Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
Reply

Why is my smartconnect very stupid?

stringhacker
Tutor

Why is my smartconnect very stupid?

I chose the smart connect as recommended then set up 5 devices
then I went to devices on the the Netgear nighthawk app and 4 of the five devices were connected to
5GHZ-2 and the one i especially wanted on 5G my LG smart TV
was on the 2.4G and the Alexa was on the 5G- and no devices were on the 5G1.. not very smart if you ask me! Thanks for any help..
Model: R8000P|Nighthawk X6S—AC4000 Tri-Band WiFi Router
Message 1 of 12

Accepted Solutions
IrvSp
Master

Re: Why is my smartconnect very stupid?


@stringhacker wrote:

Is setting up manually as easy as changing the passwords and ssid’s
On the different bands?? Thanks again for replying and all the great info!!

Yes, that is all you need to do on the router, then on the devices, pick the SSID you  want it to connect to. You only really need to uncheck SMART CONNECT and change the SSID for 5Ghz-1 or 5Ghz-2 ones, no need to change both. Both can have the same password.

View solution in original post

Message 11 of 12

All Replies
antinode
Guru

Re: Why is my smartconnect very stupid?

> [...] not very smart if you ask me!

   Who asked you?

   Knowing nothing, I'd guess that these devices negotiated with the
router, and together they chose the radio band/SSID based on some
(secret?) criteria, involving parameters like signal strength,
congestion, and so on.  Perhaps they got an optimal configuration, and
perhaps not.  You apparently believe that they chose unwisely.

   If you're convinced that you can do a better job (which might very
well be true, for all I know), then you might be happier with a
different SSID for every radio, and the resulting control that such a
configuration would offer the user.

   It might make some sense to run the experiment, and see which
configuration performs better, and then act accordingly.  I'd also want
to see if the automatic configuration depends on circumstances (device
start-up sequence, interference from neighbors, who-knows-what-else?).
It's not obvious to me that the obvious-to-you configuration would
actually work better.  (But it might.  What do I know?)

Message 2 of 12
stringhacker
Tutor

Re: Why is my smartconnect very stupid?

Haha!! Well your right, nobody asked me!! I’m thinking maybe it put my tv on 2.5G cause at the time I downloaded the nighthawk app and started smart connect the TV was on regular cable but when I turned on amazon prime it’s started buffering and saying not enough bandwidth??
Anyway thanks for your input and I think I will go on the regular router.net site and try what you suggested!! Thanks again.
Message 3 of 12

Re: Why is my smartconnect very stupid?


@stringhacker wrote:

5GHZ-2 and the one i especially wanted on 5G my LG smart TV

I assume that the smart TV supports 5GHz. Many don't.

 

And 2.4 GHz, with its better range, may actually deliver better performance than 5 GHz struggling to maintain a connection.

 

My solution to smart TVs and buffering was to get a pair if Powerline plugs and to "hard wire" the TV to the network.

 

Not only is the wired LAN faster and more reliable than wifi, it is also much easier to set up on a smart device. My Samsung "smart" BluRay player is really a bit dim, if not downright stupid, on that front.

 

Plugs that do 100 Mbps on the LAN ports are fine foir streaming,m but newer plugs do 1000 Mbps on the LAN ports if you like go-fast stripes on your hardware.

Message 4 of 12
stringhacker
Tutor

Re: Why is my smartconnect very stupid?

Michael, thank you for your reply, I was considering hardwiring, until my wife said they would find my headless body in a ditch!! Haha!
We paid quite a bit to have no wires,
(Everything in the walls) thanks again!
Model: R8000P|Nighthawk X6S—AC4000 Tri-Band WiFi Router
Message 5 of 12
IrvSp
Master

Re: Why is my smartconnect very stupid?

I've got an R8000 and using Smart Connect as well.

 

I assume the R8000P has the same setup, Smart Connect only for the 2 5Ghz SSID's.

 

It isn't that it is 'stupid', it is that it is 'dumbed' down (Smart Connect that is). Check HERE and see what a review of Smart Connect said:

 

============

Given the capabilities I saw in Broadcom demos, NETGEAR appears to have dialed XStream's capabilities down to a very simple level. Radio assignment appears to be based strictly on supported link rates, not the actual link rate in use. And NETGEAR has said it disabled dynamic radio assignment, citing problems it found with some devices not liking being steered. This bears another look, which I will do in Part 2, along with OpenVPN performance and full wireless testing.

============

 

And in Part 2 it added:

 

=============

The R8000's real promise is in improving total wireless throughput with mixes of client types. And here, the R8000 is a work in progress. NETGEAR chose to let the R8000 perform only a few tricks out of Broadcom's entire XStream technology catalog. So you might be better off manually assigning clients to its two 5 GHz radios, instead of using the very simple (and static) client assignment algorithms currently implemented.

=============

 

I can attest to it being 'dumbed down', and bear in mind those reviews were done almost 4 years ago with the initial firmware, there is a 'chance' NG has improved Smart Connect since then in newer firmware versions. However, I do have 2 iPad Pro's. One would expect them to be on the same SSID, but they are not, each on one of the 5Ghz bands. Maybe because it 'levels' depending on what is on at the time, don't know, but I've seen them on the same one occasionally.

Message 6 of 12

Re: Why is my smartconnect very stupid?


@stringhacker wrote:
(Everything in the walls) thanks again!

 


That's what Powerline is all about. No cables to upset the other half.

 

But first try to fix it with wifi.

 

 

Message 7 of 12
IrvSp
Master

Re: Why is my smartconnect very stupid?

Powerline units are great, but....

 

Most houses are wired for 220V (in the US at least). To get the 110V they split it off. So most houses have 2 110V runs. I had a problem in one house that uses the powerline to control lighting. The controller was on one run, some lights on it as well, and some on the other run of 110V. I know an electrician was able to take care of that. Maybe a capacitor between the two 110's, not sure, I forgot.

Message 8 of 12
stringhacker
Tutor

Re: Why is my smartconnect very stupid?

Thank you for the reply, very intresting... I’m not very tech savvy,
(The stringhacker screen name is from attempting to play guitar!)
I actually think the R8000p is smartening up??? When I first connected everything, it all showed up on 5G-2 except my wife’s I-pad
Which was on 2.4G??? But now it seems to be evening out somewhat..
If I could ask one more,,
Is setting up manually as easy as changing the passwords and ssid’s
On the different bands?? Thanks again for replying and all the great info!!
Model: R8000P|Nighthawk X6S—AC4000 Tri-Band WiFi Router
Message 9 of 12
antinode
Guru

Re: Why is my smartconnect very stupid?

> [...] Is setting up manually as easy as changing the passwords and
> ssid's On the different bands??

   Probably.  Visit http://netgear.com/support , put in your model
number, and look for Documentation.  Get the User Manual.  Look for
"Specify Basic WiFi Settings".

Message 10 of 12
IrvSp
Master

Re: Why is my smartconnect very stupid?


@stringhacker wrote:

Is setting up manually as easy as changing the passwords and ssid’s
On the different bands?? Thanks again for replying and all the great info!!

Yes, that is all you need to do on the router, then on the devices, pick the SSID you  want it to connect to. You only really need to uncheck SMART CONNECT and change the SSID for 5Ghz-1 or 5Ghz-2 ones, no need to change both. Both can have the same password.

Message 11 of 12
stringhacker
Tutor

Re: Why is my smartconnect very stupid?

You sir,, Rock!!! Thank you!!
Message 12 of 12
Top Contributors
Discussion stats
  • 11 replies
  • 71573 views
  • 10 kudos
  • 4 in conversation
Announcements

Orbi WiFi 7