Band Steering not working as expected
Hi, i use EAP610(EU) v3.0 with OC200 v1, latest firmware on both, OC200 has firmware 1.32.6 Build 20241101 Rel.41525 and EAP610s 1.5.0 Build 20240830 Rel. 63168.
I setup a WLAN with both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz, and enabled band steering to "Prefer 5Ghz/6Ghz".
What happens here is that my Sony Tv is connected to 11ac (5Ghz) but with a very poor signal (0% and 1 dB SNR), in fact it has a bandwidth of <3Mbps in download and instabled connection (connected/disconnected).
I know (because i tested before enabling only 2.4Ghz band) that 11n (2.4 GHz) would be a lot better as signal strength and bandwidth, but EAP keep it on 5Ghz band.
So a tried to disable band steering, but it continue to keep it on 5Ghz.
So i tried to enable RSSI Threshold on EAP at -90, being client connected at -94dBm, but client was disconnected at all without reconnection.
So, what is the logic of tplink band steering?
Is there a way to force a specific client to 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz without create double SSID?
What is the difference between roaming on same EAP (two SSID, one for each band) and band steering (one SSID, both band)?
- Copy Link
- Subscribe
- Bookmark
- Report Inappropriate Content
Hi @Antony23
Does the TV support 2.4G?
Band steering is designed to encourage clients to connect to the 5 GHz or 6 GHz bands, as they generally offer higher speeds and less interference compared to the 2.4 GHz band. However, in your case, it seems to be causing problems.
- Possible Reasons for Poor 5 GHz Connection:
- Physical Obstructions: 5 GHz signals have a shorter range and are more easily blocked by walls, furniture, and other objects. The poor signal strength (- 94 dBm) of your Sony TV on the 5 GHz band could be due to such obstructions. The TV's position might be in a location where the 2.4 GHz signal can penetrate better.
- Interference: There could be interference sources near the 5 GHz band. Other wireless devices in the vicinity operating on the same or overlapping channels can cause signal degradation. You can use a wireless spectrum analyzer tool to check for interference sources.
- Troubleshooting steps you can try:
- For the 5 GHz band, make sure you're using a less congested channel. You can use a Wi - Fi analyzer app to identify the channels with the least interference in your area.
- The same applies to the 2.4 GHz band. There are only three non - overlapping channels (1, 6, and 11 in the US; the channels may vary in other regions), so make sure your EAP610 is set to use one of these channels for optimal performance.
-
- On your Sony TV, check if there are any advanced Wi - Fi settings. Some devices allow you to set a preference for a particular band or to adjust the roaming sensitivity.
- Try forgetting the Wi - Fi network on the TV and then reconnecting to see if it will choose the more suitable band.
- Copy Link
- Report Inappropriate Content
Hi @Antony23
Does the TV support 2.4G?
Band steering is designed to encourage clients to connect to the 5 GHz or 6 GHz bands, as they generally offer higher speeds and less interference compared to the 2.4 GHz band. However, in your case, it seems to be causing problems.
- Possible Reasons for Poor 5 GHz Connection:
- Physical Obstructions: 5 GHz signals have a shorter range and are more easily blocked by walls, furniture, and other objects. The poor signal strength (- 94 dBm) of your Sony TV on the 5 GHz band could be due to such obstructions. The TV's position might be in a location where the 2.4 GHz signal can penetrate better.
- Interference: There could be interference sources near the 5 GHz band. Other wireless devices in the vicinity operating on the same or overlapping channels can cause signal degradation. You can use a wireless spectrum analyzer tool to check for interference sources.
- Troubleshooting steps you can try:
- For the 5 GHz band, make sure you're using a less congested channel. You can use a Wi - Fi analyzer app to identify the channels with the least interference in your area.
- The same applies to the 2.4 GHz band. There are only three non - overlapping channels (1, 6, and 11 in the US; the channels may vary in other regions), so make sure your EAP610 is set to use one of these channels for optimal performance.
-
- On your Sony TV, check if there are any advanced Wi - Fi settings. Some devices allow you to set a preference for a particular band or to adjust the roaming sensitivity.
- Try forgetting the Wi - Fi network on the TV and then reconnecting to see if it will choose the more suitable band.
- Copy Link
- Report Inappropriate Content
Hi, thianks for the answer.
The TV support 2.4Ghz 11n, in fact if i disable 5Ghz on the same WLAN, the TV connects this way and bandwidth/stability is far way better. Tv has not advanced settings to force it on 2.4Ghz band.
Yes, i have one concrete wall before TV, but no interference on 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz channels, my house is isolated, no other houses near it.
What i would expect is if 5Ghz is 0% (-94 dBm), it should connect to 2.4Ghz network instead, should not be so? Why this not happens?
- Copy Link
- Report Inappropriate Content
Hi @Antony23
Typically, 2.4G has better penetration than 5G, which is why even 2.4G performs better at the TV location.
What i would expect is if 5Ghz is 0% (-94 dBm), it should connect to 2.4Ghz network instead, should not be so?
>>>I believe this is because of the band steering.
Given your situation, either switch off band steering or create a 2.4G-only SSID for the TV.
- Copy Link
- Report Inappropriate Content
Sorry Vincent, but i believe this is a buggy behaviour of tplink band steering implementantion, is it not?
Ok "prefer 5Ghz band", but not at any cost, not with a 0% signal! It would be a simple and obvious fix to do. Or why not add a possibility to set a dbm treshold as it already exist for client's AP disconnection?
Or band steering depend only on client device?
- Copy Link
- Report Inappropriate Content
this is not really an answer to the user's post, just general WiFi tips. It should not be marked as the recommended solution.
do you have any insight why the controller doesn't recognize that 2.4 would be preferred for this client?
- Copy Link
- Report Inappropriate Content
First, you need to understand and accept one single rule:
Only the end client decides which range to connect to and which point.
You can try to direct the client from the point of view using various methods.
band steering does not guarantee a connection always at 5ghz, because it does not work as stated above.
also, in terms of connection, the channel number at the 5ghz frequency can play a very important role.
experiment with wifi channels first, turning off broadcasting at 2.4 ghz, and see if the clients you need connect to a specific access point that is configured for a specific wifi channel
from practice, there was such a thing that a phone on Android could connect to a point with a certain channel on 5 ghz, but a laptop on Windows could not, I had to change the channel to 36-48, before that the access point was outside the range of these channels.
also disable wpa3 on wifi6 hotspots if you have relatively old clients even those that can work on 5ghz
because smooth transition with this protocol also works poorly depending on the client, use wpa2
but the most effective method is to divide the networks by frequencies, hanging the 5 ghz range on one ssid, and 2.4 on another.
- Copy Link
- Report Inappropriate Content
Information
Helpful: 1
Views: 152
Replies: 6
Voters 1
