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How to connect my andraoid phone to 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi of T-Moblie Gateway?

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I am using a T-Mobile Gateway as my home Wi-Fi network instead of a regular router. Recently, I tried to connect a smart device (a Wi-Fi dimmer switch) to the network using the Smart Life app. However, this device only supports 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, not 5 GHz. I understand that the T-Mobile Gateway is a dual-band and supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies, but I cannot find an option to select either of these frequencies exclusively. The auto-connection feature sometimes shows 5G and sometimes shows 2.4G/5G but never displays 2.4G alone (please refer to the attached screenshot). When I attempt to set up the device via the Smart Life app on my smartphone, it always displays the message "Your mobile phone is connected to 5 GHz Wi-Fi. If the device does not support 5 GHz Wi-Fi, please change to 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi" even though the connection of my andriod phone was showing 2.4G/5G. How can I connect to the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi instead of the 5 GHz Wi-Fi in this case?

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Best answer by tomwil 7 March 2023, 22:08

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make sure on the router side that the 2.4 shows up and isnt hidden. could be your issue. out of curiosity though..why does it matter which you are on? opposite side of the house or different floor and not pulling in the 5Ghz that well?

***I like many others come onto this site for assistance and to help others. Marking a reply as helpful or correct helps others with like issues when they try to search the site for assistance. I do not work for Tmobile and my suggestions and or opinions are my own**.~~~~ The site here is primarily peer to peer with some TMO moderation to keep the site in order..They do not have account access..The prefered method would be to contact TMO through either calling in (tier 1 support) or by contacting them through either Facebook/Twitter (tier 2 support)**~~~~
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make sure on the router side that the 2.4 shows up and isnt hidden. could be your issue. out of curiosity though..why does it matter which you are on? opposite side of the house or different floor and not pulling in the 5Ghz that well?

As mentioned above, I'm not using a regular router or modem, but rather, I'm using T-Mobile Gateway. Unlike most dual-band routers that come with separate signals for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, although the T-Mobile Gateway supports both 2.4 G and 5 G bands, but it always connects to the Wi-Fi automatically without providing an option to select a specific band when I connect my mobile phone or computer to it. I don’t know whether you've used or are currently using the T-Mobile Gateway. If you have and like to share your experience on how to connect a mobile phone to the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network, it will be appreciated!

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If you have and like to share your experience on how to connect a mobile phone to the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network, it will be appreciated!

 

The T-Mobile Home Internet gateways use WiFi6 ax protocols, which basically combines both 2.4GHz and 5GHz with a shared WiFi broadcast name.

Sometimes, to connect older devices (that use b/n/g/ac protocols), you may have to split the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, and/or lower the transmission and encryption protocols.

 

 

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Tomwil, Thank you so much for your response! However, I would appreciate it if you could provide more detailed instructions on how to split the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. Specifically, can you explain how to access the page you mentioned in your previous message? A step-by-step guide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you again!

T
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A step-by-step guide would be greatly appreciated.

 

You don’t mention which model gateway you have (Nokia/Arcadyan/Sagemcom), but the following thread may help:

 

 

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My T-Mobile Gateway model is 5G21-12W-A. After enterring into the getaway via 192.168.12.1, the screen show as the attached screenshot. There is no Separate Network option. How can I do in this case?

T
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My T-Mobile Gateway model is 5G21-12W-A. After enterring into the getaway via 192.168.12.1, the screen show as the attached screenshot. There is no Separate Network option. How can I do in this case?

 

You have the Nokia gateway.

 

The Nokia Users Guide, page 22, gives you the options on the gateway network side.

 

To separate the 2.4GHz band from the 5GHz band, you change the transmission mode of the 2.4GHz SSID1 band from ax/g to n/g.  This gets the 2.4GHz band out of WiFi6 mode.  You may also need to lower the encryption, if the device still does not connect to the gateway.

 

 

F
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Userlevel 7
Badge +16

 

If you have and like to share your experience on how to connect a mobile phone to the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network, it will be appreciated!

 

The T-Mobile Home Internet gateways use WiFi6 ax protocols, which basically combines both 2.4GHz and 5GHz with a shared WiFi broadcast name.

Sometimes, to connect older devices (that use b/n/g/ac protocols), you may have to split the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, and/or lower the transmission and encryption protocols.

 

 

on my Comcast set up they switched me to WPA3. which we found out shuts down 2.4..we had to go back in and change it to WPA3-Personal-Transisition to get 2.4 back.

***I like many others come onto this site for assistance and to help others. Marking a reply as helpful or correct helps others with like issues when they try to search the site for assistance. I do not work for Tmobile and my suggestions and or opinions are my own**.~~~~ The site here is primarily peer to peer with some TMO moderation to keep the site in order..They do not have account access..The prefered method would be to contact TMO through either calling in (tier 1 support) or by contacting them through either Facebook/Twitter (tier 2 support)**~~~~
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Tonwli, Thank you very much for your patient guidance. Following your instructions, I changed the Transmission Mode of the 2.4GHz network from Auto (ax/g) to n/g and saved the changes (see attached screenshot). However, I am still unble to see a separate Wi-Fi connection on my mobile phone or computer. It still appears as a 2.4G/5G connection (see attached). What could be the issue and how can I solve it?

T
Userlevel 6
Badge +9

Following your instructions, I changed the Transmission Mode of the 2.4GHz network from Auto (ax/g) to n/g and saved the changes (see attached screenshot). However, I am still unble to see a separate Wi-Fi connection on my mobile phone or computer. It still appears as a 2.4G/5G connection (see attached). What could be the issue and how can I solve it?

 

Even though you lowered the transmission mode of the 2.4GHz band, it is still sharing the same WiFi broadcast name as the 5GHz band.

 

Two separate options:

  1. Rename the SSID1 name, so it doesn’t share the same broadcast name as the 5GHz band, or ...
  2. Select SSID2, enable it, and name it differently from the 5GHz band.  This will create an additional accessible 2.4GHz band.  You may have to lower the transmission and/or encryption protocols for SSID2.

 

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This work! Thank you very very much!!!! Have a nice day.

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Following your instructions, I changed the Transmission Mode of the 2.4GHz network from Auto (ax/g) to n/g and saved the changes (see attached screenshot). However, I am still unble to see a separate Wi-Fi connection on my mobile phone or computer. It still appears as a 2.4G/5G connection (see attached). What could be the issue and how can I solve it?

 

Even though you lowered the transmission mode of the 2.4GHz band, it is still sharing the same WiFi broadcast name as the 5GHz band.

 

Two separate options:

  1. Rename the SSID1 name, so it doesn’t share the same broadcast name as the 5GHz band, or ...
  2. Select SSID2, enable it, and name it differently from the 5GHz band.  This will create an additional accessible 2.4GHz band.  You may have to lower the transmission and/or encryption protocols for SSID2.

 

Dear Tomwil, Is there a simple way to temporarily disable the 5GHz signal without modifying the name of the Wi-Fi network for 2.4GHz, and only keep the 2.4GHz signal? This is because I want to set up a device that only supports 2.4GHz through a mobile phone, but then revert the network back to its original 5GHz/2.4GHz state after the device is set up. Thank you in advance for your kind reply.

H
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Userlevel 7
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Following your instructions, I changed the Transmission Mode of the 2.4GHz network from Auto (ax/g) to n/g and saved the changes (see attached screenshot). However, I am still unble to see a separate Wi-Fi connection on my mobile phone or computer. It still appears as a 2.4G/5G connection (see attached). What could be the issue and how can I solve it?

 

Even though you lowered the transmission mode of the 2.4GHz band, it is still sharing the same WiFi broadcast name as the 5GHz band.

 

Two separate options:

  1. Rename the SSID1 name, so it doesn’t share the same broadcast name as the 5GHz band, or ...
  2. Select SSID2, enable it, and name it differently from the 5GHz band.  This will create an additional accessible 2.4GHz band.  You may have to lower the transmission and/or encryption protocols for SSID2.

 

Dear Tomwil, Is there a simple way to temporarily disable the 5GHz signal without modifying the name of the Wi-Fi network for 2.4GHz, and only keep the 2.4GHz signal? This is because I want to set up a device that only supports 2.4GHz through a mobile phone, but then revert the network back to its original 5GHz/2.4GHz state after the device is set up. Thank you in advance for your kind reply.

By default, the 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks are both on and broadcasting together so when you connect to the network, the device you are connecting can utilize the one that works best for it. When you have a device like your smart switch that can only connect to 2.4GHz, you name that network so you can connect to that specifically and set up the switch. During the setup, you separate the networks on your gateway, connect to the 2.4GHz network on your phone, and then go through the app to manage the switch. After that, you can go back to the wifi settings on your phone and select the 5GHz network to use regularly. There is no need to turn one signal off for any amount of time, and when you change your phone back to the 5GHz network the smart switch will still be on the 2.4GHz and not have any issues. 

I have done this a dozen times with the devices in my home. Hopefully this helps you. 

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Thank you  HeavenM, I’m going to try it with your way. 

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