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New AC2300 - questions

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New AC2300 - questions

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New AC2300 - questions
New AC2300 - questions
2020-06-25 23:49:27 - last edited 2020-06-26 16:35:31
Model: Archer A2300  
Hardware Version: V1
Firmware Version: 2.0.3 Build 20180611 Rel. 77668

Just unboxed and set up a new AC2300, purchased from major retailer, in-store.  I have a few questions if anyone would be kind enough to respond.

 

VERSION

 

NiB but Hardware version is V1.0  Latest is 2.0 right?  Do I care about that?

 

WEB UI STOPS RESPONDING

 

I set up the router over wifi while my existing router was still operating and connected to my cable modem.  I noticed that with the WAN port disconnected, the router web UI hung a lot when switching menus such as between Basic and Advanced tabs. Sometimes pausing a minute, sometimes longer, sometimes so long I assumed something crashed so I rebooted the router.  I am guessing it was waiting to timeout something?  Like offline Internet?

 

Once I got the Internet connected and online I have had no more issues with the UI.  If this is the cause, it will suck when Comcast goes down if I want to check something in the router.

 

5ghz / 2.4ghz ROAMING

 

I set the 2.4ghz and 5ghz networks to same SSID and Password.  That seems to be working fine.  I assume that if my mobile phone is connecting 5ghz AC or N and then I walk out of range of 5ghz it will transparently flip to 2.4ghz?  Then when I come back into range, switch back to 5ghz?  My previous router, Netgear R7000P supported that but through a specific feature.

 

CLIENT PREFERS N OVER AC

 

My windows 10 laptop w/ Intel dual-band AC 8265 adapter, with driver preference set to AC, still seems to connect @ 5ghz N.  If I force the C2300 to only AC mode, then this client connects AC no problem and shows 866 mbps with 97% signal.  But when it first connects and I have N/AC mode, it shows N.  I am 10 feet from the router with excellent signal either way.  Any idea why this is?  I don't realy want to force AC only in the router.

 

Maybe it is initially negotiating N then later switches to AC and I am just being impatient with checking it's status?  Is that typical behavior of Windows 10?  Because as I type this it is now on AC where for at least the first 10 minutes after last reboot (30 minutes ago)  it showed N @ 300mbps.

 

ANY STRONGLY RECOMMENDED TWEAKS?

 

Every router has its own optimal config.  Any highly recommended changes from the defaults?  I have to keep 2.4ghz supporting B for my Roomba instead of G/N mode. I'd like to keep 5ghz at N/AC for flexibility as long as my client devices are not using N when AC is fine.  Should I force 40/80mhz?

 

Not looking to install 3rd party firmware, don't need VPN. Not hosting services.  Probably I will connect a USB 3.0 SSD at some point.

 

I'd like to enable QOS for voip / video streaming - yea or nay?  This was suspect on the N7000P due to stability issues.

 

The Antivirus features - these work?  Permanent license?  Netgear's "Armor" seems perhaps more hype than helpful and requires a license.

 

AM I GOING TO REGRET THIS?

 

I thought I did well getting a deal on the Netgear R7000P but it kept failing - randomly stop passing traffic between all connected wifi clients & Internet while wired client works just fine - doing this sometimes several times per hour.  At most I have 9 clients, usually only 4 are connecting.  After seeing that many people complain online about that and similar wifi issues, I went the AC2300 route.  So far I like it.  There are things I like much better about this UI than Netgear's.  Will this be a good move?  Or no?

 

If I had asked this question in Netgear forums I would probably get a resounding "yes, you will regret". I am hopeful this router lives up to its excellent reputation!

 

Thanks for anyone who can take the time to give me their thoughts and advice!

 

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#1
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1 Accepted Solution
Re:New AC2300 - questions-Solution
2020-06-26 15:56:57 - last edited 2020-06-26 16:35:31

@dhostetter 

 

I think the issue of the Web UI not responding was that your computer was switching over to your original router. I have that happen a lot to me when testing on a different router and my active router is nearby. If you had no internet you can still log into the Archer and configure it.

 

You have a feature in the router called Smart Connect (Advanced > Wireless > Wireless Settings). When enabled you will have one network name available, and from there when clients connect the router will place the device on whichever band is appropriate. Users will have an issue seeing that it does not connect to the 5G when they want it to so I would recommend having the band named different. It makes things simpler as you know what network you are connecting to rather than leaving it to the router or device.

 

The client preference of N over AC is on the client themselves. Every device has different thresholds on connecting to another network due to signal strength or waiting until the connected network is gone then it switches over. 

 

The Antivirus is power by TrendMicro which is apart of our security suite called HomeCare which does not require a subscription. There was a three year period which you had it, and would of needed to subscribe but we have since changed that.

 

I do not see you regretting having the router. The C8/C9 and the 2300s have been a favorite of mine, just simple routers that get the job done.

 

I would say, never assume how a router should work so ask as many questions as possible.

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#3
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10 Reply
Re:New AC2300 - questions
2020-06-26 03:49:49

I made a small monitor script to watch 802.11 N vs AC and my laptop 10 feet from router occasionally switches from AC to N then back.  Why would this be, if signal strength is excellent the entire time?

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#2
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Re:New AC2300 - questions-Solution
2020-06-26 15:56:57 - last edited 2020-06-26 16:35:31

@dhostetter 

 

I think the issue of the Web UI not responding was that your computer was switching over to your original router. I have that happen a lot to me when testing on a different router and my active router is nearby. If you had no internet you can still log into the Archer and configure it.

 

You have a feature in the router called Smart Connect (Advanced > Wireless > Wireless Settings). When enabled you will have one network name available, and from there when clients connect the router will place the device on whichever band is appropriate. Users will have an issue seeing that it does not connect to the 5G when they want it to so I would recommend having the band named different. It makes things simpler as you know what network you are connecting to rather than leaving it to the router or device.

 

The client preference of N over AC is on the client themselves. Every device has different thresholds on connecting to another network due to signal strength or waiting until the connected network is gone then it switches over. 

 

The Antivirus is power by TrendMicro which is apart of our security suite called HomeCare which does not require a subscription. There was a three year period which you had it, and would of needed to subscribe but we have since changed that.

 

I do not see you regretting having the router. The C8/C9 and the 2300s have been a favorite of mine, just simple routers that get the job done.

 

I would say, never assume how a router should work so ask as many questions as possible.

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#3
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Re:New AC2300 - questions
2020-06-26 16:43:10

@Tony 

 

Thank you Tony.  I don't think that was the issue with the WebUI, I was WiFi connected to the C2300 using different subnet and no way to connect back to the original router.  But it no longer occurs so IDK.  What would happen is during UI navigation sometimes I get the spinning circle for a minute, or several, or many minutes and I get impatient and restart the router.  But its working fine now!

 

I have been running a script to 'netsh show wifi interface' every 10 seconds and detect when protocol or channel changes.  For a while every 10-20 minutes my laptop was going back and forth from N to AC on the same channel.  Then for the last 10 hours or so, it is only on N.  N with 97% signal strength and not changing over to AC ?? 

 

The corollary to this is that my Internet connectivity did not go down that whole time so that is definitely an improvement over the N7000P!! LOL!

 

I agree this is not anything with the router, it is my laptop hardware/driver. My original router I am upgrading from was only 5ghz N so I would never have noticed this behavior before.

 

Any downside to forcing AC in the router if all my 5ghz devices are also AC ?

 

 

 

 

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#4
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Re:New AC2300 - questions
2020-06-26 18:45:37

@dhostetter 

 

I do not see a downside forcing 5G, if anything it lessens potential congestion on the 2.4GHz.

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Re:New AC2300 - questions
2020-06-26 19:39:02

@Tony I meant force 5ghz to AC only.  I turned off Smart Connect, did that, and so far no issues, but not all my clients are present and attempting.  We'll see. My windows 10 client is only using AC now for last few hours instead of mainly N and only sometimes AC.

 

I noticed something about the Smart Connect...  When I enable that, it seems to then force all the default settings for 2ghz and 5ghz.  In other words, if I have 2ghz forced to N only, then enable Smart Connect, now 2ghz uses b/g/n mixed.

 

Is there a way to specifically configure 2ghz and 5ghz settings then have Smart Connect preserve those?  I get that the settings have to be "the same" on both networks but does that mean setting everything back to auto/defaults/everything turned on?

 

 

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#6
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Re:New AC2300 - questions
2020-06-29 15:50:54

@dhostetter 

 

If you opt for Smart Connect, then yes, all the available modes will be shown as you only have controls for the security type, encryption, and version.

 

For advanced controls, I would leave Smart Connect off.

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#7
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Re:New AC2300 - questions
2020-06-29 16:00:57

@Tony Thanks for all your answers and advice.  So far so good - Since I stopped experimenting with features, I have few issues and 100% uptime (24 monitoring on my workstation).  Laptop is happy, all my home devices seem happy and work when I need them too. I haven't had my kids all doing an online game yet but I am confident.

 

Video meetings have been the only thing with any issues - sometimes the meeting client (Teams / Zoom) just froze up - the audio, video and it's UI.  Usually comes back quick though twice I had to force quit the app and start again. This didn't happen with the R7000P outside of the total disconnect issue and didn't happen with my earlier 5ghz N router either.

 

I'll remove the QOS feature for video streaming and see if that solves it.  I am on a lot of meetings and it hasn't been a chronic issue.

 

Are you able to tell me what is the hardware difference between V1 and V2 ?  Surprised I got a V1 new in box but I guess the retailer had leftover stock - probably didn't really promote or sell the original batch... it was on sale.  I doubt I care, just curious.

 

 

 

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#8
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Re:New AC2300 - questions
2020-06-30 15:02:03

@dhostetter 

 

I am not sure if you may be referencing another router, but the Archer A2300 and the Archer C2300 only had hardware version 1 for the US region.

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#9
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Re:New AC2300 - questions
2020-06-30 16:47:12

@Tony  Oh! Thanks for that clarification. I read somewhere on Netgear website to always check if seller is selling latest hardware version so I asked chat support about hardware version for C2300 and I was told the current was V2.  Like I said though, either way I doubt I would have cared.  Thanks again for all your assistance.

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#10
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Re:New AC2300 - questions
2020-06-30 17:11:06

@dhostetter 

 

I think I may have found what has happened. On our US site the 2300s only have v1, but for another region, say UK, they have v2. 

 

What I generally do I visit our official site, and visit the support section of the given device. Our products and firmware are region based so that can get confusing, even for me at times.

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