ZenWiFi AX6600 problems switching from one node to another..??

[angelleye]

Sorry I didn't see your post until you bumped the thread again!

dBm is not distance it is signal strength. It is affected by increased distance. So if you stay connected and move away at a certain point this signal is poor, which would explain why it lags/slows down. I noticed sometimes devices stay connected to the further node/router even though I am very near to a different one.

So I suspect yours is switching late hence the slowdown before it switches to the nearer node....

If it simply slowed down for a minute and then switched that wouldn't be so bad. I probably wouldn't even notice. This is fully disconnecting from the WiFi when it happens. The phone lags so I can tell it's happening, but if I wait it'll just fall back to the cell signal.

Then if I look at my WiFi connection options it still shows my access point(s), but it says I have to sign in. Clicking this seems to connect right back to it. So either that or turning WiFi off/on.

Either way it connects right back and works great until I move again. So it's not ever actually switching on its own, it seems. It just disconnects, and I have to reconnect manually.

[jzchen]

The determination to handoff is made by the router and node(s). I have a mix no two the same:

GT-AXE11000
RT-AX86U
Lyra Voice
RT-AC68U

Getting them to work together harmoniously has been a challenge. But I can say that Smart Connect with defaults works. It seems important to reboot the system when I added the Lyra Voice otherwise nothing connected to it for some reason.

I have a Deltran smart battery charger in the engine bay of our '04 Sienna which is also covered by a car cover. NetSpot helped me figure out that the signal to the nearest node was very poor. It might help you figure out what exactly is going on right in the middle of the two....

[angelleye]

Does ASUS have any actual direct support for this sort of thing? I've tried all the tips I can find and nothing is fixing this problem. It happens numerous times per day, and every time I can't help but roll my eyes and frustrated by it. It's really making my network a hassle to deal with and I need a solution or I'll just have to return it I guess..??

[jzchen]

They do: https://icr-am.asus.com/webchat/icr....796.1525729546

Also I noticed since you started this thread they have up a beta firmware version you may be interested in trying:
https://www.asus.com/us/Networking-I...HelpDesk_BIOS/

[angelleye]

I was able to chat with their support and they're telling me to disable Smart Connect, setup separate networks for the 2.4 Ghz and 5.0 Ghz, and then reconnect everything to those. I asked if there's a known bug or problem with Smart Connect but they're dancing around the question and won't answer it.

So anyway, I've followed those steps, and I have most of my devices connected again, but naturally I have a Win11 desktop that won't connect, won't ask me what the password is, won't let me "forget" it, doesn't allow me to right click for properties or anything. It just "Can't connect to this network" without ever asking for the network password.

I've posted in the MS community about that now, but if anybody here happens to know a tip for how to solve that it would be great.

I'll update again when I have some info on whether this actually resolved my original problem or not.

[angelleye]

Disabling Smart Connect seems to have done the trick. So instead of a single SSID configured under Smart Connect, I disabled that and configured separate SSIDs for the 2.4Ghz and 5.0Ghz channels.

Now when I move around the house I can see the signal start to fade, but then it suddenly jumps back to full strength, apparently when it switches nodes. So that's what I've been expecting.

The connection problem was just Win11 being dumb. Resetting the network on that machine fixed that problem.

Now I just have to remember to switch back and forth manually to 2.4 or 5.0 depending on whether I need a wider signal strength or a faster connection. I can handle that.

The support chat seemed to know instantly that Smart Connect would fix it, yet I don't see that anywhere in their docs, KB, or communities. Oh well, I'm happier with it now than I was yesterday.