Smart Band Steering

[TheLyppardMan]

I noticed that my auto weekly backup of my Macrium Reflect disc images was running really slowly on my backup laptop this morning (Data was transferring at around 40+ Mbps instead of the usual 700-900 Mbps) and when I checked my Wi-Fi connection it showed that the laptop had connected to the 2.4 GHz network, even though I was only about 6 feet from the router. I disconnected from the network and then reconnected. This time it connected to the 5 GHz band with full signal strength. I haven't changed any of the default settings in the ASUS router, so what could have caused this to happen? The only thing I did notice was that Windows had designated the network as "public", probably because this was the first time I had connected this laptop to my main network. Could that have anything to do with it?

 

[bbunge]

Are you using DFS channels in 5 GHz? Are you forcing 160 MHz? If the answer to either is yes then don't.

 

[TheLyppardMan]

Are you using DFS channels in 5 GHz? Are you forcing 160 MHz? If the answer to either is yes then don't.

No.

These are my settings:

 

[L&LD]

Are you using SmartConnect?

 

[L&LD]

'Forget' the 2.4GHz connection if you're not.

 

[TheLyppardMan]

Are you using SmartConnect?

 

[L&LD]

Yes, 'smart' anything isn't so smart. Disable that feature to take control of your network.

 

[bennor]

... so what could have caused this to happen?

Most likely cause is Smart Connect. Disable it and set independent SSID's and passwords for the two WiFi bands. Make sure to connect the WiFi clients to the proper bands, forgetting any previous saved connections to the router. Problem of the WiFi client(s) connecting to the wrong WiFi band likely solved.

 

[jerry6]

Yes, 'smart' anything isn't so smart. Disable that feature to take control of your network.

that has been my observation over the last 10 years , "smart" is anything but

 

[bbunge]

Most likely cause is Smart Connect. Disable it and set independent SSID's and passwords for the two WiFi bands. Make sure to connect the WiFi clients to the proper bands, forgetting any previous saved connections to the router. Problem of the WiFi client(s) connecting to the wrong WiFi band likely solved.
View attachment 58773

That is really old school thinking! Likely an issue with the client WIFI.
Might try the Asus firmware for the Pro. Mine works really well....

 

[TheLyppardMan]

That is really old school thinking! Likely an issue with the client WIFI.
Might try the Asus firmware for the Pro. Mine works really well....

It's only happened once with my backup laptop, but I'll monitor it for a few days to see how it goes. I've also now changed the network to "private" rather than the default "public" as that is how I have my main laptop configured, but whether that had anything to do with it I have no idea. There's an easy solution anyway if it keeps occurring; I can just make sure that the MAC filter prevents it from connecting to the 2.4 GHz band.

 

[TheLyppardMan]

I've just booted up the backup laptop in the same location as yesterday and it's connected to the 5 GHz band as expected. I've run a speed test on it as well and I'm getting excellent results:

 

[L&LD]

Glad it's working, but that testing isn't indicative of anything being 'fixed'.

The issue that caused the problem is still present (I'm assuming you still have SmartConnect enabled). And the problem can repeat regardless of how many times you test and find it working 'as expected'.

 

[TheLyppardMan]

Yes, 'smart' anything isn't so smart. Disable that feature to take control of your network.

But doing that causes devices on the 2.4 GHz to often be unable to connect to devices on the 5 GHz band (e.g., my Canon printer). The Smart Connect feature seems to have solved that problem and apart from the one incident I reported in my OP, everything seems to be working fine. For instance, I took my mobile phone down the garden and it swapped over to the 2.4 GHz band, but as soon as I came back indoors, it reconnected to the 5 GHz band.

 

[jerry6]

That is really old school thinking! Likely an issue with the client WIFI.
Might try the Asus firmware for the Pro. Mine works really well....

some times old school works . all my clients connect to the band I assigned them they get get good connections and speeds . just a suggestion , you are free to do as you wish

 

[TheLyppardMan]

I've just tried an experiment. I took my laptop down to the bottom of the garden and it stayed on the 5 GHz band, but with only one signal bar showing. The speeds were OK though (over 100 Mbps). I then rebooted the laptop and it connected to the 2.4 GHz band, still only with one signal bar showing, but the speeds had dropped dramatically. Then, I went back indoors, without turning the laptop off and positioned myself close to the router. The laptop stayed on the 2.4 Ghz band, so it does appear that the Smart Connect feature is not so smart after all. I'm going to switch back to manually-controlled bands, and so that none of my devices connect to the 2.4 GHz band by mistake, I've turned on MAC accept for the 2.4 GHz band and added my three devices that can only connect to that band, thus:

In the morning, when the network is quiet, I'll switch off the Smart Connect option.

 

[SkippyP]

some times old school works . all my clients connect to the band I assigned them they get get good connections and speeds . just a suggestion , you are free to do as you wish

+1

I’ve been running separate 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks (i.e. different SSIDs) for years and everything is rock solid. The 2.4GHz band is only for my IoT devices (cameras, doorbell, thermostat, etc). Everything else (all my bandwidth-heavy devices like iPhones, laptops, and Roku sticks) are on the 5GHz band. I’ve locked my 2.4GHz network to channel 1 at a fixed 20MHz width; and my 5GHz network to channel 149 at a fixed 80MHz (160MHz disabled). Everything works beautifully with zero chance of my phones, laptops, and streaming sticks connecting to 2.4.

 

[TheLyppardMan]

I've kept the same name for each of my SSID's, which should prevent the problem of devices on the 2.4 GHz band being unable to connect to those on the 5 GHz band. I'll soon know if that hasn't worked when I next try to transfer images from my Canon Powershot camera to my laptop, but it's all working fine at the moment.

 

[bennor]

That is really old school thinking! Likely an issue with the client WIFI.
Might try the Asus firmware for the Pro. Mine works really well....

Not really. Its just common sense to disable Smart Connect as a troubleshooting step when one is having issues of 5Ghz clients connecting to 2.4Ghz when using Smart Connect.

For my usage, I turn it off and assign different SSID's and passwords to each Wifi band due to past issues similar to what the OP described where one or more clients default to the 2.4Ghz band rather than the 5Ghz band. YMMV and all that.

 

[dlandiss]

assign different SSID's and passwords

Different SSIDs is adequate. Simple "forget" the unwanted SSID from each device that you want locked to a single band.