The Circle device communicates with your router over the 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi band or over Ethernet in order to manage your network. For the vast majority of routers, though, Circle will still manage devices that connect over another type of connection, like 5Ghz or the Wi-Fi 6 standard. You don't have to do anything extra. Just pair Circle to your router and you're good to go.
Pairing Your Circle Device
The Circle device pairs wirelessly over the 2.4GHz band with your Wi-Fi through a series of steps (Circle Home Plus can also pair over Ethernet):
- When your Circle device turns on initially, it will begin to broadcast its own 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network (or "hotspot").
- After connecting your device to the Circle device hotspot, go back to the Circle app and have the Circle device look for Wi-Fi networks to join.
NOTE: Circle will only find Wi-Fi networks broadcasting on the 2.4GHz band, but can manage 5GHz and Ethernet connections as well once paired. - Select your Wi-Fi network from the list and enter your password to initiate the pairing process.
If you're trying to connect Wi-Fi Backup after the initial setup, you can start that setup from your Circle app > Menu > Settings > Connect Over Wi-Fi (Backup).
What about 5GHz, Wi-Fi 6 or Ethernet?
Under most circumstances, the Circle device can manage Internet traffic entering the router through the 2.4GHz band, 5GHz band, a Wi-Fi 6 connection, and wired Ethernet once it's been paired with your network. You don't have to do anything extra to make sure these connections are managed.
If you are having trouble on devices connected either over the the 5ghz band, a Wi-Fi 6 connection or via Ethernet, it's possible that you are encountering an incompatibility between your router and Circle. Please check our router compatibility page to see if your router is listed there as having a compatibility problem and refer to our article about known issues with some dual-band routers for more detail.
Network Switches
In most cases, you can plug Circle into your network Ethernet switch connected to your main router without major issues. Make sure the switch isn't managed and separating Circle on a different VLAN/Subnet than your main router. We don't recommend putting Circle more than one switch uplink away from your main router.
Have more networking or setup questions?
Check out these additional resources: