How to disable Band Spanning on ISP Routers?

Updated

ISP-provided routers, such as Bell Canada FIBE, the BT Home Hub 4, and BT Home Hub 5, have the ability to Band Span. With Band Span, they can provide a single unified SSID or Network Name for your home network's 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands. Band Spanning is also termed Band Steering.  

The Band Span setting should be disabled to ensure all Bluesound Players reliably appear in the BluOS Controller App.

Find the Default Gateway address of the ISP Router

Windows

  1. On the Windows computer, right-click the Start button and select Run.
  2. Type cmd and select OK to launch the Command Prompt window.
  3. In the Command Prompt, type the following command and press Enter button: 
    ipconfig
  4. Note the Default Gateway address.

macOS

  1. On the Mac, press the Command+Space bar buttons to launch the Spotlight search field.
  2. Type Terminal and press the Return button to launch the Terminal app.
  3. In the Terminal app, type the following command and press the Return button.  
    netstat -nr | grep default
  4. Note the Default Gateway address.

Create a unique network name (SSID) for the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands of ISP Routers

  1. Open a web browser on a computer connected to the router.
  2. Enter the router's Default Gateway address (identified above) in the address bar.
  3. Enter the Password. (The default password may be available on the ISP router's rear panel or Refer to the router's user guide.)
  4. Select Settings or Advanced Settings from the menu bar.
  5. Select Continue.
  6. Select Wireless > 5 GHz Wireless
  7. Select No for Sync with 2.4 GHz.
  8. Edit the Wireless SSID name to be different from the 2.4 GHz band.
    Note: We recommend adding a suffix such as '_5Ghz' or even '-5' to the existing name to identify the frequency band.
  9. Select OK and apply the settings.
    The router would restart to apply the changes. The Bluesound Players connect to the 2.4 GHz frequency band and appear in the BluOS Controller app within 5 minutes of the router restart.

Note: If any players are missing in the BluOS Controller app, unplug the power cord of the missing player for 10 seconds and replug the power cord.

Example Screenshots

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