smart connect
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I am getting a few TP Link extender and want to use smart connect.
There was a review in amazon (2020) saying smarconnect slows down the network.
Has this been resolved?
"Testing revealed that the problem was TP-Link's "smart connect" feature. As with any dual-band router, you can set the slow 2.4GHz band and the fast 5GHz band to the same SSID. Normally this would allow your device - laptop, phone, etc - to choose which band to use. Smart Connect is supposed to optimize network performance by allowing the router itself to decide which band each device should use. But what Smart Connect actually does is the reverse of optimal: it only allows one device to connect to 5GHz, and kicks everything else to 2.4GHz! Even if that one 5GHz connected device is idle, every other device is locked out."
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chipsandsalsa wrote
Thanks for the response. I've enabled smart connect on my new ax3000 but I am having issues with 5ghz devices attempting to connect when they are too far away from the router. This results in unusable slow performance. The only way around this as far as I know is to force the device to connect to 2.4ghz using the guest network or I have to separate my SSIDs between 2.4 and 5. Isnt Smart Connect supposed to select the best performance and connection strength for the device and establish the appropriate connection accordingly?
Smart Connect will connect to the STRONGEST SSID when you move around.
There is a difference in strengths due to distance from the router between the 2 SSID band. The 2.4Ghz band will go further than the 5Ghz and drop of gradually, but the 5 GHZ band will be higher power away from the router compared to the 2.4Ghz band at distances from the router until it drops off, which means lower signal strength, once it drops below the 2.4Ghz strength. So with Smart Connect, it will move you to the strongest band, in that case, the 2.4Ghz band.
If you didn't have Smart Connect on, the 5Ghz would stay on that SSID, but you might not get good performance either? Due to the low power signal of the SSID as you get too far away from the router.
Smart Connect is 'smart' in that it probes the device to see what it can connect to, the 2.4 or 5Ghz. There are many 'different' Smart Connects too, some do load leveling, and some do it dynamically. TP-Link it appears is a load balancing implementation. See https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/2595/ but it is unclear if it does it as the load on each SSID changes and moves devices to the least used (usually that would only be 5Ghz devices down to the 2.4Ghz band).
I always do NOT use Smart Connect. If offers me no advantages. I also don't want the fast device on a slow band.
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I really don't think this is true, I have not seen any record of this behavior. It almost sounds closer to the high-speed mode on a Range Extender than it does Smart Connect.
Smart Connect is just TP-Link version of a feature that combines the SSIDs into one network. This is a feature that has been implemented and improved on with each Wi-Fi standard released.
In all of our troubleshooting documents related to 'lower than expected' speeds that i can find, there is no step to recommend disabling this feature, unless devices are unable to connect to the combined SSID. In fact, i think all the troubleshooting steps that involve this feature are related to connectivity problems, not speed issues.
Also, don't forget that our teams are constantly making fixes and upgrades to our firmware for both old and new devices. 5Ghz has become far more prevalent over the past few years, and as a result, I'm sure efforts have been made to make the band available to as many devices as possible. Also, your device is widely supported and has had at least three major firmware updates this year.
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chipsandsalsa wrote
Thanks for the response. I've enabled smart connect on my new ax3000 but I am having issues with 5ghz devices attempting to connect when they are too far away from the router. This results in unusable slow performance. The only way around this as far as I know is to force the device to connect to 2.4ghz using the guest network or I have to separate my SSIDs between 2.4 and 5. Isnt Smart Connect supposed to select the best performance and connection strength for the device and establish the appropriate connection accordingly?
Smart Connect will connect to the STRONGEST SSID when you move around.
There is a difference in strengths due to distance from the router between the 2 SSID band. The 2.4Ghz band will go further than the 5Ghz and drop of gradually, but the 5 GHZ band will be higher power away from the router compared to the 2.4Ghz band at distances from the router until it drops off, which means lower signal strength, once it drops below the 2.4Ghz strength. So with Smart Connect, it will move you to the strongest band, in that case, the 2.4Ghz band.
If you didn't have Smart Connect on, the 5Ghz would stay on that SSID, but you might not get good performance either? Due to the low power signal of the SSID as you get too far away from the router.
Smart Connect is 'smart' in that it probes the device to see what it can connect to, the 2.4 or 5Ghz. There are many 'different' Smart Connects too, some do load leveling, and some do it dynamically. TP-Link it appears is a load balancing implementation. See https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/2595/ but it is unclear if it does it as the load on each SSID changes and moves devices to the least used (usually that would only be 5Ghz devices down to the 2.4Ghz band).
I always do NOT use Smart Connect. If offers me no advantages. I also don't want the fast device on a slow band.
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just started using it myself and it actually works really well with Mu-MIMO. Spent all day dialing in both of my internet modems and router. My main modem is gagabit Ethernet and around 400mbps Wi-Fi and my second modem is supposed to be capped around 300mps but it's pushing around 350. Anyways I chose to connect my c5400 to the latter to extend a perimeter around the property and after several hours it's working well. I was doing various bandwidth tests and some simultaneous to see where priorities were. I didn't have a lot of luck just turning on MIMO but as soon as I turned on smart connect all 3 of my devices were able to Speedtest 230 to 300mbps simultaneously and that wasn't the case previously. They were fighting for bandwidth and one may have been 40 and another 100 and other 160. Basically it was taking 300 and splitting it unevenly 3 ways. Now all devices are getting similar speeds without interrupt. Yes the peak speed is slightly down, but with multiple devices and MIMO on, it works. You will login to the 2.4ghz channel (which you can rename without the 2.4 and it will appropriate which devices get priority. I also have these 3 devices prioritized in settings so if anyone else logs on they will get the can kicked down to minimal speeds necessary for their visiting use. I do a lot of streaming and trading stocks during the day so this seems to be optimal for my usage. My workstation is also 2.5gb LAN capable and uploads around 990mbps on Ethernet and around 415mbps WiFi. Keeping in mind device hardware also matters. Hopefully this gives you an idea how it works. Seems to be correct and working solid compared to my previous setup. Don't get hung up on max speed versus max consistency of performance.
btw., None of my devices were restricted to slower speeds than they should have. I suppose that's why it is called SmartConnect.
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