auto switching to 2.4ghz when very close to router - why? RBR40

[OculusQuestFan]

I have an Oculus Quest which can stream contents from my PC, but ONLY via 5ghz.  For some reason the wifi keeps randomly switching between 5ghz and 2.4ghz, even though I am standing 10-15 feet from the Orbi router.   This does not seem like correct behaviour to me.  I thought it was only supposed to switch to 2.4ghz when needed for extra range.  Is that not the case?

So I've been all through the threads about separating the 2.4ghz and 5ghz ssids and it seems it cannot currently be done.  I tried the telnet technique but it didn't work on the newest firmware.  It appeared to work, but the new ssid did not show up.

So my only solution has been to disable the 2.4ghz ssid broadcast, which essentially disables 2.4ghz altogether I guess.  So I probably won't be able to get a signal anymore outside or at farther ranges 😞

NETGEAR, PLEASE LET US SPLIT THE BANDS!   Make it a "hidden" feature if you want but please allow tech saavy users to do it!

Thanks!

[OculusQuestFan · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the replies.

Sure, they might ask that question but since there is no way for me to modify the firmware of the Oculus Quest, it is pointless and submitting a ticket to facebook support will probably go nowhere.

What I can control (if netgear would let me) is seperating the ssids, which would solve the issue easily.

My first solution of disabling the 2.4ghz broadcast fixed the problem, but broke the couple of devices I have that only work on 2.4ghz.

My current solution is sideloading this app via sidequest:  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.seah0rse.swififree&hl=en_US

So far it's working great but not an ideal solution.

[FURRYe38]

There maybe noise or interferences that the your device maybe detecting and changes on it's own. 

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between RBR and RBS to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected.

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

Try enabling Beamforming and MIMO(MIMO may or maynot be needed) and WMM. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings

Try disabling the following and see:
Armor, Circle, Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).

I would also refer you to the devices Mfr to see if they have any recommendations to keeping the devcie from changing. It's up to the devcies to connect to a wifi signal based on signal and quality and noise. 

You can turn down the power radio on the 2.4Ghz side from 100% to say 50% and see if this keeps your device on the 5Ghz frequency. 

[michaelkenward]

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@OculusQuestFan wrote:

NETGEAR, PLEASE LET US SPLIT THE BANDS!   Make it a "hidden" feature if you want but please allow tech saavy users to do it!

---

Wouldn't tech savvy users ask themselves why a wifi client was messing around? Or maybe work out how to tell it to stick with 5 GHz?

To coin a phrase, "it takes two to wifi".

[OculusQuestFan · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the replies.

Sure, they might ask that question but since there is no way for me to modify the firmware of the Oculus Quest, it is pointless and submitting a ticket to facebook support will probably go nowhere.

What I can control (if netgear would let me) is seperating the ssids, which would solve the issue easily.

My first solution of disabling the 2.4ghz broadcast fixed the problem, but broke the couple of devices I have that only work on 2.4ghz.

My current solution is sideloading this app via sidequest:  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.seah0rse.swififree&hl=en_US

So far it's working great but not an ideal solution.

[FURRYe38]

Istead of disabling the 2.4Ghz radio, did you try turning down the power radio on the 2.4Ghz side from 100% to say 50% and see if this keeps your device on the 5Ghz frequency?

[OculusQuestFan]

Thanks furry, yes I did try setting the power of 2.4ghz to 25% and it still switched some.  I'm hoping Oculus will fix it in the future as mesh networks become more common.  A "force 5ghz" checkbox is all it would take as that is essentially what the swifi app does.  Thanks again for the help and I guess for now I am good to go. 

[FURRYe38]

Sounds like the device Mfr should do some tuning on there devices to work better with Smart Connect enabled wifi systems. Hopefully they will.

Enjoy.