Symptoms: I saw timeout errors, and especially difficulty connecting to the router interface - but pings over the internet and simple websites worked passably.
After an entirely too long amount of testing, I discovered my 5G signal vastly underperforms the 2.4G band in a certain room. However, the 'Smart Connect' feature is partly to blame because it kept pushing me to the 5G radios and didn't leave me a way to test the 2.4 bands. I can understand why it prioritizes 5G radios over 2.4 - but this feature is better left off in my home.
Router location seems to matter MUCH more than my prior one. My home/walls are made of concrete, and the router is near large amounts of glass due to limited area. Oddly enough, even wired connections changed dramatically depending on the router location. It's not located near any other RF equipment or magnets, so I'm not sure how to explain that.
My takeaway: try disabling this feature if your connection seems flaky, and switch to 2.4G as part of your troubleshooting. Or don't enable it at all if your router is in a 'less than optimal' location.
Concrete and metal is the bane of wifi. 2.4ghz passes through more materials than 5ghz and it broadcast further. So if your home has concrete in it, rooms away from the router will work better on 2.4ghz.
You might check into hardwiring in each room/area and switching to a mesh system that has multiple access points. A lot of people that have homes that aren't conducive to wifi do this.
