Roomba

[jmg1985]

I can't get my newly purchased Irobot Roomba 960 to connect to my xfi.

[EG]

If you are not using any Xfi Pods, you can try separating the 2.4 and the 5.0 bands and give them two different broadcast names / SSID's;

https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/change-wifi-mode-admin-tool-xfinity-xfi

https://www.xfinity.com/tips/change-wifi-name-password

[jmg1985]

Thanks for the quick response.

As a relative novice, I'm going to have to dig into the guidance a little bit, although it does appear that may solve my problem.  Plenty irritating that the Roombas are not setup to handle either 2.4 or 5.

[EG]

Please post back with how it goes !

[jmg1985]

Will do.  Won't be today, though.

[lesmikesell]

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@jmg1985 wrote:

Thanks for the quick response.

As a relative novice, I'm going to have to dig into the guidance a little bit, although it does appear that may solve my problem.  Plenty irritating that the Roombas are not setup to handle either 2.4 or 5.

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Most devices that only have 2.4 Ghz are not confused by the 5 Ghz side having the same name.  My roomba 960 works fine that way.  I just followed the directions (which I have forgotten now...) to set it up.  It could have involved shutting off the 5 Ghz wifi off temporarily at the router while doing the initial connection to a phone to make sure the app set it up right.

[jmg1985]

I appreciate the suggestions/guidance that I received from both respondents.  I was able to split out the 2.4 and 5.0 GHz channels and name them separately.  My xFi app tried several times to discourage me from doing that, but I did it anyway.  Even though I then attempted to set up my Roomba using the 2.4 channel, I still am getting no wifi connection on the Roomba at all.  All of my other devices (2 Iphones, Imac, Ipad, Epson Printer, Kindle, Microsoft Surface Pro, etc) have no problem connecting to my router.  To say that I am frustrated would be a gross understatement.  This is my second attempt to install a Roomba 960.  I took the first one back because I thought there was something wrong with it when I couldn't establish a wifi connection.  Now I just don't know.  I am officially giving up and returning the second Roomba, unless someone can give me more suggestions.  I actually moved the Roomba to within one foot of the router, thinking maybe it needed to be closer.  Still no connection.

[lesmikesell]

As I recall the requirement is that the phone you use for the initial connection setup must be connected to the 2.4 Ghz side.   And to accomplish that I think I just temporarily turned of the 5 Ghz signal at the router instead of fiddliing with the phone settings because it will normal auto-connect to either.  Once the setup completes it does not hurt anything to have both signals active with the same name.

[jmg1985]

Thanks once again.

I did everything you suggested and the Roomba will not connect to the wifi.  The wifi light on the Roomba has never lit up at all.

I am giving up and returning the Roomba.

[lesmikesell]

Did you get the initial chat with the phone where you connect it to the roomba's own wifi signal?  I don't think that part has anything to do with your home wifi.    If that worked, where did it fail after that?

[jmg1985]

No, I did not.  

[lesmikesell]

If you aren't seeing the "Roomba...." wifi name during the first setup step where you are supposed to connect your phone wifi to it,  something is wrong that doesn't involve your home wifi.  I think the wifi symbol on the roomba is supposed to be blinking then.

For what it's worth, I rarely use the wifi features anyway.  I could tell alexa to start it but I only did that once to see if it really worked.   It's not that hard to push the button.    It is sometimes useful to get the notification that it is stuck somewhere, but I'd find it eventually anyway.

[jmg1985]

I totally agree with you about the wifi.  It never ever lit up or blinked.  

I also agree with you about being able to use it without the wifi.  I'm just disgusted that I can't get it figured out.  I consider myself to be pretty technologically savvy, but this has me mystified.  I've never spent so much fruitless time trying to get something figured out.

Thanks again for your suggestions and help.

[lesmikesell]

Many devices only use 2.4 Ghz channels and are confused when the 5Ghz side has the same SSID. Try giving the 5Ghz side a different name if you haven't already.  It may also work to turn off the 5Ghz side during setup, but having different names gives you more control - usually you want more distant devices (through more walls) to stay on 2.4 Ghz.

[EG]

13 month old dead thread now being closed...