Force devices to connect to 2.4 Wifi band of SSID

[jb91imi]

Hi. I am trying to have a couple devices connect to our access point's SSID, which is dual-band. These devices work best on 2.4 from what the manufacturer is telling us. Is there a way to force these devices to connect only to the 2.4 band of our Meraki AP from settings on the Meraki Dashboard? I've added them to the AP allow list and only whitelisted them on the specific SSID I want them on, but it looks like I have no way of forcing them to only connect to the 2.4 band.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[UKDanJones]

Um… I’m not sure what vendor is telling you that a client works better on 2.4 GHz rather than 5 GHz but I find that hard to believe…

either way, you should always separate your bands into a separate 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz SSID as it’s the only way to ensure that 5 GHz clients use 5 GHz. 

Id create a separate SSID that is only broadcast on 2.4 GHz and one that is only broadcast on 5 GHz. 5 GHz should always be better as there should be less utilisation on those channels. 

[UKDanJones]

I don’t find it hard to believe that someone told you that… I find it hard to believe that it’s true! 

[jb91imi]

Agreed, it makes no logical sense, I'm just sort of at my wit's end. I think it's a separate issue on the client side but they're not accepting this, they think it's on our end. 

And to make a correction, the client ONLY is capable of connect to a 2.4 band.

[UKDanJones]

Ah… if they’re only capable of connecting to 2.4 GHz then it’s probably something else that’s tripping them up… 

when you create your separate 2.4 GHz SSID make sure you use the lowest minimum data rates, remove 802.11 k,r,v,w etc. They’ll probably work if you do that. They probably just have very basic drivers and can’t handle anything but the most basic settings. 

[alemabrahao]

That's not how it works my dear friend, the decision is for the device client that considers a series of factors.

In its place, I would create a dedicated 2.4Ghz SSID.

[jb91imi]

Oh trust me, I'm aware haha. I'm just humoring them, I guess. I will just have to set up a separate 2.4Ghz SSID. Thanks!

[PhilipDAth]

>. Is there a way to force these devices to connect only to the 2.4

That is a question for the same manufacturer.  If that is their recommendation, then they should provide a method to do this.