Dedicated SSID For WiFi 6 Devices

[A1MB1G]

I have the Asus ZenWifi XT8 router/node combination. They are connected via wired ethernet backhaul. Is there any way to setup a separate SSID that will strictly be used for WiFi 6 enabled devices? I currently have two separate SSID's, one for 2.4Ghz and the other for 5Ghz. I tend to connect all my smart devices to 2.4Ghz as they tend to play nicer on that band and all other devices such as printers, laptpops etc on the 5Ghz band. However, I would like to ensure that my WiFi 6 devices such as my iPhone will take full advantage of the WiFi 6 capability. Is setting up a dedicated WiFi 6 band possible and even necessary?

 

[bbunge]

You could use Guest 2 or 3 for both bands. At least in the AX86U firmware the guest bands have the ability to use just WPA2 and you can enable intranet access for the Guest. I have found that some older clients do not like WPA2/WPA3.
You may want to use Dual Band SmartConnect and a single SSID for the "main" WIFI. If you are using 160 MHz, which will use DFS channels, and the router detects RADAR it will pause the 5 GHZ. When this happens the clients will switch to 2.4 GHz and keep working. With different SSID's your 5 GHz clients may be shut down.

 

[A1MB1G]

You could use Guest 2 or 3 for both bands. At least in the AX86U firmware the guest bands have the ability to use just WPA2 and you can enable intranet access for the Guest. I have found that some older clients do not like WPA2/WPA3.
You may want to use Dual Band SmartConnect and a single SSID for the "main" WIFI. If you are using 160 MHz, which will use DFS channels, and the router detects RADAR it will pause the 5 GHZ. When this happens the clients will switch to 2.4 GHz and keep working. With different SSID's your 5 GHz clients may be shut down.

Is there a way to determine if my iPhone 11 is connecting to wifi 6 for maximum speed? I have it connecting to the 5Ghz band but don’t necessarily see a way to confirm whether it’s connected using AX Wifi6 speeds.

 

[Tech9]

Is setting up a dedicated WiFi 6 band possible and even necessary?

Doesn't seem possible because it's not necessary. Your 5GHz radio is serving all WI-Fi 4/5/6 clients at the same time just fine.

Is there a way to determine if my iPhone 11 is connecting to wifi 6 for maximum speed?

There is - in router's client list see the link speed, but again not necessary. Your iPhone has nothing to do with Wi-Fi 6 speeds.

 

[A1MB1G]

Doesn't seem possible because it's not necessary. Your 5GHz radio is serving both WI-Fi 5/6 devices at the same time just fine.



There is - in router's client list see the link speed, but again not necessary. Your iPhone has nothing to do with Wi-Fi 6 speeds.

How does my iPhone have nothing to do with WiFi 6 when only certain devices support WiFi 6? So therefore, shouldn't I be able to tell how it's connected to the router? I'm assuming based on your other comment, I can click on the client list and check? I'll have a look, thanks!

 

[Tech9]

How does my iPhone have nothing to do with WiFi 6 when only certain devices support WiFi 6?

It supports Wi-Fi 6, but what you are going to use a Gigabit data stream for? Your YouTube video is going to load 1 second faster and that's all.

 

[Tech9]

Here is my iPhone connected to AC86U router at max link speeds:

That's around 500Mbps throughput. What an iPhone can use that speed for? Let me know, I may learn something new.

 

[thiggins]

Is there a way to determine if my iPhone 11 is connecting to wifi 6 for maximum speed?

Maximum 5 GHz WiFi 6 link rate for a 2 stream device is 1201 Mbps for 80 MHz bandwidth, 2402 Mbps for 160 MHz bandwidth.

 

[A1MB1G]

It supports Wi-Fi 6, but what you are going to use a Gigabit data stream for? Your YouTube video is going to load 1 second faster and that's all.

That’s a good point. So what is the ideal setup to provide maximum stability and speed throughout the house?

until now I’ve been separating my 2.4ghz band and 5Ghz band. I use the 2.4 for smart devices and 5Ghz band mostly for laptops, PCs etc. I tried using smart connect in the past but found that IoT devices didn’t always play nice with bouncing from band to band.

i just want to make sure I’m maximizing the ability of these routers. I have 1Gbps internet service. My Apple TV, and Xbox are hard wired so no issues there.

 

[Tech9]

So what is the ideal setup to provide maximum stability and speed throughout the house?

You may get different opinions, but I do the same thing - separate SSIDs for 2.4GHz and 5GHz, no DFS channels, wired for what needs maximum speeds and reliability. This allows me to have more control where the devices connect. I don't like Smart things because I still believe I'm a bit smarter.

 

[A1MB1G]

You may get different opinions, but I do the same thing - separate SSIDs for 2.4GHz and 5GHz, wired for what needs maximum speeds and reliability. This allows me to have more control where the devices connect. I don't like Smart things because I still believe I'm a bit smarter.

If you don’t mind, can you share your other settings with me as well? Also, did you leave the 5Ghz-2 band alone? I have wired backhaul and wasn’t sure if I should unhide this band and name it the same as my 5Ghz band?

 

[Tech9]

If you don’t mind, can you share your other settings with me as well?

I don't use Asus routers. I only have some around for testing, but none are AX models. Someone else may give you advice for your XT8.

 

[A1MB1G]

I’m wondering. Is it generally better to run separate ssid or use Mac filtering to prevent a certain device from connecting to a specific band?

im thinking I could just filter the smart devices so that they don’t connect to 5Ghz band and still be able to use a single ssid which could improve things? Just trying to figure out most optimal settings.

 

[bbunge]

Most optimal is what works best for you. WIFI environments change from location to location. Currently I am in the last house on my street. But not for long as the rest of the lots near me have been sold. That means 20 more routers within 300 yards that will have auto channel assignment and change channels almost daily. Good thing building materials are scarce!
My basic settings are in my reply to your first post. Give yourself a break, use Dual Band Smart Connect and let your clients choose where they want to connect. Your IOT devices should go on an isolated "guest" WIFI.

 

[RogerSC]

If you don’t mind, can you share your other settings with me as well? Also, did you leave the 5Ghz-2 band alone? I have wired backhaul and wasn’t sure if I should unhide this band and name it the same as my 5Ghz band?

If you're using the latest firmware (42095), you can turn on "wired backhaul" under AiMesh -> System Settings -> Ethernet Backhaul Mode setting. When you do that, you'll be asked if you want to use 3-band smart connect, that is, smart connect that combines the 2.4GHz., 5GHz-1, and 5GHz-2 radios under one SSID. That worked well for me, and exposes the 5GHz-2 radio for clients.

Good stuff.

 

[A1MB1G]

If you're using the latest firmware (42095), you can turn on "wired backhaul" under AiMesh -> System Settings -> Ethernet Backhaul Mode setting. When you do that, you'll be asked if you want to use 3-band smart connect, that is, smart connect that combines the 2.4GHz., 5GHz-1, and 5GHz-2 radios under one SSID. That worked well for me, and exposes the 5GHz-2 radio for clients.

Good stuff.

So are you having good success with smart connect? Nearly all the other posts/threads indicate that people are better off separating out the bands and directing certain clients manually to specific bands. Has Asus resolved some of the issues with devices bouncing back and forth and losing connection when using Smart Connect? also, is there a significant advantage to using the 3 bands as part of one SSID (Smart Connect) compared to without that 3rd 5GHZ-2 band?

 

[Tech9]

Why don't you test and see what works best for you, @A1MB1G? There are not too many possible combinations to test. No two wireless environments are the same. Other folks preferences or settings may or may not work well in your place.

 

[RogerSC]

So are you having good success with smart connect? Nearly all the other posts/threads indicate that people are better off separating out the bands and directing certain clients manually to specific bands. Has Asus resolved some of the issues with devices bouncing back and forth and losing connection when using Smart Connect? also, is there a significant advantage to using the 3 bands as part of one SSID (Smart Connect) compared to without that 3rd 5GHZ-2 band?

I've had no problems with "smart connect" on the ZenWiFi AX. In fact, I started using it because I was having a problem with my RT-AX88U with a particular wifi-5 laptop not connecting when it woke from sleep that was solved by using smart connect. So I've just kept using it. Never had any bouncing back and forth/lost connections with it. The two-band (2.4 and 5GHz-1) is currently working well for me without wired backhaul. When I have wired backhaul connected, the three-band smart connect works well also.

I don't feel the need to have separate SSID's for the separate bands anymore...I used to do that years ago so that I could be sure that my 5GHz. devices stayed on 5GHz., but haven't had to worry about that for a long time now. The eero mesh that I used before the ZenWiFi AX mesh worked fine in that way, 5GHz. devices stayed on 5GHz. while using a single SSID, as they do on the ZenWiFi AX.

As to whether the 3-band smart connect is better than the 2-band smart connect, I think that you should just try it. I didn't see a great advantage either way, but my home network configuration is different than yours, I'll bet *smile*. Just try it and see how it works for you, it should be stable either way.