Network - Wireless & Wired Connections

[estesbubba]

In my shop my access point broadcasts the same SSID on both 5G and 2.4G. When I connect my Streaming Stick+ to it, it connects to the 2.4G connection. Is there a way to force it to use the 5G connection instead? I would think by default it would use the 5G connection if available. 

[ghb51]

Outside of separating ssid names, the only way to "force", or give a better chance of connecting to 5ghz, would be to move the ap closer to the stick+ (or vice versa), 2.4ghz has farther coverage than 5ghz, so the stick+ is seeing 2.4ghz as the better option with your current setup.

[atc98092]

I've read it's bad practice to use the same SSID on different bands, but mine used to be the same as well. I did notice that the Roku would sometimes use 2.4 rather than 5 GHz. Therefore I renamed my SSIDs, with a 5 added to the 5 GHz name. Now I know which one I'm selecting.

[jeffrok]

"atc98092" wrote:
I've read it's bad practice to use the same SSID on different bands, but mine used to be the same as well. I did notice that the Roku would sometimes use 2.4 rather than 5 GHz. Therefore I renamed my SSIDs, with a 5 added to the 5 GHz name. Now I know which one I'm selecting.

Hmm.. my Google WiFi uses the same SSID for it's 2.4 and 5ghz networks. I don't even think there's a way to set them up any differently, either.

[atc98092]

I've never seen a wireless router or access point that couldn't manage each radio separately, but I've never seen a Google router. Sure it's not buried somewhere in an advanced menu?

[jeffrok]

"atc98092" wrote:
I've never seen a wireless router or access point that couldn't manage each radio separately, but I've never seen a Google router. Sure it's not buried somewhere in an advanced menu?

Google sells its wifi as a simple but good solution.. it's very user friendly, but not as feature packed as a "normal" router.

[Smokindog]

@RokuTannerD

Any chance someone at ROKU was paying attention and provided a way to give priority to one band or the other?  I just swapped out a Stick with a Stick+ and it seems to favor the 2.4GHz band.  Before we got down "that road", giving both bands the same SSID is a best practice and much more common than naming them separately.  The client should be choosing the best connection without having to manually change the SSID.  For years wireless NICs have had a "Preferred Band" setting and/or other settings to "tweek" how the radio selects the connection.

Given 802.11AC, as the ROKUs are labelled, is a 5GHz specification I would think the ROKUs would always prefer a 5GHz channel first if it was sufficient in strength.  I've got an AP in line of sight to the ROKU about 15-20 feet away.  Both bands measure extremely solid at the ROKU and yet it seems to prefer a 2.4GHz connection and shows about 3/4 the "Internet Download Speed" provided in the System->Network->About

[okaussie3]

I have two Streaming Stick +.  I have the ATT 5268AC router with the Air Ties Smart Extender.

My problem is that my sticks only see the 2.4GHZ and channel 1.  It never changes.

I went into the ATT Router and changed the name of the 5GHz radio by adding  the prefix 5 to it.  Rebooted router, rebooted Stick, setup new connection.  Came up with the new SSID in the list.  Clicked on it, put in its password.  It set the connection up.  Still Shows Channel 1, even though, in the router it shows 136.  And it shows speed of 36MB, even though, I just upgraded my speed to 100MB.

So I do I force the sticks to 5GHZ with the 100MB ???

TIA

Bill

[okaussie3]

I just rebooted my router again and found that both radios have to have the same SSID and passwords.  The technology in the router is such that the ROKU should be able to pick out which one to use.

My question still is, based on the information given above, how does one force the ROKU to use the 5GHZ Channel 136 at 100MB instead of the 2.4GHZ channel 1 at 39MB????

Bill

[okaussie3]

I was able to turn off 2.4 in the router and only run with 5.  Changed the channel to 157.  Went to the Roku and refreshed connection.  Works fine so far now.  All my devices are running at 5.  Speed is now 56mb.  Will continue to monitor speed.

What is the fastest the Roku will run??

The WIFI Extender will still be turned on to both frequencies.  No way to turn off the 2.4 .

Bill