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Forum Discussion
Orbi: We really need separate SSID for 2.4 Ghz and 5Ghz or speed is limited to less than 200 Mbps
TLDR: With Orbi, my 5Ghz capable devices are "forced" to connect to 2.4 Ghz most of the time, slowing down speed. Tested against 3 different routers and my 5Ghz capable can connect to 5Ghz network al...
Most clients cannot be forced to connect to a specific band. That's the whole point of this discussion.
BTW, thank you, Uplink01, for the helpful link on MacOS roaming behavior. I'll note that it states that the threshold for roaming is -67 dBm at 5 GHz, not -75 dBm. -75 dBm only applies to 2.4 GHz. This means that MacOS will be more aggressive about roaming at 5 GHz. Given that 5 GHz signals are generally weaker than 2.4 GHz, it won't take much to trigger a roaming search.
Chuckie cheese, you should monitor the RSSI levels and see if they ever drop below -67 dBm. You may also want to check the logs on the Mac about what's going on with WiFi. You can either use the Console app or look in /var/log/. system.log is the main log file but other files may be worth a look, too.
[Edit: I forgot to add that my bet is that the Orbi is briefly dropping the Wi-Fi connection. There are other threads where people complain about this.]
TheEther Respectfully, you need to reread that Apple link more carefully. It does not state a different roaming threshold for 5Gz. What it says is that 5Ghz APs are usually overlapped at the -67 dBm level, and therefore macOS clients will hang onto an AP longer than expected. (Due to the -75 dBm roaming threshold, you can travel far into another APs zone before the client will switch.)
If you are reading something else that I missed, please correct me, but here is the passage:
"macOS clients monitor and maintain the current BSSID’s connection until the RSSI crosses the -75 dBm threshold. After RSSI crosses that threshold, macOS scans for roam candidate BSSIDs for the current ESSID.
Consider this threshold in view of the signal overlap between your wireless cells. macOS maintains a connection until the -75 dBm threshold, but 5 GHz cells are designed with a -67 dBm overlap. Those clients will remain connected to the current BSSID longer than you expect."
Indeed, I am mistaken. Thanks for the correction!