Netgear R8000: SmartConnect absolutely destroyed bandwidth

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x509

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Sep 20, 2009
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I used SmartConnect to connect up my 2.4 and both 5.0 bands. I was expecting that at worst, throughput would stay the same as the throughput on one 5.0 band. Instead, it dropped over 80%. Once I modified my router config to turn off SmatConnect, I got back my old throughput.

Is this feature bogus? Did I do something wrong? I was hoping that I could apply SmartConnect to just my two 5.0 bands but didn't see a way to do that. I can't turn off the 2.4 band, because I have some older devices that work with only the 2.4 band.

Reading about SmartConnect, it sounds like the old "channel bonding" back in the ISDN days. Yes? No?
 
I would equate it more to band steering than channel bonding. All it does is try to intelligently select what channel is least utilized and connect your device to it. (and by most reports it does a poor job of it.)

They don't combine together for increased performance or anything cool like that.
 
Kardonxt said:
I would equate it more to band steering than channel bonding. All it does is try to intelligently select what channel is least utilized and connect your device to it. (and by most reports it does a poor job of it.)

They don't combine together for increased performance or anything cool like that.
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Thanks. Then I wasn't doing anything wrong? OK, for me this feature doesn't exist.
 
Doesn't sound like you did anything wrong. As long as the 5ghz networks have the same SSID and password it should have been working. I think it's just bad, that seems to be the consensus on the netgear forums at least.
 
Kardonxt said:
Doesn't sound like you did anything wrong. As long as the 5ghz networks have the same SSID and password it should have been working. I think it's just bad, that seems to be the consensus on the netgear forums at least.
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So I am supposed to have use the same SSID on both 5.0 bands? That's not my current setup. And there is no way to exclude the 2.4 band?

As I said, once I disabled SmartConnect network performance went back to its former levels.

Maybe next time I buy a router, I should get a different brand.
 
x509 said:
So I am supposed to have use the same SSID on both 5.0 bands? That's not my current setup. And there is no way to exclude the 2.4 band?
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From this forum post I believe their documentation and gui is just flat out wrong. https://community.netgear.com/t5/Ni...rt-Connect/m-p/1802732/highlight/true#M139337

According to that you should be able to give the 2.4 a unique ssid and just give your 5ghz networks the same ssids and passwords. Granted that's not what the documentation or GUI implies but appears to be how it works.

I don't think there is anything wrong with the Nighthawk, we use them a lot for customers who don't want to go mesh. Worst case just don't use smart connect and split them between 5ghz-1 or 5ghz-2 when you add them. That's all smart connect really does.
 
I had the same issue on R8000P, but naming 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz SSID's identically provided great performance.
 
EnthusiastXYZ said:
I had the same issue on R8000P, but naming 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz SSID's identically provided great performance.
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Worth a try. Thanks.
Kardonxt said:
From this forum post I believe their documentation and gui is just flat out wrong. https://community.netgear.com/t5/Ni...rt-Connect/m-p/1802732/highlight/true#M139337

According to that you should be able to give the 2.4 a unique ssid and just give your 5ghz networks the same ssids and passwords. Granted that's not what the documentation or GUI implies but appears to be how it works.

I don't think there is anything wrong with the Nighthawk, we use them a lot for customers who don't want to go mesh. Worst case just don't use smart connect and split them between 5ghz-1 or 5ghz-2 when you add them. That's all smart connect really does.
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In general, I'm very happy with the Nighthawk. It's just this SmartConnect feature that bothers me.
 
EnthusiastXYZ said:
R8000, unlike R8000P, can be flashed to DD-WRT.
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If I did flash to DD-WRT, which version, DD-WRT or some "tomato" version? I once looked into that, and honestly, with all the different version and the hacker culture around all those versions, it didn't seem to be a good choice for someone who wants to "set it and forget it."

Does DD-WRT allow for true channel bonding of the two 5.0 bands? And does that work with PCs and phones? Cuz' if it's yes to both of these, then I'm off to the races.
 
I am not sure about "true bonding of 5.0 bands". You should ask on DD-WRT forums about it. There are several frequent posters there with Netgear R8000 and they have specific guides for R8000. I do know that DD-WRT can be overwhelming at first, but it is worth it in the long run.
 
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