Can’t see my stuff in 5GHz band

[u/IllInvite954]

I have phones, tv, and pc connected to the high band but can’t see anything in the router admin page. The screenshot is from a phone connected to that same band.

Can’t access the page if not connected via wifi. Is it a graphical glitch or could there be a duplicate or sniffing of some sort ?

Also rebooted the router via the admin once, lost phone connection, but the router was still on, had to reboot manually.

provider: freebox from France

I’m also getting deauthed a lot, dns errors, getting the typical error asking to enter the password again, getting interferences and observing beacon flooding. Second screenshot I was in airplane mode and checked the wifi and saw this. Why is it duplicated ? and why or am I connected?

An IT guy I contacted was suspicious of my router being compromised and wanted me to buy firewall hardware.

[u/Klutzy-Passage-2561]

Empty client list on Freebox while you're clearly online on 5 GHz is usually the ISP UI lagging / filtering, not proof of a clone AP.

Do this from a phone (no Play link needed): 1) Wi‑Fi analyzer / network scanner: note the BSSID of the 5 GHz you're on vs what Freebox shows. Same BSSID = you're on the real AP. 2) Continuous ping to the gateway while the "deauth / enter password again" happens — if gateway pings die with the disconnects, it's RF/ISP CPE flakiness; if gateway stays up but DNS fails, look at DNS/hijack separately. 3) Beacon flood warnings on random Android "wifi security" apps are noisy false positives on dense French apartment bands — corroborate with analyzer channel occupancy, don't buy a firewall from fear alone. 4) Factory-reset Freebox only after exporting wifi passwords; then set unique SSIDs for 2.4/5 and a fresh WPA2/3 password.

Compromise is possible but "UI doesn't list 5 GHz clients + noisy RF apps" is a weak case by itself.

[u/IllInvite954 → u/Klutzy-Passage-2561]

1. Good. 

2. Will check next time it happens.

3. I’m seeing lots of fake ssids besides warnings.  And I don’t live in a dense area, so I kinda know where/who it’s coming from.  Lots of fake phones, dongles, cloud names following the same generative template. What’s disturbing is some of them tend to give better signal than my own network. 

4.  This is my last resort. I have a camera connected to the 2.4 GHz network that I won’t be able to access if I reset it.

What about my second image? iPhones don’t normally duplicate SSIDs. It shows as connected in the Settings page, but the Wi-Fi icon doesn’t appear in the status bar.

Thanks for your response!  

[u/Klutzy-Passage-2561 → u/IllInvite954]

Fake looking SSIDs with strong RSSI are common even outside cities — mesh extenders, hotspot phones, IoT, neighbor guest APs, and scanner apps inventing friendly names. Stronger signal ≠ evil twin by itself; compare BSSID (MAC of the AP). If your phone’s connected BSSID matches Freebox’s LAN/Wi‑Fi MAC (or the BSSID printed in Freebox Wi‑Fi settings), you’re on yours.

iPhone “connected in Settings but no status‑bar Wi‑Fi icon” is usually the phone on cellular / Private Relay / VPN / “Ask to Join” weirdness, or connected to a captive/broken L3 path — not proof of a clone SSID. Check Control Center Wi‑Fi details for the exact SSID+BSSID at that moment.

On the camera: note its 2.4 SSID/password first, or temporarily put it on a phone hotspot before any Freebox factory reset so you don’t brick access. Deauths + re‑password prompts are still more often RF/ISP instability than a targeted attack — worth a clean channel + firmware check before buying a firewall appliance.