RT AC-3200 TriBand/SmartConnect problems- poor wifi speed/dropped signal

[karansaraf]

I have an ASUS RT AC-3200 with Firmware Version:3.0.0.4.380_3479 (latest one).

It's running in TriBand mode with Smart Connect enabled. All three bands are running the same SSID and security settings, so the router/smart connect is just assigning a band to whichever device wants to use it and a guest network. (Ie. TriBand SSID has 5Ghz1/5GHz2/2.4GHz bands all in one SSID, and the 5GHz1 band also has a guest SSID running off it).

I liked the idea of one SSID and automatic allocation of fastest band to every device (it's why I bought this router).

I have a Synology DS416 4 bay NAS hard wired to the router, a few things connected via powerline adapters and everything else using the wireless connection assigned by smart connect. In total there are probably 25 devices.

HOWEVER

1. All three iPhone 6 keep intermittently dropping signal or get slow wi-fi speeds, even when they are close to the router. These problems do not happen with other wifi connections in other houses.

2. I have a Sonos Play 5 about 15 feet away, and a Sonos Play 1 one floor up which CONSTANTLY keep dropping connection and songs just stop after 2 or 3 minutes.

3. My NEST Thermostat will NOT connect to my TriBand SSID, it will ONLY connect to my guest network SSID, which is set as one of the 5GHz bands!

I wanted to try to fix this by manually changing the control channels for each of the bands, but with Smart Connect enabled, it won't let me do this (Control Channel is set to "Auto" and no way to change that I can see). So I thought the next step would be to disable Smart Connect??

So I went into router config > Wireless > Toggle off Smart Connect. Now it lets me modify Band, Control Channel, Bandwidth, but ONLY for the ONE band that I am allowed to choose.

How can I disable Smart Connect but still have all three bands running, with different settings all manually chosen!? It only lets me choose one band if I disable Smart Connect - there must be a way around this?

Also, which wifi analyser app would you guys recommend, either for Mac OS or iOS to allow me to see which channels are best?

Thanks a lot for your help.


And what should I be doing with Key Rotation Interval?

 

[karansaraf]

In case I didn't make my point clear, just to illustrate.

With Smart Connect turned on:

But with Smart Connect turned off, it will only let me choose and modify one band from the drop down menu, how do I choose all three to be running and modify them all?

 

[Super Bee]

Have a read through -
ASUS RT-AC3200 Smart Connect: The Missing Manual and
Asus RT-AC3200 Smart Connect Rules Fine Tuning

Perhaps that may help you out.

 

[RMerlin]

But with Smart Connect turned off, it will only let me choose and modify one band from the drop down menu, how do I choose all three to be running and modify them all?

You must configure them one at a time. That dropdown is simply to determine which band you are currently configuring. Once you click on Apply, chose another band, and repeat the configuration process until you've configured all three.

 

[karansaraf]

Thanks for that info! And the links. I will have a play around.

Two questions:

1. if I disable smart connect but still have more than one band on the same SSID, how do devices decide which band to connect to? Or should I have separate SSIDs if I do this? It would seem more inconvenient as I assume handoff between different SSIDs on the basis of which one is stronger in a particular area of the house isn't very reliable?
2. What should the key rotation interval be? I've heard some people say that setting it to 0 (currently 3600) may help? What would be the drawbacks of this? Haven't found out a great deal about that.

Thanks!

 

[AndreiV]

Thanks for that info! And the links. I will have a play around.

Two questions:

1. if I disable smart connect but still have more than one band on the same SSID, how do devices decide which band to connect to? Or should I have separate SSIDs if I do this? It would seem more inconvenient as I assume handoff between different SSIDs on the basis of which one is stronger in a particular area of the house isn't very reliable?
2. What should the key rotation interval be? I've heard some people say that setting it to 0 (currently 3600) may help? What would be the drawbacks of this? Haven't found out a great deal about that.

Thanks!

I have the same router, I don't use Smart Connect.

Same SSID for all 3 bands , on 2 laptops I add both 5Ghz in WiFi connections , on our Android phones I put the details for all 3 bands and then select "prefer 5Ghz" in the WiFi settings.

Devices connect to the best signal they find.

The rotation key I set to "0" , this is out of habit, in older firmware the key set with a value other than "0" often used to cause wireless disconnects , Asus fixed that some time ago.

 

[sfx2000]

The rotation key I set to "0" , this is out of habit, in older firmware the key set with a value other than "0" often used to cause wireless disconnects , Asus fixed that some time ago.

Now that Asus has fixed that issue, it would be good to get out of that habit - key rotation is an integral part of WPA/WPA2...

 

[karansaraf]

I have the same router, I don't use Smart Connect.

Same SSID for all 3 bands , on 2 laptops I add both 5Ghz in WiFi connections , on our Android phones I put the details for all 3 bands and then select "prefer 5Ghz" in the WiFi settings.

Devices connect to the best signal they find.

The rotation key I set to "0" , this is out of habit, in older firmware the key set with a value other than "0" often used to cause wireless disconnects , Asus fixed that some time ago.

Ah ok. I was under the impression that if I had three bands with the same SSID there would only be one SSID to connect to in the network list? Are you saying that there will actually be three SSIDs, all with the same name in the wireless networks list and we should just choose one of those to connect to? Should I then just try to split my devices evenly amongst the 5GHz bands so as not to overload any one band?