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Knowledge Base document #3683

Cannot connect to the FRITZ!Repeater over Wi-Fi by scanning QR Code

After scanning the 'Wi-Fi access' QR code on the type label of the FRITZ!Repeater, the smartphone or tablet does not establish a Wi-Fi connection to the FRITZ!Repeater. One of the following error messages may be displayed by the device:

  • 'Failed to connect to network [...]'
  • 'Check Your Connection and Try Again'

Important:If you set up the FRITZ!Repeater as a wireless extender / Mesh Repeater, the extender adopts the Wi-Fi settings from the wireless router / Mesh Master. Then the QR code can no longer be used to connect wireless devices with the FRITZ!Repeater.

Simply proceed as described below. After each measure, check whether the problem is solved.

1 Optimizing the Wi-Fi settings of the Mesh Master

Perform the following steps on a device connected to the Mesh Master:

Disabling the MAC address filter

  1. Click on 'Wi-Fi' in the user interface of the Mesh Master.
  2. Click on 'Security' in the 'Wi-Fi' menu.
  3. Click on 'Restrict Access to Wi-Fi'.
  4. Enable the 'Allow all new wireless devices' option.
  5. Click on 'Apply' to save the settings.

Adjusting the name of the Wi-Fi network (SSID)

  1. Click on 'Wi-Fi' in the user interface of the Mesh Master.
  2. Click on 'Wi-Fi Network' in the 'Wi-Fi' menu.
  3. Click on 'Additional Settings for the Wi-Fi Network' and disable the option 'Different names for the Wi-Fi networks on 2.4 and 5 GHz' to use the same name (SSID) for both Wi-Fi networks. Only then can the Mesh Master automatically steer your wireless devices to the ideal frequency band ('band steering').
  4. Click on 'More Information on the Wi-Fi Network' and disable the 'Hide name of the Wi-Fi network' option. This way, all wireless devices can connect to the Mesh Master and the Mesh Master can optimally control your wireless devices in the Mesh ('Mesh Wi-Fi Steering').

    Important:If the name of the Wi-Fi network is hidden, errors may occur with Wi-Fi connections. For smooth operation as intended, we recommend not hiding the Wi-Fi network name.

  5. If you changed the name of the Mesh Master's Wi-Fi network (SSID), remove all special characters from the Wi-Fi network name. Since some wireless devices do not support all of the special characters allowed by the Mesh Master, use only letters (but not special characters such as ä, ë, ö, ü, á, é, í), numbers, and spaces.
  6. Click on 'Apply' to save the settings. If the wireless devices were only connected to the 5-GHz Wi-Fi network with a different name, you must then reconfigure the Wi-Fi connection on those devices.

2 Scanning a valid QR code

By default, the QR code on the type label of the FRITZ!Box contains the preconfigured Wi-Fi access information of the FRITZ!Repeater. If the Wi-Fi access information was changed or you are using the FRITZ!Repeater as a Mesh Repeater, you can find a valid QR code in the user interface of the FRITZ!Repeater:

  1. Click on 'Wi-Fi' in the user interface of the FRITZ!Repeater.
  2. Click on 'Wi-Fi Network' in the 'Wi-Fi' menu.
  3. Scan the QR code directly from the screen or click on 'Print Info Sheet' to print out the QR code before scanning it.
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