My new Internet box appears twice .....

Hello
Yesterday, my ISP installed a new box (to support optical fiber)
Everything works fine, but when look at the WiFi section of Windows 11 parameters, it seems the box appears twice : one time as Livebox-D350 and one time as Livebox-D350 2
Is that normal ?
My wife's computer seems to use one and my computer uses the other but both work correctly,

Should I leave this as is or would it e better to remove one of them ?

Thanks for your help Have a good day

sfleury said:

when look at the WiFi section of Windows 11 parameters, it seems the box appears twice : one time as Livebox-D350 and one time as Livebox-D350 2
Is that normal ?

Click to expand...

Your router's WiFi supports two bands, 2.4GHz and 5GHz. Depending on how the router is configured these may have different SSID names, or they may both use the same SSID name. If you use your browser to sign in to the admin page of your router there should be a page for advanced WiFi settings where you can change this, either setting it to use the same name for both, or to choose your own names for each.

There is another possibility. Did your ISP (Orange?) also install a Wi-Fi booster? If so, that would be the 2nd name.

sfleury said:

My wife's computer seems to use one and my computer uses the other but both work correctly

Click to expand...

It doesn't matter which SSID you are connected to, you will both be on the same network and be able to see each other's PCs.

Thank you very much for you answer and your explanation !
Yes, my ISP is Orange
Do you think I can safely remove the "Livebox-D350 2" entry (or "forget it" as they say in french) from the WiFi section in the Windows 11 parameters ?
Thanks again Have a good sunday !

sfleury said:

Do you think I can safely remove the "Livebox-D350 2" entry (or "forget it" as they say in french) from the WiFi section in the Windows 11 parameters ?

Click to expand...

Do you mean here?



If so, it's probably best to keep both.

This is a list of WiFi networks that you have successfully connected to previously. The WiFi password has been remembered and you can connect automatically to any known network when you are in range. You can 'forget' a known network if you like, but next time you wish to connect to it you'd have to give the password again.

We haven't yet determined if you are seeing two names because your router has a different name for each band, or if the second name is for a separate WiFi booster (to extend the coverage through the house). Either way, you probably don't want to forget your second entry.

The way WiFi connects is that it will choose to connect to the strongest signal of any 'known network' for which it already knows the password. If you move around the house you may be out of range for the WiFi network it first connected to and the other network is now the stronger signal. The WiFi will automatically switch to the stronger signal (as long as it's a known network) without you having to do anything. You shouldn't even notice the switch over.

The screenshot above is a laptop I use in two places, at my own home and when I visit my daughter.

I've set the SSID name of my router to 'Bree'. It uses the same name for both bands.

At my daughter's house they use a WiFi extender (booster) to provide WFi coverage in the hard to reach places. The extender's SSID is the SSID of the router with _EXT added to it. I have set up both as 'known networks'.

The result is that I am always connected to the WiFi wherever I am, and my laptop will switch seamlessly between my daughter's router and extender as I move around their house.

Thank you for your explanation - I am late to respond ... because I had some Wi-Fi connexion problems !!!!
Yes that's the place where I "could" remove some network
My wife's computer uses Livebox - D350 and get full benefits from the optical fibers : Internet "speed" in the 150 !!!!!
My computer uses Livebox - D350 2 and does not get advantage of the fiber : speed in the 15 area !!!

But may be I have some idea :
My wife's computer was built in 2024 and we add a Wi-Fi dongle
My computer was buit in 2018 and has a built-in Wi-Fi adapter on the motherboard - So I suspect this adapter is not compatible with Wi-Fi 6
I ordered a Wi-Fi 6 USB adapter to do some test

I also took a capture of the Wi-Fi section of the Windows 11 parameters and hightlighted some parts that raise questions - I attach this capture to the present message

Thanks for your time and your patience Have a good day

sfleury said:

I also took a capture of the Wi-Fi section of the Windows 11 parameters and hightlighted some parts that raise questions

Click to expand...

Your Realtek 8822BE Wireless LAN 802.11ac is capable of connecting with anything up to 802.11ac, which is WiFi 5.
https://www.realtek.com/Product/Index?id=583

Even connecting with 802.11n (Wi-Fi 4) it should be capable of speeds of up to 600 Mbps.

Have you tried manually switching your computer from 'Livebox - D350 2' to 'Livebox - D350' in Network & internet > WiFi > Show available networks?

Thank you again !
It seems I don't have the same exact layout you show - Especially, the "Connect automatically" is not at the same place
I'll try to disconnect from Livebox - D350 2 then "forget it" and then try to reconnect hoping I will only get the choice for Livebox - D350

Do you think it's safe to preceed this way ?

I forgot to tell you : the Livebox they provided is a Livebox 5, supporting WiFi 6 ... so it should be even better ;-
My son with an even older computer and connected to Livebox - D350 gets speeds around 45

I had a rather cheap Wi-Fi USB dongle which supposedly was 802.11n and had very low connection speed at 2.4GHz band. I replaced it with a much better 802.11ac which gets speed close to 260Mbps at 5GHz band (theoretical maximum is 300Mbps of our home speed). So I strongly recommend to buy a 802.11ac dongle or faster.

I ordered 2 USB keys (one for myself, one for me)
Characteristics are :

Wi-Fi USB key for PC with maximum speed up to 900 Mbps, 600 Mbit/s on 5 GHz frequency and 286 Mbit/s on 2,4 GHz.
Compatible with Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7. Supports all WiFi standards IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax

Should cover all situations !

Can I safely remove the Livebox - D350 2 and try to connect to Livebox - D 350 ?

I already saved my Windows 11 system SSD on another one !

Thanks again I appreciate tour patience ! Have a god evening

Why remove it? I mostly connect to our 5GHz network at home but I left the 2.4GHz as backup in case something happens and I cannot connect to the 5GHZ band.

I would like to be able to access to Livebox - D 350 but when I click on the WiFi icon in the toolbar, only Livebox - D350 2 appears and I have no choice to connect to Livebox - D350 How could I get it ?

Thanks Have a god evening

You might have two copies of the same wireless network in the known networks list. You can forget them both and then connect to the one you want. Then see if the other appears or was indeed a duplicate.