If you have two networks/routers operating at home, you may wonder if you can use one Circle to manage them both. The answer is: It depends.
NOTE: There's a bit of geek speak ahead (sorry), but we recommend reading through this if you find yourself in this situation.
Tips for using multiple routers with Circle
Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) may have provided you with a modem/router combo for your house. You may have also connected a second router to this as an Access Point or as a totally separate router to put off its own Wi-Fi network. Or maybe, you just love routers so much that you have a bunch of them running in your home!
The Circle device will only manage ONE network at a time. Make sure that the Circle device is paired with whichever router the devices you want managed are also connected to. Below, we've listed the ways that two routers can be setup on your network and how to best connect your Circle device to them.
2.4ghz and 5ghz band routers
Currently, Circle can only manage one network segment at a time, but there's a difference between multiple radio frequencies and multiple networks. If you have one router broadcasting a 2.4ghz Wi-Fi connection and a 5ghz Wi-Fi connection, Circle should be able to manage that just fine.
Read more about how Circle works with 2.4ghz, 5ghz, and Ethernet-connected devices
Bridging to your main router
You or your ISP may have set up your router/modem combo in bridge mode and then connected your main router to it with an Ethernet cord.
In this scenario your router/modem combo won't be putting off its own Wi-Fi network so feel free to pair your Circle device with your main router. If you want, you can plug your Circle device into that router via Ethernet to ensure a solid network connection.
Router and Access Point mode
If you have your router/modem combo set up as the DHCP server, and set the second router up in Access Point (AP) mode, connect the Circle device via Ethernet to the router/modem combo after pairing rather than the one in AP mode. It ought to see all devices that connect to your network.
If your router/modem combo is putting off a different SSID then the Access Point, we recommend making them the same. If that's not an option, just make sure that the Circle device is paired with the Wi-Fi put off by the router/modem combo.
Two separate routers, two separate networks
Some households might have two routers setup, both with their own DHCP servers running on the router and putting off their own networks. This is not a setup we recommend, but if that's how your house is set up, make sure your Circle device is paired with the W-iFi network that you want to manage, that the devices you want to manage are connected only to that network, and that they don't switch over to the other network.
If need be, you can make sure devices stay on the right network by changing the second network's password and only allowing the correct devices to connect to that second network. If you're plugging the Circle device in via Ethernet, make sure that it is connected to the router that the devices you want to manage are also connected to.