow 2 SSID’s ideally with one having just 2.4ghz for legacy wifi and an auto rate 5 ghz / 2.4 ghz SSID for newer devices with dual mode like most of my PC devices and my phone.

One point I would make is that disabling band steering doesn’t seem clear over what rate will be used if disabled. I assume if enabled, it drops down to 2.4 ghz is signal strength on 5ghz is low due to walls blocking the higher rate. There is no apparent option to permanent force an SSID to be 2.4ghz which legacy smart devices need.

If that's the case, connect the Smartlife Switches to the existing 2.4GHz Wi-Fi on the TG2472G gateway. After connecting them, check for any updates for the Smartlife app and run a firmware update for the switched if necessary.

Once any pending updates have been installed, try reconnecting the Smartlife Switches to the mAX Pro W133 mesh network.

Prior to restoring access to my Smartlife switches on the TG2472G modem/router via the Smartlife app on my android phone, I did carry out a prompted update for the app although none of the switches did any update. There was no change as I had no problem connecting the smart switches on its 2.4 ghz SSID of the  TG2472G but re-configuring my phone for the auto 2.4gh/5 ghz mAXPro W133 mesh network failed to connect to any smart switch using the Smartlife app on the band steering 2.4ghz/5 gh mesh router.

I can’t determine whether the issue is app related or an auto speed fail as I can only report what I see. However as an ex Modem engineer from the 1980’s when we had auto baud rate negotiation between modems, it was normally the case that the host had to do the negotiation of the data rate and not have both client and host negotiate at the same time. With wi-fi data rate negotiation my phone is dual band and if I’m correct, the Max W133 is also and further complicated by having only 1 SSID while the TG2472G modem/router has two dedicated SSID’s.  BTW, all 3 mesh routers have been updated with the latest Arris software as well

Until I can get a working 2.4 ghz wifi connection for my smart devices to the Max 133 whether by using the single SSID & band steering or perhaps an s/w update for a dedicated 2.4ghz channel, I can’t switch the TG2472G modem/router to bridge mode that is the recommended option for mesh routers. Additionally, I don’t want to disrupt TV services that currently use the TG2472G on its 5ghz SSID and switch them to the Max W133 unless until I can get Smart devices working on the mesh devices.

Regards Mike