Issues with devices connecting to AP6 Pro instead of closer AP

Hi, I’ve got some Google/Nest cameras, a doorbell and 2 Nest Protect (smoke alarms). I’ve noticed since the firmware update that my Nest Doorbell and my Smoke alarms are always connecting or trying to connect to the AP6 pro that’s outside at the rear of my house when there are 2 APs inside the house that are much closer, not the biggest issue in the world, but the doorbell is either offline or not viewable as the signal to it is so poor. The downstairs AP6 is still connecting other devies as is the upsatirs one, just not sure why some of my devices are trying to reach the furthest away AP.

Screenshot 2024-11-04 at 21.16.48

Edit to this to say that I’ve noticed there are more devices now not connecting to the closer AP-Downstairs and for some reason are connecting to the AP6 Pro outside instead

In the SSID settings, you can expand the Advanced section to find a Min. Connection Strength option. It maybe be possible to tweak this value a bit and help encourage the clients to stay put.

IOT devices are notoriously bad at picking the closest AP, but another thing you can do is create an SSID specifically for that AP, and connect those devices to that SSID. You can even make it 2 or 5 GHz only to force the connection to something you know works well.

1 Like

It’s not just IOT devices though, my Mac Mini has been doing the same thing as have several other devices, its almost like the 2.4ghz network isn’t broadcasting any more on the other APs

Just out of curiosity why does the AP6 pro show 2 channels (if that’s what they are)?

One is the 2.4G channel, the other is the 5G channel. If there is only one channel, it is only broadcasting on that one band. If you hover over the channel with your mouse it will give you details.

Not sure having all 3 APs on the same channel is helping, can you try making sure they are all each on a different channel.

So are we saying that AP-Downstairs and AP-Upstairs is only broadcasting one of 2.4 or 5ghz?

I’ve changed the channel on the downstairs AP and now I can see it in the display but also everything is connecting to it once again.

From this latest picture, AP-Downstairs is broadcasting both 2.4 and 5. AP - Outside is broadcasting 2.5 and 5. AP-Upstairs in ONLY broadcasting 5.

Which is what I thought too, so as above once I added in channel 6 manually on downstairs, its all OK again, but I have no idea why the Downstairs and Upstairs AP’s were only broadcasting on 5 and not 2.4 and 5, I had nothing different on the config and still don’t but the upstairs AP is still only 5ghz

I’ve just updated the settings to change them back to auto for 2.4 and now they are all showing as broadcasting it, albeit on the same channel, but it’s still connecting my devices where before it wasn’t. It seems like the 2.4 GHz dropped off after the firmware update or something else.

Just have a go at setting them all manually…

The automatic channel selection does its best to coordinate all APs and reduce interference. Auto/Auto is preferable.

Try running some scans from the Info tab of each AP. You will probably see that the 2GHz channels 1-11 show heavy interference.

Quick scan complete

AP - Downstairs

AP - Upstairs

AP - Outside

I am more than happy that its all working again and it seems to be quite stable, just odd that it had a glitch were the 2.4ghz channel vanished :slight_smile:

In some cases with interference like this, it’s a miracle if some clients will connect and maintain a stable uplink. If you read the list of top interferers, you may find that you have rogue broadcasts nearby.

Or you’ll recognize some neighbors who maybe have their wifi turned up a little too high.

Yeah, I guess this is probably a result of most ISPs, certainly in the UK, guaranteeing WiFi in every room. They must just whack the gain right up!

This morning, I woke up to some devices not connecting again, and upon checking, both my AP6s are now back to 5ghz only. Do you have any ideas why/how this has happened?

Yes, as I said, you have too much interference on the 2GHz band. You can manually assign channels to force the broadcast anyway, but your devices will probably have spotty connections.

Oh, sorry I missed that from the conversation above, I didn’t realise they would just top broadcasting. I’ve set them to different manual channels and shall see how they perform.