Wi-Fi & connectivity

[patricka02]

The Stick+ is dual band, but it seems to only connect to the 2.4 GHz band.  I have the same SSID for the 2.4 GHz and the 5GHz radios. (I know they can be different SSID, but my ISP said to use the same for both.)  Is there any way to get the Stick+ to prefer 5 GHz?

[atc98092]

Check the channel assignment on the 5 GHz radio. If your router has assigned a NFS DFS channel (49-148) a Roku device will never see it. You would then need to manually assign a channel number below 49 or above 148. Many routers don't have NFS DFS channels, but some still do. My UniFi access points auto-assigned an NFS DFS channel and I had to change it manually. 

[renojim]

He means DFS channels.

[atc98092]

Thanks. Busy day, my brain has shut down... 😛

[StreamerUser]

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@patricka02 wrote:

The Stick+ is dual band, but it seems to only connect to the 2.4 GHz band.  I have the same SSID for the 2.4 GHz and the 5GHz radios. (I know they can be different SSID, but my ISP said to use the same for both.)  Is there any way to get the Stick+ to prefer 5 GHz?

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No, there isn't (some devices have such user-configurable band-preferring functionality, Roku isnt one of them).

Regardless, your ISPs "advice" is ill-advised - you should give each band its own SSID, preferably with an indicator of the band usage in the name so that you can easily and clearly know which band your devices are connected to, can allocate different devices/device types to one band or the other, and there wont be any stealth band-switching etc.

[patricka02]

Thank you. I checked the router that came with the AT&T Fiber service and both 5 GHz radio channels are in this DFS range.  However, it doesn't appear that the 5 GHz radio channels can be set manually.  In other words, the 2.4 GHz ban can be set manually, but the 5 GHZ band is only automatic. (I'm going to double confirm with AT&T.). Is there another option to use something link MAC filtering to prevent the stick+ from connecting to the 2.4 GHz band and in this way force the stick+ to negotiate with the router to find a mutually agreeable channel in the 5 GHz band? (I’m not familiar enough with the 802.11ac spec to know how this negotiation takes place.)

[StreamerUser]

Very odd that the 5Ghz band is automatic only.

And yes, as long as it sits in the DFS channels your Roku wont be able to connect to it (nor will separating the SSIDs make any difference for your Roku, but that is still advised)

The best solution is to separate the SSIDs, and either disable DFS channel usage or manually assign the channel.

[atc98092]

I'd be shocked if you couldn't manually assign the channel used. Since it's assigning a DFS channel, that explains why it can't be seen. No, there's no method to force the router to use a specific channel. The device connecting has no authority to make any such changes to the router, and you wouldn't want it to have such authority. You'll need to find a way to change the channel in use manually. And I know of no way to force a connection to only use 5 GHz without using different SSIDs for 2.4 and 5 GHz. I have all my access points configured with different SSIDs. 

[renojim]

What's the model number of your AT&T router?  I just got AT&T fiber and I'm fairly certain I can set the 5GHz channel, but I'll double check.  The first thing I did was separate the 2.4 and 5GHz SSIDs and I got an email from AT&T saying I was using a configuration that wasn't recommended.  It's none of their business!  It really bugs me that AT&T is monitoring my network configuration.  I don't use their mandated router other than to connect my OpenWRT router and it really, really bugs me that I have to pay for their **bleep**.  I thought the days of forced equipment rentals were over.

[patricka02]

Thanks for the responses.  I posted something on the AT&T Community site, but no responses yet.

I have a Nokia BGW320-505 router and under the Advanced Wifi settings, they have the following for the 2.4 GHZ setup.  This same option to change from Automatic to Manual does not exist under the 5 GHz band.