Unable to get different SSID for 5G

[jaspritsingh]

I just changed my Rogers Internet Modem (Hitron CGN3) as the old one was dropping connection at least twice a day and support had run out of other ideas.

Now when I setup the new one it said that I will only have 1 SSID and my devices will swtich between them.  I want to have the previous setup where I had 2 ssids. 

When I try renaming the 5G network to Rogers-5G it also renames the 2G one. Can any one help?

*Added Labels*

[Datalink · Accepted solution]

@jaspritsingh Rogers has enabled Band Steering recently and I believe that requires single SSID use.  Somewhere in the wifi User Interface, there is probably a setting to enable/disable Band steering, and possibly a setting to enforce single SSIDs.  Have a look thru the wifi UI to look for the Band steering setting and disable it.  Have a look for any setting for single SSIDs as well.  I haven't heard of any setting such as that, so its possible that the Band Steering enable/disable does it all.  If that is correct, once the setting is disabled, you should be able to set different SSIDs.  Maybe one of the moderators can comment on that one.

[jaspritsingh]

Thanks for the quick reply. 

It was indeed band steering. I was able to get 5G to show up almost instantly. Sadly the speeds are now terrible. 

I am on a 300mbps connection. 2G gives me 60 mbps tops while 5G which previously topped 500 Mbps is now averaging around 10-12 Mbps. 

[Datalink]

@jaspritsingh have a look at the following post, specifically the wifi settings and applications to check your wifi environment so you can determine whom you're competing with for open or clear wifi channels:

https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Internet/slow-wifi/m-p/429489#M54216

Adjust your wifi settings as required.  When you disabled Band Steering, the 5 Ghz wifi channel may have defaulted to a less than optimal channel for your location. 

When you have a look at your wifi environment, you might find that the 2.4 Ghz band is a write-off if you happen to live in a typical neighbourhood with a great many 2.4 Ghz networks running. 

[jaspritsingh]

You were right again. The Channel for 5G was set to auto and was 45. In the drop down there were only range options. I selected  the highest one possible and now am getting correct wifi speeds again since last evening. Thanks a lot for your help. Much appreciated. 

[ttt24]

A couple of days ago the internet speed on my PC was around 400 Mbs, now it is fluctuating between 20 - 50. I checked the modem page where it shows 15 devices and my desktop has a connection type of 2.4ghz while others are at 5ghz. This affected my sisters PC as well but her iPad is going at the normal speed.

Is there any way to fix this? My older brother was the one who setup the internet so I'm clueless going about this. I tried logging in to my ignite modem which if I understand, the username is supposed to be admin and the password as the current Wi-fi password but it shows the password as incorrect.

[RogersCorey]

Hello @ttt24!

I moved your post into this thread because I think the issue you're encountering is the result of band steering.

If band steering isn't enabled on your modem, the other alternative is that the devices on 2.4G simply aren't connected to the 5G network. The solution to that would be to forget the 2.4G network and then try to connect to the 5G network instead.

If you're uncertain about how to look at your home gateway network settings, please reach out to us @CommunityHelps and we'd be happy to look into it for you. If you're not familiar with our PMing process, you can find instructions here.

Regards,

RogersCorey

[Thorpedo]

Yesterday morning all my devices connected to my 5G wifi lost internet connection. And now only my regular internet shows up when looking for wifi networks. I disconnected the power to my modem for 2 minutes and it still didn’t show up. Any ideas?

[Thorpedo]

Thanks unfortunately when I go into my wifi settings the 5G option just isn’t there.

[RogersTony]

Hello, @Thorpedo

I can understand how concerning it can be to have the 5G network disappear from all of your devices.

It sounds like band steering has been enabled on your modem. This combines the 2.4G and 5G Wi-Fi networks and allows your devices to switch seamlessly between 2.4G and 5G Wi-Fi based on signal strength.

If you preferred to have the networks separated you would need to turn band steering off in the Wi-Fi settings page in the Admin settings of your Gateway modem. It will be under Wireless > Advanced > Band Steering toggle to Disabled and Save Changes.

Then go into Basic Settings and adjust the Wi-Fi network name to indicate 5G and your devices should be able to find the network again. 

Let us know if this works for you.

RogersTony

[Jagarm]

Hitron CGN3 Modem setup multiple SSIDs

I have been trying to setup the wireless settings of my modem and every time I change the SSID of 2.4G or 5G, they both change. I came across another post that mentioned the option to setup multiple SSIDs is not available through CUSadmin.

Please contact me to configure it. I used to be able to configure it

Edit: I did not realize I was replying to a post, I was able to resolve the issue within Wireless -> Advanced -> and disable band streering

Thank you

[RogersAndy]

Hey @Jagarm!

Wanting control over your home wireless network makes complete sense and you definitely do have that availability :). Our modem's have been updated to enable "Band Steering." You can find out more about that on our blog here. 

I've moved your post here to make it easier for you to find the information you need :). Let us know if you have any other questions!

@RogersAndy

[lethalsniper]

My wifi keeps on losing its connection on 5g and 2.4 g on all devices ...having this issue for the past 2 weeks and just got the modem switched and still doing it ... I have been reading some people are having issues with wifi band steering would that be the cause of it ? Tech said lines looking good no area or noise issues he said it’s the modem ( coda modem ) should I turn off wifi steering? @RogersIan @Datalink

[Datalink]

Yes, if you're having problems with Band Steering, disable it.  I wouldn't think twice about this.

Log into the modem and navigate to WIRELESS .... ADVANCED 2.4G. Disable the Band Steering and save the changes.

Navigate to the next tab, 5G, disable the Band Steering and save the changes. Disable DFS if its enabled. That is, unless you want to use or experiment with the Dynamic Frequency Selection channels which lie between the lower and upper 5 Ghz channels. Not all devices support the DFS channels.

Navigate to WIRELESS .... BASIC SETTINGS .... 5G and change the Network Name, if desired, back to its previous name. When Band Steering is enabled, I believe that it changes the 5 Ghz Network Name to the same as the 2.4 Ghz network name. Save the changes.

While you're in there, check your wifi settings and set them as follows:

check/set the following 2.4 Ghz wifi parameters:

Wireless Mode: 802.11 n 
Channel Bandwidth: 20/40 Mhz.  It should default to 20 Mhz in a crowded environment.
Wireless channel: Channel 1, 6, or 11
WPS Enabled: OFF
Security Mode: WPA-Personal
Auth Mode: WPA2-PSK
Encrypt Mode: AES only

Check/set the following 5 Ghz wifi parameters:

Wireless Mode: 802.11 a/n/ac mixed
Channel Bandwidth: 80 Mhz
Wireless channel: 149 to 165     Use this higher channel range as it runs higher transmit power levels.
WPS Enabled: OFF
Security Mode: WPA-Personal
Auth Mode: WPA2-PSK
Encrypt Mode: AES only

If you happen to have a wifi scanner application on hand, check the 2.4 Ghz channels to see if there is any good choice in channels 1, 6, or 11.  I suspect not.  Also check the 5 Ghz channels, 149 to 164 to see if there is a best choice out of that group. Stay in that channel range as they run the highest power output levels of the entire 5 Ghz band. 

Reboot the modem: ADMIN .... DEVICE RESET .... Reboot.

If you changed the 5 Ghz network name, you might have to reconnect to the updated network. Just depends on whether or not that previous name was entered into the device as a network to connect to automatically.

Those steps will hopefully resolve the problems.

[lethalsniper]

Thanks @Datalink when did they change to wifi band Steering? Like I said it’s probably 2 weeks with this issue could be more not sure .. or I can just buy a router and will fix all this ?

[Datalink]

Band Steering was included in the last released version for the CGN3ACSMR and other CGN3xxx modems in March of this year, but, it wasn't enabled. Its been in the CODA-4582 since 2017.  For whatever reason, Rogers enabled Band Steering recently and appears to be attempting to force users to use it, much to the ire of some users.  In theory it should give the users longer range from the modem, and faster data rates closer to the modem, assuming of course that the devices in question can switch between bands.  Some, or should I say a lot of devices are not dual band capable, so, the theory of using Band Steering goes out the window.  Good job, no cigar, as they say.  

Solution to the problem, disable band steering.  Personal opinion, you should be the one deciding what band the devices operate on, not the modem or router.  If all devices were dual band capable, and, you didn't have interference issues and channel sharing with your neighbours, ok, fair game, but, I suspect that won't occur very often.  

[BobcatRosie]

Just wanted to thank you for solving this very frustrating issue for me. Had also lost my 5G network out of the blue and all our devices were affected with slow speeds and dropping connections for a few weeks now. Finally logged into the modem today and noticed that both the 2.4G and 5G were broadcasting under the same name. No wonder our devices couldn't find the 5G anymore. Tried to change the name of the 5G, but not possible without both being changed. So after a bit of research ended up in this thread which am very happy I did. Thanks to RogersTony here, I followed his instructions and my problem is now solved. Don't know why all of a sudden the band steering was enabled because I sure didn't touch it. But anyway, it's a Christmas miracle! Thank you again. 

[BobcatRosie]

And thank you to Datalink for this very useful info. Appreciate it.

[lethalsniper]

@Datalink so I switched my modem and this time when I logged in and when to wireless settings the wireless band steering was disabled? Should I still change those settings you recommended? I also notice qos is enabled ? How can 1 modem have wifi steering on and the other one comes disabled? Thanks.

[Datalink]

@lethalsniper yes, go ahead and set your wifi parameters as per my previous recommendation.  Those recommended settings are actually generic and can be applied to any modem or router.  There may be some differences in the terms that are used in other modems or routers, but, the functionality should be the same and their application should result in better performance from your wifi, compared to using default settings.  

I'd also recommend disabling UPNP.  Understanding that you're a gamer, that would require setting the port forwarding rules manually.   Thats your call.  If you happen game on more than one platform, I'd say that you would run out of space for the rules required for both platforms, in which case it might be better to let UPNP run and hope that the second platform rules might push the existing rules up and out of the list.  If you game on two platforms simultaneously, that would probably be a problem due to total number of port forwarding rules required, which would probably exceed the space that the modem has for port forwarding rules.  Seems to me that the Hitron modems were limited to a total of 9 rules.  That's a limitation of the user interface and the memory space allocated to the port forwarding rules. 

[lethalsniper]

Thanks @Datalink any reason why this new coda modem wifi band steering was already disabled? If I’m not mistaken I read somewhere saying it’s enabled out of the box.