WiFi 6 router optimization guide

[Rob Q]

Is there such thing around here as an optimization guide for my new WiFi 6 router? I've seen a few guides on this site floating around awhile ago for the older WiFi 5 models but with newer technology, there's more new settings to play with.
What I'm going for is range with speed on the 2.4 GHz band where the signal is low for the 5 GHz band, and max speed with some range on the 5 GHz band for those near by devices. Most of my devices are still from the WiFi 5 era, so the 802.11ax and WPA3 features won't work with them.

 

[Ripshod]

Every situation is different. What works for one may not work for others. WPA3 and WPA2 will run side-by-side.
What is your environment like (especially other wifi signals)? What is your use case? Are you expeiencing any problems?

 

[Rob Q]

Every situation is different. What works for one may not work for others. WPA3 and WPA2 will run side-by-side.
What is your environment like (especially other wifi signals)? What is your use case? Are you expeiencing any problems?

In the weakest area, it's more connectivity issues. For example, on the laptop using WiFi, it just "spins" while connecting to sites. Not all the time though.
I know I should use a MoCA adapter to get the coax port to act as an ethernet port, and then put an access point with the ethernet backhaul, but I'm looking for a solution that doesn't involve purchasing anything... just yet.
I suppose I could disable beamforming to balance the signal out. Maybe that'll help and be a good starting point?

PS. Not networking related but.... nice conure display pic! Is she a green-cheek or yellow-sided green-cheeked conure? Hard to tell.

 

[rung]

Be interesting what the experts say, but here is where my 5GHz settings differ (other than wifi channel and bandwidths):
Protected Management Frames: Capable
Multi-User MIMO: Disable
OFDMA/802.11ax MU-MIMO: Disable
Universal Beamforming: Disable

 

[AntonK]

Is there such thing around here as an optimization guide for my new WiFi 6 router? I've seen a few guides on this site floating around awhile ago for the older WiFi 5 models but with newer technology, there's more new settings to play with.
What I'm going for is range with speed on the 2.4 GHz band where the signal is low for the 5 GHz band, and max speed with some range on the 5 GHz band for those near by devices. Most of my devices are still from the WiFi 5 era, so the 802.11ax and WPA3 features won't work with them.

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@Tech9 put up this guide (example) some some time ago.

 

[rung]

@Tech9 put up this guide (example) some some time ago.

I read that post as here are the settings for maximum capability with IoT devices. That is, what you should try if you have issues. OP, I thought, was asking about performance settings to try first before falling back to more conservative settings.

 

[Tech9]

I read that post as here are the settings for maximum capability with IoT devices.

You read it wrong then.

optimization guide

What do you need to optimize? If it’s the range - forget about performance and drop the channel bandwidth to 40MHz on the 5GHz band. You’ll gain 3db signal strength.

 

[rung]

You read it wrong then.

"In normal Wi-Fi environment with other networks around and IoT devices for maximum stability and compatibility I would set this router this way:"

I was under the impression that maximum compatibility vs maximum performance was a trade-off one has to make with network settings. I guess I'm still learning! Thanks.

 

[Tech9]

Maximum performance - lower compatibility and decreased range.

 

[Rob Q]

Maximum performance - lower compatibility and decreased range.

What bandwidth and band would you suggest for streaming HD on the 2.4 GHz band and 4K HDR video on the 5 GHz band simultaneously? The Streaming Stick is far from the router (2.4 band?) and the Roku Ultra is less than 6 feet from the router (5 GHz band)

For the laptop, it just needs to be fast enough for loading facebook, email, and a few random sites here and there. The 5 GHz band is weak here, so probably 2.4 would be the best bet?

So maybe....
5 GHz band:
Roku Ultra

2.4 GHz band:
laptop
Roku Streaming Stick
Cell phones
printer
Tablo.... that's recording 1080i video with a bit rate of 10 Mbps and it's in the basement

 

[Rob Q]

Maximum performance - lower compatibility and decreased range.

So... slow decrease the bandwidth on the 5 GHz band and increase the bandwidth on the 2.4 GHz band to 40 MHz? That would probably balance it out a bit by shortening the range of the 2.4, yet increasing the 5 GHz band range.

 

[Rob Q]

@Tech9 put up this guide (example) some some time ago.

That's pretty current for my router!

 

[Tech9]

What bandwidth and band would you suggest

I can't have any suggestions without knowing what the problem is first. If your problem is coverage area related - playing the settings won't help much. Your router has Wireless Log, it shows RSSI levels and Tx rates. Look what's going on there. Devices with RSSI -70dBm or lower are too far from the router. Some IoT devices may be perfectly fine, some high bandwidth devices like 4K TV may not work well.

 

[bbunge]

What bandwidth and band would you suggest for streaming HD on the 2.4 GHz band and 4K HDR video on the 5 GHz band simultaneously? The Streaming Stick is far from the router (2.4 band?) and the Roku Ultra is less than 6 feet from the router (5 GHz band)

For the laptop, it just needs to be fast enough for loading facebook, email, and a few random sites here and there. The 5 GHz band is weak here, so probably 2.4 would be the best bet?

So maybe....
5 GHz band:
Roku Ultra

2.4 GHz band:
laptop
Roku Streaming Stick
Cell phones
printer
Tablo.... that's recording 1080i video with a bit rate of 10 Mbps and it's in the basement

You are trying too hard!
Don't mess with the Professional Settings
Use SmartConnect
Use WPA2-Personal
Use 20 MHz on the 2.4 GHz with either a fixed channel of 1, 6 or 11 or Auto channel
Use 80 MHz on the 5 GHz with a fixed or Auto channel non DFS.
Let your clients and the router choose which band to connect to. You have a great modern router so let it do its job and enjoy the performance.
Tech9 will disagree but he does not use one of these for home use.

 

[Rob Q]

You are trying too hard!
Don't mess with the Professional Settings
Use SmartConnect
Use WPA2-Personal
Use 20 MHz on the 2.4 GHz with either a fixed channel of 1, 6 or 11 or Auto channel
Use 80 MHz on the 5 GHz with a fixed or Auto channel non DFS.
Let your clients and the router choose which band to connect to. You have a great modern router so let it do its job and enjoy the performance.
Tech9 will disagree but he does not use one of these for home use.

Is SmartConnect any good? It does sound nice just to have one SSID and having it connect to the 5 GHz band closer to the router and 2.4 GHz band further away from the router.

 

[Rob Q]

Okay, few settings that I would like to ask about. Would WPA2/WPA3-Personal be backward compatible and would with 802.11ac (WiFi 5) devices? So, the older devices would be using WPA2 and the newer ax devices would be using WPA3?

This one setting grabbed my attention. It sounds promising. "WiFi Agile Multiband". What does that do and would there be any benefit enabling it?

 

[Tech9]

Is SmartConnect any good?

Experiment and find out.

 

[Rob Q]

Experiment and find out.

I am and it's doing a better job than I thought it would do. It's moving those weaker signal devices from the 5 GHz band to the 2.4.

 

[bbunge]

Okay, few settings that I would like to ask about. Would WPA2/WPA3-Personal be backward compatible and would with 802.11ac (WiFi 5) devices? So, the older devices would be using WPA2 and the newer ax devices would be using WPA3?

This one setting grabbed my attention. It sounds promising. "WiFi Agile Multiband". What does that do and would there be any benefit enabling it?

You may find some older devices do not like WPA2/WPA3. We have an old iPod, yes really old, that will not connect to WPA2/WPA3. One work around is to set up a guest WIFI with just WPA2 and a separate SSID for those old devices.

 

[Rob Q]

You may find some older devices do not like WPA2/WPA3. We have an old iPod, yes really old, that will not connect to WPA2/WPA3. One work around is to set up a guest WIFI with just WPA2 and a separate SSID for those old devices.

I don't know if this has to do with WPA2/WPA3 but my older Tablo is connecting to my WiFi on the 2.4 GHz band but it's not showing a hostname, just an "*" (without the quotes). I have no clue what that's about but it's coming in at a -64dBm.