Possible to delay start of the 2.4ghz band in order to encurage 5ghz connections?

[heywire]

I would like the ability to start the 5ghz band a while before the 2.4ghz band at boot.

The reason for this is that I've noticed that several devices - also newer ones like Apple TV, Chromecast and Samsung TV's (Tizen) in particular - have a bad habit of snatching on to the 2.4ghz band immediately upon boot of the router, and then not rolling over to 5ghz unless I give them a swift kick in the butt by manually disabling the 2.4ghz band and then enabling it again. Some devices seem to roll over to 5ghz fine, but not all - I'm talking staying connected to 2.4ghz for weeks on end, causing significantly lower performance.

At least, this is a huge issue with my AC86U.

I'm suggesting that this becomes a feature - preferably enabled by default - in Merlin (or, by all means, the official release if they are wiling to listen), as it will offer significant benefit to many users. All it seems to require is delaying the start of the 2.4ghz band for a few seconds.

 

[ColinTaylor]

It's not quite a simple as that. Depending on the channels used on 5GHz it can take an additional 60 seconds or 10 minutes before the band becomes active on boot up.

I have the same issue with my smart TV and Blu-ray player. I solve it by having separate SSIDs for each band. When I was using a common SSID across multiple access points I used the wireless MAC filter to stop the devices connecting to an undesirable AP/band.

 

[heywire]

What I would like then is the ability to schedule a reboot of the 2.4ghz connection only- at a specific time (or regularly, not a full reboot of the router, but onlythe 2.4ghz band) so that it would force a semi-automatic roll-over of the lagging 2.4ghz connections to 5ghz outside of "office-hours".

As mentioned, a manual reboot of the 2.4ghz band (by enabling/disabling WPS) does force them over, but instead of having to kick 2.4ghz devices off 10 minutes after reboot, I'd like this to happen automatically - let's say, the next night.

Because as noticed, these devices can hang on to the 2.4ghz connection for weeks. Different SSID's is not an option in my environment, as the SSID needs to be flexible enough to handle a roll-over to 2.4ghz when devices move far away.

An even better version would be if a similar "trigger" could be built in to SmartConnect, as it evidently doesn't succeed in rolling them over when it's supposed to. But I have small hopes of Asus listening to anything as they cannot even get their regular firmware-releases straight without wreaking havoc on peoples environments.

I should also like to add that this was an even bigger problem before I disabled these settings, which enabled me to get the current Merlin version stable with AC86U in the first place (the very latest official firmware was stable without disabling them, but this has not yet made it into the GPL codebase that Merlin is built on)

 

[ColinTaylor]

I don't know what the 2.4GHz interface is called on your router. On mine it's eth6, so:

# wl -i eth6 radio off
# wl -i eth6 radio on

 

[heywire]

I don't know what the 2.4GHz interface is called on your router. On mine it's eth6, so:

# wl -i eth6 radio off
# wl -i eth6 radio on

Thanks for the hint, but I'm proposing that this is implemented in the GUI, as it would be useful to "everybody" - at least those aware of the issue.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Thanks for the hint, but I'm proposing that this is implemented in the GUI, as it would be useful to "everybody" - at least those aware of the issue.

You could use the wireless scheduler in the Wireless - Professional settings to turn off the 2.4GHz radio in the middle of the night and then turn it back on 1 minute later.

 

[bbunge]

What I would like then is the ability to schedule a reboot of the 2.4ghz connection only- at a specific time (or regularly, not a full reboot of the router, but onlythe 2.4ghz band) so that it would force a semi-automatic roll-over of the lagging 2.4ghz connections to 5ghz outside of "office-hours".

As mentioned, a manual reboot of the 2.4ghz band (by enabling/disabling WPS) does force them over, but instead of having to kick 2.4ghz devices off 10 minutes after reboot, I'd like this to happen automatically - let's say, the next night.

Because as noticed, these devices can hang on to the 2.4ghz connection for weeks. Different SSID's is not an option in my environment, as the SSID needs to be flexible enough to handle a roll-over to 2.4ghz when devices move far away.

An even better version would be if a similar "trigger" could be built in to SmartConnect, as it evidently doesn't succeed in rolling them over when it's supposed to. But I have small hopes of Asus listening to anything as they cannot even get their regular firmware-releases straight without wreaking havoc on peoples environments.

I should also like to add that this was an even bigger problem before I disabled these settings, which enabled me to get the current Merlin version stable with AC86U in the first place (the very latest official firmware was stable without disabling them, but this has not yet made it into the GPL codebase that Merlin is built on)

You really do not have to do all that. Use SmartConnect and let the clients and the router choose what is best for them. Also use auto channel and avoid, if possible, using DFS channels.
If you really want to force a client to use just the 5 GHz band, enable the Wireless MAC filter and deny clients from using the 5 GHz band. However, if you use DFS channels and the router gets bounced by RADAR your 5 GHz will shut down and you will loose connection until the band clears again.

 

[heywire]

You really do not have to do all that. Use SmartConnect and let the clients and the router choose what is best for them.

Obviously, this doesn't work, or I wouldn't be bringing up this issue.

Also use auto channel and avoid, if possible, using DFS channels.

If you really want to force a client to use just the 5 GHz band, enable the Wireless MAC filter and deny clients from using the 5 GHz band.

I want to avoid having to disable performance and convenience options, or I would just run separate SSID's in the first place. I suspect they are there for a reason.

However, if you use DFS channels and the router gets bounced by RADAR your 5 GHz will shut down and you will loose connection until the band clears again.

My issue is not instability on the 5ghz band, it's that some devices does not roll over to 5ghz after initially connecting to 2.4ghz unless I manually push them over by temporarily disabling the 2.4ghz band. When they first are connected to 5ghz, they seem to hang on.

 

[bbunge]

My issue is not instability on the 5ghz band, it's that some devices does not roll over to 5ghz after initially connecting to 2.4ghz unless I manually push them over by temporarily disabling the 2.4ghz band. When they first are connected to 5ghz, they seem to hang on.

They will move. Just give them time. The likely reason they do not connect to the 5 GHz band first is that you are using DFS channels which are turned off for a couple of minutes to clear RADAR when the router is booted up. Letting the clients use the 2.4 GHz band is not a bad thing. As I recommended before, use the Dual Band SmartConnect and let the router and clients choose how to connect. For my WIFI I change the 2.4 GHz to 20 MHz and turn off WPS. The rest of the settings are at default.

 

[heywire]

They will move. Just give them time. The likely reason they do not connect to the 5 GHz band first is that you are using DFS channels which are turned off for a couple of minutes to clear RADAR when the router is booted up. Letting the clients use the 2.4 GHz band is not a bad thing. As I recommended before, use the Dual Band SmartConnect and let the router and clients choose how to connect. For my WIFI I change the 2.4 GHz to 20 MHz and turn off WPS. The rest of the settings are at default.

If you read carefully, you'd pick up that I have waited, and they do not move. I have found that especially latency is much worse at 2.4ghz compared to 5ghz, even if the latter have a lower connection speed, which is why this is a problem.

 

[drinkingbird]

If you read carefully, you'd pick up that I have waited, and they do not move. I have found that especially latency is much worse at 2.4ghz compared to 5ghz, even if the latter have a lower connection speed, which is why this is a problem.

The suggestion to use wireless radio scheduler seems to be your best bet.

Smart connect should work for what you're looking for, but others have reported that it doesn't work well on certain routers. I haven't used it on Asus. Every dual band device I have prefers the 5Ghz band automatically (it didn't used to be that way but hardware vendors have gotten onboard and updated their drivers). Occasionally a client will connect to 2.4ghz when coming out of sleep and stick there, it is usually just a timing glitch and is rare enough that it isn't a big deal for me, but it can happen. On one of those (a windows laptop) I set preferred band to 5ghz instead of auto and also set roaming aggressiveness to "maximum" and it doesn't seem to do it anymore.

I realize you're requesting a feature but I don't think you're going to have much luck, the Merlin firmware is supposed to be as close to stock as possible while allowing people to run custom scripts etc, and that is another possible solution for you.

Of course you can submit a feature suggestion but it isn't something lots of people are asking for. The merlin firmware has already provided you with the ability to script the 2.4ghz radio to bounce, and even the stock asus radio scheduler would work too (albeit not as customizable as a script).