Halo black discs - lost mesh?

[AKnox87]

I have the black discs, which I believe were set up as a mesh system.

Model: WE410443-SA

Less than a month ago the problems started when some devices started recognising the discs as separate access points.

A tech was sent to check it out and he said it's not working as a mesh system; they're working as repeaters and he couldn't see any option to set them up as a mesh system. He called into question whether they were ever a mesh system (I don't know, are they?)

Possibly related.. at the time that some devices began recognising the discs separately, the "whole home wifi" app stopped working with my equipment. Every time I try to use it, it comes up with error 012. I've tried uninstalling the app, wiping all memory of it then reinstalling it. I tried factory resetting the discs and setting them back up again.

They can be set up on the main BT app, but the whole home wifi app just isn't getting past the part where it connects to the hub.

Is that app required to set it up as a mesh system? The discs acting as repeaters is only causing issues with devices. I have a console and a laptop that refuse to connect at all because of access points "clashing".

I'm confused and so is every BT advisor I've spoken to. Please help!

[NeilO]

@AKnox87 welcome to the community and thanks for posting. With Complete wifi, you have to use the MyBT app to set up and manage the discs. The Whole home wifi app has never worked with these discs as the Whole home wifi discs are a different product that has its own app.

Have you tried a factory reset of the discs and Hub? I'd also recommend running the online troubleshooter as that may help resolve any connectivity issues with the complete wifi discs. 

Thanks

Neil

[AKnox87]

@NeilO Thank you.

Yes, I did a factory reset of the hub and all the discs and started over and they're still performing as repeaters instead of mesh.

[Keith_Beddoe]

Bear in mind that each disc would have its own BSSID (Wireless Mac address), so a device will see them as individual access points and will only connect to one of them, that is determine mostly by the device itself.

The fact that they all have the same SSID (that is not the same as the BSSID), would normally indicate that they are operating as a mesh. The best way to prove it is to move a mobile device from one area of the house to another, and see if the signal level is maintained. That would not happen if they were just acting as repeaters.

Not all wireless devices roam correctly, and on some Android devices, you have to enable wireless roaming, as its not always enabled by default.

I am not familiar with the discs, but on my own Tenda Nova Mesh, you can see a network diagram, and when a device moves from one node to another, you can see it happening.

[AKnox87]

Thank you. The tech who came and checked the hub said it's definitely not performing as a mesh system.
The problems that started with clashing access points still persists.

[Keith_Beddoe]

The tech who came and checked the hub said it's definitely not performing as a mesh system.

Not sure how they managed to prove that, unless they had direct access to the internal networking protocol. The usual way would be to see if a good connection is maintained when moving between nodes.

[AKnox87]

He logged into the network with the admin details from his own device. I don't know if his device had more access than mine.

[Keith_Beddoe]

As to whether the operate as a mesh, its probably best to read this thread and then decide for yourself.

https://community.bt.com/t5/Home-setup-Wi-Fi-network/Introducing-Complete-Wi-Fi-from-BT/td-p/1901302

[AKnox87]

Thank you. I'm a bit confused, is whether or not these discs are a mesh system open to interpretation?

[Les-Gibson]

There was a time when things were simple, the black discs were Complete Wi-Fi and the white discs were Wholehome Wi-fi but then BT confused the issue by introducing black (or some dark shade of grey) Wholehome discs.

With that in mind, could you clarify which discs you have, these BT Whole Home Wi-Fi 6 - Three Discs (105601) | BT Shop or these Complete Wifi | Wifi Extender & Booster | BT