SOLUTION FOR: smart devices can't find or connect to the 2.4 G Band (Dyson/Google Nest/Etc)

Hey! I have been through it for the last couple of weeks trying to figure this out like many others. I reached out to tech support multiple times on all ends and was always given incorrect information. They couldn't seem to understand that the bands need to be on their own individual isolated channels, not supported up thru 2.4-6 G. On their end, they're not seeing that the bands are not individual like we see it in our Xfinity app. I think some of the confusion is that on the consumer side we don't know that band steering is being used, and we would like to have control over our own functionality rather than xfinity automating everything so we cannot change our settings. Or the devices should just be compatible. There is *no longer* a separate "NETWORK NAME - 2.4G / NETWORK NAME - 5G" different login setting. It's all the same network name and password you setup. Anyway, most of the advice I have seen in all the forums asking the same question was also not helpful to solve the issue. But! I figured out how to fix this finally and everything is up and running. I also had trouble during my initial gateway setup after starting service where the app was not working at all and the connection setup always failed. It was ultimately because the error notification kept saying "must use WPA3 password." I told the customer service specialist multiple times but they were going to send someone out because it wasn't working. The problem was that the security mode for the password type was not set correctly in the settings. I had to select WPA3 Personal Only, then I could proceed to change my password and continue with the setup to finally allow me to login and connect to the internet service/network and not just the router. If you're having issues during setup with your new service where your gateway modem is working and connected but you can't connect to the internet -- go into your app settings and make sure that the security mode you selected for login to your network is the one your device requires you to use (WPA2 or WPA3). I think this is because my devices are newer 2019+ apple and require the newer protocols. I'm going to try to make a video to explain it at some point to show. The problem with the smart devices that require the 2.4G band is a similar issue. There are a few different steps you have to take:

1. go to your xfinity app and do the following: wifi > wifi details > edit wifi settings > security mode: WPA3 - Personal Transition (NOT PERSONAL ONLY). This is necessary because the older smart devices that require the 2.4G IPv6 protocol will also require a WPA2 security protocol and cannot "see" or find WPA3 networks. When you select transition mode you allow the network and device to automatically communicate with one another based on which one they use, either WPA2 or WPA3. If it is set to WPA3 Only, then the WPA2 devices will not connect, and if set to WPA2 only, the WPA3 devices will not connect. Note that there is a toggle function that says "split bands" -- THIS DOES NOT WORK. It will automatically undo itself no matter how many times you toggle it on and select save. Don't worry about it. 

2. login to a web browser and type in 10.0.0.1 (from your home network. not remotely)

3. under username and password type: username:admin / password: password. This is universal at first. Next you will change your password to whatever you want it to be. The username will always remain "admin." Note: the login is NOT your xfinity login info or your network login info.

4. Select: connection > wifi . You will now see a page with the individual bands: 2.4G, 5G, and 6G. Select "edit" next to the 5G band and toggle "disable" > save settings. Do the same to disable the 6G band. 

5. Next go to: connection > status. You will notice that your 2.4 G band is now the only one "active" and the other two are disabled. You will also see that your security mode was changed to "WPA3 Personal transition" mode. You will notice an indicator count for what devices are connected to what band. 

6. Select the "firewall" dropdown from the lefthand menu. Select "IPv4" and change this security setting to "minimum security low." Save settings. Now select "IPv6" and change this setting to "custom." Make sure that no additional "Block _" boxes are checked. Save settings. 

Now you should be able to find your network on your device and connect the device to wifi to finish your setup process! For me, I had to reset the Google Nest Smoke Detector following the reset settings. I also uninstalled the Google Nest app. I turned my phone off and back on. I reinstalled the Nest app. I did not have to uninstall and reinstall the Dyson app. My iPhone and Macbook automatically still joined the network no problem because the login info is the same due to the band steering. I just got a notification on my Macbook saying that the WPA3 protocol was changed and said ok. For my Dyson hot and cool air filter I was able to pair the device and the network finally showed up. I followed the settings in the app and now that the network knows the "MAC address of the device" it is stored in the network's memory and they can find and communicate with each other now. Same with the Google Nest. If it doesn't work right away just try another time and it should work. 

Important: the reason they automatically merge the bands and steer them is because the 2.4G is more unstable. This is true. You might notice that the connectivity will drop out occasionally for the devices which could explain why it might take another try to finish your setup. Don't worry about it. It will reconnect on it's own. 

Now that your smart devices are connected and setup is finished, and your network knows their MAC addresses, you can revert all the changes you made to your network settings to go back to full functionality (2.4G-6 and increase your firewall security standards back up to your desired level. You just follow the reverse order of what you just did. Keep the 2.4G as is of course, but select: "5G > edit" and toggle enable on. Do the same for 6G. Now all your bands are turned back on and you have full access again. Go back to "firewall" and change the IPV4 and IPV6 settings. You will see on the top menu bar in the right that your security is back to "medium." 

Go back to "connection > status." You will notice that all your bands are now active. You can see the device count for how many devices are connected and to which band they are connected. This may drop in and out so don't worry if you don't see the correct total. Sometimes the nest will drop out but it will reconnect itself on it's own in a few minutes. You can verify this on your phone by: Going to the Nest app and seeing that your "Protect" or whatever device you setup is good. You can go to the Dyson app and see that it is connected and get your status updates. You can also go to the xfinity app and see what devices are connected to your network as you usually would. Again, this might drop in and out with the Google nest. But! all your settings are restored and all your devices are now fully functioning and connected to your network :) You also might get notifications from xfinity on your iPhone once the devices are finally successfully paired to your network. Cool!

Important note: you can also use the 10.0.0.1 admin tool to manually add a device's MAC address if, for some reason, you still can't get things to work. I thankfully didn't have to do this because I figured out the solution, but it was going to be my next attempt. Thankfully, the Dyson has the MAC address for the device printed on the inside of the device. However, Google Nest unfortunately does not do this and you have to already be connected in to the app to view the system info. However, you could do a workaround for that by taking your device someplace else and using their wifi (as long as it is 2.4 WPA2 IPV6) to connect and setup the device in the app in order to find the MAC address for the device in the settings in the Nest app. Then you can take the device back home to your network, reset, and try to manually add the MAC address now that you found it (hopefully you took a screenshot or something :) ) Thankfully I didn't have to do this either, but it also would have been my next attempt. 

Also, make sure you keep your password settings that you changed in your xfinity app to WPA3 Transition Mode. It'll stay that way for both 2.4G and 5G. This is important because the devices still need to be able to communicate and can only use WPA2. Also if in the future you have this problem again with another product, like perhaps an older Smart TV, you will already have the WPA2 functionality enabled. 

I hope this was helpful! It's 3am but I'm so glad I eventually figured it out on my own!