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WiFi issues with a MacBook & BT Home Hub 5
4 August 2014 | by Okay so not exactly a ham radio blog entry here but its Wi-Fi related, so in a tenuous link its sort of radio related right ?
Recently I upgraded my home broadband to BT Infinity 2. It has been fantastic except for one little annoying thing. Every time I try to reconnect to the Wi-Fi my MacBook will not reconnect and insists the password is invalid.
This has only happened since the BT Home Hub 5 came about and I genuinely thought I had a broken hub. The issue seems to fix itself after a reboot of the hub, but within a day or so its annoying habit of throwing you off comes back.
So what’s the issue here – and more importantly the fix.
MacBook’s seem to have a hard time switching between Wi-Fi or 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. Why this is the case god knows. But the solution is very simple and easy to do.
You will now see options for 2.4Ghz 5Ghz and WPS. We are going to change the way 5Ghz works.
While you wait for the router to save the settings, I’ll explain what you have done.
You have separated the Wifi Networks into 2. You now have a 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz Network. Soon (leave it a minute) you will see your new 5Ghz network pop up in your Wi-Fi network list. Join it and you will be connected to your 5Ghz network. If your Mac cannot connect it will default back to your 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi network and stop that annoying “Invalid password” issue from reappearing.
Since doing this all the MacBook’s, Mac Minis and iMacs in my household have not has this issue reappear so it seems to be the fix.
I hope this does help anyone else who is having this issue.
Dan Trudgian, MØTGN, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Wiltshire, England. He's a radio nut, IT guru, general good guy and an all round good egg. Contact him him here.Recently I upgraded my home broadband to BT Infinity 2. It has been fantastic except for one little annoying thing. Every time I try to reconnect to the Wi-Fi my MacBook will not reconnect and insists the password is invalid.
This has only happened since the BT Home Hub 5 came about and I genuinely thought I had a broken hub. The issue seems to fix itself after a reboot of the hub, but within a day or so its annoying habit of throwing you off comes back.
So what’s the issue here – and more importantly the fix.
MacBook’s seem to have a hard time switching between Wi-Fi or 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. Why this is the case god knows. But the solution is very simple and easy to do.
- Login to your hub usually 192.186.1.254
- Click on Advanced Settings – Log in using your admin details, and click Continue to Advanced Settings
- Click Wireless on menu at the top
You will now see options for 2.4Ghz 5Ghz and WPS. We are going to change the way 5Ghz works.
- Click on 5Ghz
- Make sure Sync with 2.4Ghz is NO
- Choose a name for a new wireless ID – I chose Lumber-5Ghz (My Wireless at home is called LUMBER – so it makes sense)
- Make sure the interface type is selected “Up to 150 Mb/s)
- I’ve selected Channel 64 – you may not need to change channel unless you have some interference
- Choose a new password for you to join the new network.
- Hit Apply
While you wait for the router to save the settings, I’ll explain what you have done.
You have separated the Wifi Networks into 2. You now have a 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz Network. Soon (leave it a minute) you will see your new 5Ghz network pop up in your Wi-Fi network list. Join it and you will be connected to your 5Ghz network. If your Mac cannot connect it will default back to your 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi network and stop that annoying “Invalid password” issue from reappearing.
Since doing this all the MacBook’s, Mac Minis and iMacs in my household have not has this issue reappear so it seems to be the fix.
I hope this does help anyone else who is having this issue.
One Response to “WiFi issues with a MacBook & BT Home Hub 5”
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Good posting – except for one thing you don’t need two have two different passwords. Two distinct networks have been created and the passwords will never meet..