Smart Connect on 6G
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Hi, I recently purchased Archer AXE300 WiFi 6E router. The advertisement said it provides smart connect feature that allows unified SSID for different bands. However from the router setting the Smart Connect only supports 2G and 5G. I wonder why 6G is excluded from the Smart Connect feature? If I manually configure the 6G network to have same SSID / password as the Smart Connect network (2G + 5G), would that achieve my goal of smart connect on all 3 bands?
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I believe that the 6Ghz is implemented this way as a result of the requirements needed to support it, such as requiring WPA 3. The Smart Connect Feature will automatically shift devices between bands, and you do not really want a device that doesn't support 6Ghz being pushed towards the band.
Setting the SSID as the same should work relatively the same, as the non-6Ghz devices should not be able to even see the 6Ghz network, and will connect regularly while your 6Ghz clients will be able to switch between the two networks.
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@Riley_S as you mentioned, devices doesn't support 6G should not even see 6G network. I don't think the device can push it to 6G network since from HW aspect it is not capable. But I'm still curious why TP-link didn't group 6G into the Smart Connect feature?
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The Smart Connect Feature is more than just a combination of the bands, you could always turn the feature off and name the networks the same to allow your devices to roam between frequencies themselves. The Smart Connect Feature actually works to move your devices at a network level when either the signal begins to drop off or when the quality of the connection is not up to standards.
Remember also that the 5G and 6G range of signal is relatively the same, at least in home settings. This means that it would be highly likely that your device would first latch onto the 5Ghz network and your device and router would not see a need to move it to a separate network.
I honestly recommend keeping it separate, as it will free up your main network while allowing your device to connect directly to a 6Ghz connection, rather than relying on the router to bounce your device between bands.
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@Riley_S I did some test today, at the same spot when I connect to 6G network RSSI is 10 dB lower than when I connected to 5G network, which is expected since higher frequency path loss is higher. The strange thing is my device did first attach to 5G network but later on it switch to 6G for some period, and bounce back to 5G. Looks like RSSI is not the only criterial to decide which band to join. I agree there is no need for the device to move to 6G if both connections provide the same throughput.
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I would assume that there are other factors that affect the connection, such as the available link rate or encryption settings. Switches to the 6Ghz network, like what you described, could even be the result of a refresh of the device's IP address or from a scheduled action that is performed by your phone.
I do have a feeling that if your regular network were to become overloaded, your device may opt to use the more openly available 6Ghz network. Also, I would expect the device to connect to 5Ghz first, as the 5Ghz frequency would be seen slightly before the 6Ghz network would be seen by the device.
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