Connecting 2.4 GHz only IoT devices

March 9, 2024

Many WiFi devices are only capable of operating on the 2.4 GHz band. AK-Fi Work uses the same SSID for both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, and most 2.4 GHz-only devices will connect to the WorkPass network without issue. 
 
However, there are 2.4 GHz smart home and IoT devices that require the use of another device such as a mobile phone running an app to connect them to a WiFi network. In some of these cases, their app may refuse to connect these devices to the WiFi network when the mobile is connected to the 5 GHz band.
 
If you run into this specific issue onboarding an IoT device using an app, here are a few options to connect these devices to your network.

Make sure the app for the device setup is up to date

The device manufacturer may have recently updated their app, removing the limitation of only allowing you to complete the device setup if your mobile phone is connected to 2.4 GHz.

Call GCI   

GCI support is able to temporarily force your mobile device to connect on 2.4 GHz, so you can complete the IoT device setup. Since support can only force your mobile to connect on 2.4 GHz temporarily, this option can only be done in real-time and therefore cannot be completed over email. 

Create a twin network

A twin network can be set up using a Windows laptop hotspot, a mobile hotspot on a spare Android phone, or an old wireless router. This will allow the device to connect and learn the network information from the twin network, so it can connect to the actual WorkPass network later. 
  1. Configure the twin network using the same SSID and password used for the Secure Zone of your WorkPass network.
  2. Once the twin network is up and running, go to the WorkPass app. Here you will need to add one extra character to the Secure Zone network name. (Usually adding a number 1 after the network name is good enough.) Once you save the changes this will cause all the devices connected to the Secure Zone to disconnect and then automatically connect to the twin network that you have just created.
  3. Confirm that your mobile device running the IoT device app has successfully connected to the twin network.
  4. Proceed with the onboarding of the IoT device(s). You should no longer get an error message.
  5. Once the IoT device(s) have been successfully set up, the next step will be to go back to the WorkPass app and change the Secure Zone network name back to how it was before.
  6. Turn off the twin network. All the devices will automatically disconnect from the twin network and then connect back to the Secure Zone, including the IoT devices that were configured.