Smart devices connecting to 2.4ghz

[Danielle1]

Is there a way to switch between 5ghz and 2.4ghz? I am finding that my smart devices ie light bulbs won't connect to the 5ghz and request 2.4ghz. My old supplier I used to be able to switch between but can't see this option with Now. Can anyone help or suggest alternative way to connect devices?

[schnapps]

Hi @Danielle1 

There is some instructions in this linked thread below.

https://community.nowtv.com/t5/Setup-Performance/Dual-Speed-2-4Ghz-or-5Ghz/m-p/574467 

[RoyB]

@Danielle1 

As explained by @Jayach in that thread, the setting up of 2.4GHz devices will likely need to be done on a device which is itself on the 2.4GHz band.

I‘ve just, as promised in that thread, dug out a few Teckin smart plugs and configured them, starting with an iPad on the 5GHz band.

The instructions with the plugs are much better than they used to be, and go into detail about splitting the bands and having separate SSIDs, to force the iPad onto the 2.4GHz band by choosing that SSID, after which it can talk to the plugs.

But it also describes a downside to splitting the bands, one I thought would exist but Now don’t mention in their advice about splitting the bands, which is that if you create separate SSIDs, you then have to reconnect each of your existing devices, 5GHz or 2.4GHz, to one of the new SSIDs; your devices won’t find them for themselves.

Given this, and given that my BT router won’t let me split the bands anyway, the simpler solution, also described by Teckin, seemed to be to just turn off the 5GHz band while configuring the plugs, and then to turn it on afterwards.

This was a very interesting exercise, as all the 5GHz devices had to find a new home, which they did, most seamlessly after a short delay, though a Google Play device only found its way back as far as Global Radio, where previously it had been playing Classic FM from that source. But no devices got lost; they all steered themselves successfully onto 2.4GHz.

So I then set the plugs up via the iPad, which must needs had steered itself onto 2.4GHz rather than lose the connection, and this was straightforward.

So I re-enabled 5GHz, and the 5GHz devices steered themselves quite seamlessly back onto that band - and Classic FM kept playing, no doubt because the Google Play device was able to control the process in this direction.

And once connected, all the 2.4GHz Teckin plugs could perfectly well be configured from the 5GHz iPad - on/off schedules, adding them to Google Home, and so on.