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How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

SanjeevB
I've been around

By default, Band Steering is turned on.  How can one turn it off? I have some smart plugs that only work on the 2.4 ghz network. With Band steering turn on, the smart plugs are unable to connect to the 2.4ghz network. Also, the Rogers installer advised me to keep band steering turned on as turning it off could affect TV performance. Is this true?

 

 

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Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

Datalink
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@SanjeevB in theory Band Steering should give you better overall performance by moving devices that are further away from the modem to the 2.4 Ghz band, which has a longer range and lower data rates, and moving devices to the 5 Ghz band when they are closer to the modem as the 5 Ghz band has wider bandwidths and therefore higher data rates.  Remember, the operative words here are "in theory".  

 

To disable the Band Steering, log into the modem and:

 

1.  navigate to Wireless 2.4G .... Advanced. 

2.  disable the Band Steering if its enabled. 

3.  save the changes.  

4.  navigate to the 5G .... Advanced tab.

5.  disable the Band Steering if its enabled. 

6.  save the changes.

7.  navigate to the 5G .... Basic Settings.

8.  change the SSID back to its previous setting

9.  save the changes. 

10.  Reboot the modem at ADMIN .... DEVICE RESET .... Reboot

 

You might have to manually reconnect your 5 Ghz connected devices if the previous 5 Ghz network wasn't designated as an Auto Connect network.

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27 REPLIES 27

Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

Datalink
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@SanjeevB in theory Band Steering should give you better overall performance by moving devices that are further away from the modem to the 2.4 Ghz band, which has a longer range and lower data rates, and moving devices to the 5 Ghz band when they are closer to the modem as the 5 Ghz band has wider bandwidths and therefore higher data rates.  Remember, the operative words here are "in theory".  

 

To disable the Band Steering, log into the modem and:

 

1.  navigate to Wireless 2.4G .... Advanced. 

2.  disable the Band Steering if its enabled. 

3.  save the changes.  

4.  navigate to the 5G .... Advanced tab.

5.  disable the Band Steering if its enabled. 

6.  save the changes.

7.  navigate to the 5G .... Basic Settings.

8.  change the SSID back to its previous setting

9.  save the changes. 

10.  Reboot the modem at ADMIN .... DEVICE RESET .... Reboot

 

You might have to manually reconnect your 5 Ghz connected devices if the previous 5 Ghz network wasn't designated as an Auto Connect network.

Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

Help switching between 2.4 ghz and 5 ghz

 

Hi there, not exactly tech savvy however I am trying to connect my smart outlets and I keep getting a message saying it requires 2.4 ghz to connect so I'm presuming it keeps connecting with 5 ghz.

My question is how do I get it to just use the 2.4 to install my smart outlets?

 

 

 

Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

In most of the houses setup by default now with rogers, both the 2.4 and 5ghz are all set up with the same SSID name.
So most devices will then go and grab and pick up whichever one is stronger.

A 2.4ghz device, should only see the 2.4ghz.

BUT.. i think the issue comes in with the band steering.
That the router end is supposed to try and switch the user over to the other, when available/stronger.
I think in some cases with these, that it trys to flip over devices, even though they cant go onto the other frequency.

You should be able to log into the modem settings, and disable the band steering.

Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

kaartil
I've been here awhile

Hi, I need to set up different ssid names for the 5ghz and 2.4 ghz  bands.  One of my devices won't work on 5ghz and it seems that's the default broadcast all the time

Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

@kaartil log into the modem, navigate to WIRELESS .... ADVANCED .... 2.4 Ghz.   Disable Band Steering and save the changes. 

 

Then select the next 5G tab and disable Band Steering for the 5 Ghz band.  Save the changes. 

 

That should allow you to change the SSIDs for the networks.  If that doesn't work, reboot the modem, ADMIN .... DEVICE RESET .... Reboot.  That should allow you to change the network SSIDSs. 

Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

kaartil
I've been here awhile

Thanks a lot

Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

sjd2
I've been here awhile

How can I switch my Rogers Ignite router to 2.4Gh?

Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

Hello there @sjd2,

 

A warm welcome to the Rogers Community Forums and thank you for your first post! 😊

 

By any chance, have you had the opportunity to try the steps outlined in post #2 of this thread? Please give that a try and let us know how it goes! 

 

Kind regards,

RogersLaura

Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

How do you log into your modem? Is there a way to disable band steering via the app?

Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

Bplayer
I'm a trusted contributor

From a browser go to 10.0.0.1 and enter your credentials.

No you cannot disable band steering from the mobile app. You need to log into the modem then follow the instructions in the second post in this thread. It should only be turned off if you are experiencing a specific problem with a particular device. Try to solve that issue and then turn band steering back on for optimal performance.

Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

sjd2
I've been here awhile
No, unfortunately, I read the suggestion provided in that link and nothing worked. I even turned off the 5G on my router and still my 2.4G security camera wouldn't connect to my network. Even though it was connected before. I still have 2 of my 4 cameras connected to the original 2.4G network part of my Router.

Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

DapperFoxtrot
I've been here awhile

Nobody seems to have an answer for this. The articles provided by Rogers, and the information provided in post #2 that everyone references is either totally inaccurate, or dated.

 

You go into the modem itself at 10.0.0.1, and there's no ability to change anything for WiFi besides turning the individual bands off. It then refers you to either the site, or to use the app, neither of which provide options to affect the band-steering.

 

I've called in and asked them to disable it, only to have the agent refuse me because "you have pods." It's my understanding that these pods function on a different frequency outside the 2.4 Ghz and 5Ghz frequencies. I'm perfectly capable of managing my home network myself, but I get the feeling these automatic settings are meant to reduce complaints from average Joe with no networking experience.

 

ROGERS: Please update your app/website/modem firmware. Whatever you have to do to allow us folks with the technical savvy to self-manage our networks.

 

a) There are devices that are 5Ghz capable, that I want to have on 2.4Ghz based on their proximity to the connection point.

 

b) I'm convinced that I'm getting interference from neighbours with their own wireless equipment, because you're not allowing customers to choose the channels and bandwidths.

 

Super frustrating and providing a poor experience!!

Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

"Wi-Fi Mode, Security Mode, Channel Selection, Channel Mode, and Channel Bandwidth are being managed automatically to help optimize your home Wi-Fi network and improve Wi-Fi coverage."

Then why does my WiFi network seem entirely unoptimized and unstable?

"To edit your Wi-Fi Network Name & Network password, please download the Rogers Ignite WiFi app or visit ignitewifi.rogers.com."

I need more control than name and password. Please!!!

Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

sjd2
I've been here awhile
You're absolutely correct! THERE'S NO OPTION TO TURN OFF "BAND STEERING" on my Ignite Router. And as far as the "Pods"?, they're (3) unplugged sitting on my dining room table...usless. Using a non Rogers app to measure Wi-Fi speeds?, it was vastly different (lower) than the Rogers app indicated. And as soon as I walked outside to my backyard?...dropped signal. NEVER had a problem with Bell. I've had 4 service calls and all the calls to Rogers recorded...the problems I've had are still there. I'm just fed up and don't have time for this.

Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

DapperFoxtrot
I've been here awhile

It's as if they're quoting an old manual that's no longer relevant. I don't understand it.

 

Please just rid of this feature, as the only optimization experienced seems to be by Rogers, attempting to reduce tech support calls, and complaints. Mission accomplished?

 

If you made good, current online resources that were educational about networking concepts as they relate to your products, you would command much more respect.

Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

@sjd2 wrote:
You're absolutely correct! THERE'S NO OPTION TO TURN OFF "BAND STEERING" on my Ignite Router.

The Ignite XB6 gateway enables band steering when the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands have the same network name.  There was never an explicit option to disable band steering but you could by assigning separate WiFi network names.

 


@DapperFoxtrot wrote:
"To edit your Wi-Fi Network Name & Network password, please download the Rogers Ignite WiFi app or visit ignitewifi.rogers.com."

I need more control than name and password. Please!!!

The lack of control can be frustrating, but I also have the same complaint about every consumer WiFi mesh solution on the market.  However, those mesh networks cater to users who need good WiFi coverage but lack any actual technical depth when it comes to networking, and if you make too many options available, users will inevitably create even more problems for themselves AND for their neighbours.

 

With the Ignite gateway on its own, you can still have a decent amount of control, the same as what you would get with your average consumer WiFi router.  However, installing the Ignite WiFi mobile app and/or using the Ignite WiFi Hub simplifies management but also automates more settings.

 

As soon as you introduce Pods into the mix, you lose even more configuration options.  @CommunityHelps  will have to confirm this but apparently users are reporting that just having Pods associated with their account centralizes actual control of their XB6 under the Ignite WiFi Hub.  However, this is a common thing with WiFi mesh networks; they were designed to run themselves and optimize over time to current/changing network conditions.

 

"Wi-Fi Mode, Security Mode, Channel Selection, Channel Mode, and Channel Bandwidth are being managed automatically to help optimize your home Wi-Fi network and improve Wi-Fi coverage."

Then why does my WiFi network seem entirely unoptimized and unstable?

Even if the network settings are automated, the most critical part of getting a WiFi mesh to work well is the placement of the Pods/mesh nodes themselves.  Ideally, you should place the XB6 gateway in a central location so that it can be the hub of your network, then place the Pods such that they still have good upstream connectivity to the XB6 but can also extend coverage to the hard-to-reach places in your home.  If you place them in an area that has poor upstream connectivity, your WiFi mesh will be very unstable and your throughput will be very poor.

 

Having too many Pods and placing them too close together will cause problems as well, nor should you have any Pods installed unless you actually need them.

 

Since Rogers has effectively taken ownership over managing your WiFi, if you are seeing poor WiFi performance, call technical support.  They should be able to assist you in placing your Pods and have visibility (using their internal tools) as to whether any Pods have poor upstream connectivity or poor connectivity with any devices on your network.  However, one thing that they cannot do is to disable Band Steering, if you have Pods installed, because the mesh requires it.

Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

kaffan
I've been here awhile

Edit: I do not want to disable band steering but I want a device to connect to the 5 GHz band while keeping my mesh network.
I have the mesh setup and I understand when you setup a mesh network you must use band steering and the gateway will make the descions which devices will connect via 2.4 Ghz or 5Ghz. I want to force a streaming device to always connect to the 5 Ghz band, is that possible?

Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

-G-
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@kaffan  With most band steering implementations, there is a tendency to steer as many WiFi clients as possible to the 5 GHz band.  Devices (typically) only connect at 2.4 GHz if they either only support that band or if (say, due to distance, or from a load-balancing perspective) the 2.4 GHz band is optimal.

 

I don't know of any way to steer specific clients to a specific band.  I can't even do that on the business-grade APs that I use.

Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

kaffan
I've been here awhile
Thank you for your input.

Re: How to disable or turn off Band Steering?

-G-
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@kaffan wrote:
Thank you for your input.

If you REALLY need full control over WiFi, you may need to switch to business-grade APs rather than using consumer network gear or a solution provided by your ISP.  My APs allow me to create multiple SSIDs on the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands.  I can create one WiFi network (same network name on the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands) with band steering enabled.  If I need a device to connect to a specific band, I may not be able to do that through a band steering policy but I can create a secondary SSID with a different name, with no band steering.

 

I also have full control over channel selection and configuration, power levels, can fine tune how band steering works, my clients can roam seamlessly across APs, I can control how clients authenticate on a per-network basis, can assign SSIDs to specific VLANs, can (on my external router) implement different security polices and Internet access policies for each VLAN, etc.  I have a more extensive configuration and management UI just for WiFi than the XB6 has for everything.

 

The downside to business-grade network gear is that it also lacks the conveniences and functions that most people want and expect; things like making it easy to add devices to the network using WPS, parental controls, etc. nor can you manage everything end-to-end using a friendly mobile app.  And you will have to support all of that complexity on your own.

 

There are ways to do all of the things that you want to do.  Business-grade network gear is probably overkill, but you can't get the level of control that you desire with a consumer-grade network gear... although, if installed properly, you will get a WiFi network that performs well and "just works" with a minimum of fuss to manage it, and full technical support when you need it.

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