Connecting Smart Plugs

[robertkent87]

I've recently switched to Vodafone broadband and I can't connect any of my smart plugs to the new network. My previous network worked fine - you reset the devices and put them in pairing mode, select your network (2.4Ghz required) and the phone app finds them. With my new Vodafone router the smart devices are never found, I've tried both 24/5 Ghz mode and 2.4Ghz only mode. I'm not sure what's wrong.

[zorgster]

Hi... 

It is not necessary to disable the WiFi on the Vodafone Router - just use different SSIDs and connect what you need to the Sky WiFi.  If the Sky router is passing DHCP requests back to the Vodafone router on x.x.1.1.

Tho you would want to be careful with traffic management.  (For example, if you have a TV on the Vodafone Router and a Media server on the Sky Wifi - then you'll be running all that traffic across both routers.)

Re: Powerline Extender

The Powerline can work without Wifi.  Cabling it into the router creates a wired network between the router and the Powerline adapter (or extender).  No WiFi settings are transferred over that connection.  If you then had another adapter or extender plugged in and you connect your laptop (or TV) with a cable to it... then you would get a connection to the internet.   The addition of WiFi extension... means that the Extender is capable of being paired with your WiFi, copying the settings and then re-broadcasting it.   It can extend ANY WiFi network, if it has paired with it, even if it is cabled into either the Vodafone or Sky router.  I think you could even try removing the cable between the extender and the router and see if you can still connect to the internet... (if you know a device is connecting through the Powerlines and not directly to the Sky.

If you get your PPPoE login details you could just use the old Sky router?

[Dougster]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post such a informative response! Will enjoy working through these options.

[zorgster]

Happy to help... 

If you want to set up the Sky router instead of the Vodafone one, you'd best start a web chat with Vodafone - and say you want to set up your own router to see if it resolves an issue... and ask for the PPPoE login details - and I think they would tell you.  If (because it's in the script?) they try to get you to reset the router to see if that solves the 'problem' - just refuse and say you've tried everything... and now you want to try a new router. 🙂 

Oliver

[Tim-Green]

Hi all.

reviving this thread after my frustration with Vodafone regarding smart plugs. (See my other post)

Had no success after trying all the "fixes" posted on the forum.

Superfast 1 Pro customer, so contacted the tech team. After the usual "try this/switch that/crap Chinese plugs" got down to the bare bones that there is no way on the planet to manually change from 5ghz to 2.4ghz.

Even the tech guy was embarrassed & frustrated that Vodafone had, for reasons yet to be reasonably explained, thrown themselves back into the dark ages by negating this option.

Even if it has to be done at their end, it would help.

Vodafone MUST make it clear to people that the product they are selling is not compatible with the 2.4ghz smart home market. It is their duty of care to prospective customers. 

[CoolPickle]

Hi there,

For any future comers to this post, I managed to get my Sonoff RE5V1C 5v wifi inching/self-lock relay module working despite my Vodafone router throwing a spanner into my works.

What I noticed is that each time I try registering the switch, the router logs this activity with an error code. The error code was simply the firewall, so I disabled the firewall and was able to register. For the sake of security, I reenabled the firewall after registering and the switch kept working. Once you log in to the router dashboard, the event log can be found under the Status & Support tab > Event Log.

Hope this helps.

Note: I haven't tried this method, but the error log also contains the MAC address of the switch so adding and allowing that MAC address from the Settings tab > MAC Filter menu in your dashboard may also help register the switch.

Note: Router firmware may vary, so the dashboard tabs/submenus could be different, but there should be something similar...

[Brinsley31]

Hi. I had the same problem and I found an easy way out. Find the furthest plug socket that you can from your router, with several brick walls in between. Use this to set up the smartplugs as it is probably outside the range of the 5GHz signal but not the 2.4GHz one. My router is on the hallway and I set up all my 10 smartplugs (various manufacturers) with the Smart Life app in my conservatory. They all work fine now. My only remaining bugbear is my SkyQ box which continually drops off the WiFi for no good reason!

[Evie]

Hi @Brinsley31, thanks for sharing! In regards to your SkyQ box, does the same issue happen if you connect it via ethernet cable (if there is an available port)?

[Brinsley31]

Joining your Sky Q box to your router via an Ethernet cable does seem to get over the problem of it dropping off the WiFi signal. 

[Evie]

@Brinsley31 This is just to check that the issue doesn't carry on when connected directly to the router.

[Platty1]

Best solution from vodafone support... Go at least 5 metres from the router and it changes to 2.4ghz... You can reconnect plugs to wifi from there! Was at this for ages - simple, effective solution!