Help needed: Problem finding WiiM Amp using Three 5G/4G Hub E5-250MA router

[Timbiosis]

Hello, I have an issue that I hope other WiiM users might be able to help me with.

I have a WiiM Amp that I have used successfully for a few years on the UK Three network using a Huawei 4G hub. I recently upgraded my router to the Three 5G/4G Hub E5-250MA (a rebranded Greenpacket E5-250Ma 5G WiFi 6 Router) but I am now having trouble setting up the WiiM Amp wirelessly with the WiiM Home app on my phone. When I try to set up the WiiM Amp I can select the SSID name and enter the password but the WiiM Home app then reports that the WiiM Amp is connected to WiFi but it cannot find the device. No matter what I do this problem persists. I have tried separating the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands (also disabling each in turn), disabling the Guest network, disabling/enabling IPv6, enabling the uPnP setting and a whole lot else besides but the problem still persists. This router does not have any configurable options for AP Isolation, Client Isolation, or Wireless Isolation but I believe there are no restrictions on devices communicating over WiFi.

If I plug the WiiM Amp directly into my new router using an ethernet cable it all works fine, but this is not a viable long-term solution, as I do not want my WiiM Amp next to my router because it is then not in an optimal location for me. Also a key reason I bought the WiiM Amp was that it should not need a wired connection. I had no problem previously using my older Three supplied Huawei router wirelessly with the WiiM Amp.

I have raised a ticket with Customer Support but they are currently unable to resolve this.
Has anyone else had this same issue with this particular router and found the solution?

 

[Aquaman]

Hello, I have an issue that I hope other WiiM users might be able to help me with.

I have a WiiM Amp that I have used successfully for a few years on the UK Three network using a Huawei 4G hub. I recently upgraded my router to the Three 5G/4G Hub E5-250MA (a rebranded Greenpacket E5-250Ma 5G WiFi 6 Router) but I am now having trouble setting up the WiiM Amp wirelessly with the WiiM Home app on my phone. When I try to set up the WiiM Amp I can select the SSID name and enter the password but the WiiM Home app then reports that the WiiM Amp is connected to WiFi but it cannot find the device. No matter what I do this problem persists. I have tried separating the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands (also disabling each in turn), disabling the Guest network, disabling/enabling IPv6, enabling the uPnP setting and a whole lot else besides but the problem still persists. This router does not have any configurable options for AP Isolation, Client Isolation, or Wireless Isolation but I believe there are no restrictions on devices communicating over WiFi.

If I plug the WiiM Amp directly into my new router using an ethernet cable it all works fine, but this is not a viable long-term solution, as I do not want my WiiM Amp next to my router because it is then not in an optimal location for me. Also a key reason I bought the WiiM Amp was that it should not need a wired connection. I had no problem previously using my older Three supplied Huawei router wirelessly with the WiiM Amp.

I have raised a ticket with Customer Support but they are currently unable to resolve this.
Has anyone else had this same issue with this particular router and found the solution?

Have you tried a foctory reset of the Amp in order to clear out any legacy wifi settings?

 

[Timbiosis]

Hi Aquaman, thanks for the helpful suggestion. Yes I have tried factory resetting the Amp several times (pressing he volume/play button for 10 sec until it tells me it has done a factory reset) but to no avail. It does enable me to re-choose the SSID network and re-enter the password but upon doing that it unfortunately does not solve the issue. The WiiM home app still reports that it cannot find the device.

 

[hoohoohoo]

Can you ping between 2 wireless device through the E5?

That's disappointing. I'm assuming that the E5 was provided by Three, so it's the only way to connect to their service. I did a quick search to see what that E5 device supports, but the User Manuals that I'm seeing are scanty at best. If there are no controls to alter behaviour like client isoation etc, there may be little that can be done. What you describe sounds like wifi client isolation since the wired WiiM Amp works and wifi doesn't. Another possibility is multicast behaviour of the E5 which is preventing discovery (SSDP, UPNP) on wifi.

If you're having no immediate success, a workaround (if you have another wifi access point - they're inexpensive secondhand) is to disable the wifi on the E5, wire a second wifi access point to it and use the wifi on the second device. It's not ideal, but it's a quick and dirty workaround while you scout around for a better solution.

It looks like the last poster in this thread used my workaround suggestion.

https://community.three.co.uk/t5/Broadband/E5-250MA-LAN-to-LAN-communication-is-blocked/m-p/64400

 

[Aquaman]

Hi Aquaman, thanks for the helpful suggestion. Yes I have tried factory resetting the Amp several times (pressing he volume/play button for 10 sec until it tells me it has done a factory reset) but to no avail. It does enable me to re-choose the SSID network and re-enter the password but upon doing that it unfortunately does not solve the issue. The WiiM home app still reports that it cannot find the device.

Hmm, is the WHA setting such that it is allowed to detect your exact location? This is essential during setup. After that you can switch it off again.
Also it must be allowed to detect devices on the local network. This is a permanent setting.

 

[Timbiosis]

I have just done some more extensive testing and I believe that hoohoohoo is correct. I tried to ping between two wireless devices (computer and phone) connected to the router on the same Wi-Fi band (both 5Gz) and it failed because they could not discover each other. However I could spin each device individually from within the router admin interface. So I believe that with this router AP Isolation (Client Isolation, or Wireless Isolation) is enabled by default (even when the guest network is turned off) and cannot be changed by the user. This seems like a crazy idea to me given that plenty of people now have smart devices in their homes that need to communicate with each other, IoTs, etc. At least I have found out what the issue is, as it's been bugging me since the 5G/4G Hub E5-250MA hub arrived 4 days ago. So for the moment I'll either put up with the ethernet cable set up between the E5 and the Wiim Amp I currently have or do as cleverly hoohoohoo suggested and set the E5 to IP passthrough (bridge mode) and wire it to another access point.

Thanks all for your help with this Aquaman and hoohoohoo, it's greatly appreciated.

 

[slartibartfast]

I have just done some more extensive testing and I believe that hoohoohoo is correct. I tried to ping between two wireless devices (computer and phone) connected to the router on the same Wi-Fi band (both 5Gz) and it failed because they could not discover each other. However I could spin each device individually from within the router admin interface. So I believe that with this router AP Isolation (Client Isolation, or Wireless Isolation) is enabled by default (even when the guest network is turned off) and cannot be changed by the user. This seems like a crazy idea to me given that plenty of people now have smart devices in their homes that need to communicate with each other, IoTs, etc. At least I have found out what the issue is, as it's been bugging me since the 5G/4G Hub E5-250MA hub arrived 4 days ago. So for the moment I'll either put up with the ethernet cable set up between the E5 and the Wiim Amp I currently have or do as cleverly hoohoohoo suggested and set the E5 to IP passthrough (bridge mode) and wire it to another access point.

Thanks all for your help with this Aquaman and hoohoohoo, it's greatly appreciated.

Someone complaining about the same issue here

https://community.three.co.uk/t5/Broadband/E5-250MA-LAN-to-LAN-communication-is-blocked/m-p/64400

 

[Skull]

I was on 3 until recently but never had issues as I have an eero system for my WiFi needs I can recommend this solution BTW
I recently moved to smarty as I bought a Huawei router from amazon for £140
Got fed up with the April price increases
Both of the above are good for fixing your problem

 

[Timbiosis]

Thanks folks! All helpful advice. I managed to speak to the technical support team at Three this morning too but they were of absolutely no use (usual cycle of restarting devices, separating 2.4 and 5 GHz channels, etc all the things I had already tried) To be honest I don't think they understood the problem despite me explaining it several times (especially when I mentioned the ping issue). When I asked them if AP isolation, etc was turned on by default on the E5 hub but they said that they did not know, even though Three supplied the device. At the end of the conversation they said that they would raise a ticket and get back to me within 7 days by SMS but they still erroneously seemed to think that my problem was connecting my devices to their E5 hub (and not the real problem of those devices not being able to communicate with each other when connected over Wi-Fi). Anyway I will update if I hear anything useful/meaningful back from them. If this problem persists and is generic to this particular make and model of router there could be a lot of unhappy Three homebroad users in the near future.

 

[r5yk5]

I learned many years ago to never use the cheapo router supplied by the internet provider. I pay them to pump data packets to and from my house, nothing else.

 

[BEE]

One suggestion is to post over on the ISP Review forum, someone there might be able to help.

 

[Timbiosis]

Good suggestion Bee. I have posted my issue on the Three Community forum today.