2.4 and 5 ghz with BT discus

[keithsaunders]

I have BT homehub with 3 discs, one of which is hardwired via ethernet cable to an outbuilding, the other working wirelessly.  They all seem to work perfectly when I check it in the BT app or in the hub manager page.

I now have a solar panel set up and the dongle only (apparently) connects via 2.4 to the wifi, and I need this in order to monitor its performance.  When I switch off 5ghz in the hub manager, all the discs stop working so I can't connect anything to the disc in the outbuilding where the connection to the solar panels is needed.

When I switch 5ghz back on, the discs work perfectly but the solar panel dongle won't connect to my disc (which, by the way, is positioned right next to the dongle with therefore a very strong signal).

I'm struggling with this one - can anybody help?  Can I buy a different wifi extender that only works on 2.4 ghz and plug it into my ethernet cable? It appears that you can't allocate separate SSIDs to the two channels

[countrypaul]

It seems many devices have problems connecting at first to the SH2 when both 2.4 & 5GHz are on the same SSID. In many cases once setup on 2.4FHz only  things will continue to work even when the 5GHz is turned back on.

One thing you could try is moving the router to near your PV and seeing if the PV device will connect to the WiFi even though access to the Internet is unavailable. If so re-enable the 5GHz and see it it will continue to wok and if so put your SH2 back on the Internet, connect up your discs and see if it works.

You can also try a 2.4GHz Access Point but if you want that to work as well as your disc you my need an Ethernet switch unless the AP or disc has 2 Ethernet ports.

[keithsaunders]

Thanks for your rapid response.  Unfortunately I can't move the router any closer and the wifi signal is just too weak and intermittent to connect to the PV system.  I'll  investigate your other solution with the access point.

(I thought the  BT discs were supposed to work on both 2.4ghz and 5ghz.  Am I wrong there?)

[countrypaul]

Perhaps I could have been clearer about moving  the router - I mean disconnect the Internet and any ethernet connection and plug it in near your PV. You will not have Internet for the duration of the test (if you have teenagers you may have a problem!). All you will be testing is whether the PV can connect to the router by WiFi nothing further, so the PV Inverter will not see the Internet during the test.

[Keith_Beddoe]

@keithsaunders 

There is an issue with Givenergy  invertors, if that is what you have. The wireless module does not like to connect to wireless mesh systems for some reason, and will only connect to 2.4GHz transmitted alone.

The answer is to connect a separate 2.4GHz only, wireless access point, with a different SSID. You should be able to connect it to any Ethernet port.

This one is simple to setup https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/access-point/tl-wa801n/

Other invertors may use the same wireless module.