Hub 3 not staying on selected channel

[rgbargey]

I was upgraded to a Hub 3 recently and am generally happy with its performance and stability. The only annoyance is that after setting a specific channel on 5Ghz, the router only stays on that channel temporarily and then decides to jump to a channel of its own chosing. Not a new problem for Sagemcom routers I know, but I want it to stay permanently on Channel 36 and it jumps to Channel 112. This causes loss of connectivity for devices that can't use DFS Channels. I think it would be an improvement if the firmware could be modified to remain on the user-selected channel rather than let "WiFi Optimisation" or similar functionality switch channel selection back to AUTO and override the user-selected channel. My Hub 3 is a FAST5359-1.T7 running SGEK10004A00.

[nambuso-TT]

Hi there 

@KeithFrench Thank you very much for assisting. 

[KeithFrench]

I should add here that in reality, the problem is with Wi-Fi adapters in all sorts of devices that are just so out of date when sold, favouring cost over WiFi performance & security. Have you noticed how many new CCTV & video doorbells etc, do not even support the 5GHz band? Unless they do & support Wi-Fi 5, the WiFi connection risks being forcibly disconnected via the use of illegal Wi-Fi jamming devices.

[KeithFrench]

All I can say is that I have made many recommendations to TalkTalk's Devices team over the years, who are responsible for routers & firmware. Some have been implemented, some haven't.

[rgbargey]

Thanks again. That does help my understanding, but I still think TT should ask their 3rd party company to allow frequency hopping if AUTO is set, and stop hopping when a particular channel is chosen by the user. All the other functions which are part of WiFi Optimisation (maybe including usage, performance monitoring, remote control, updates & search history scraping etc?) could remain on. I'll not prolong this topic now I understand the cause. I really just wanted to help improve the Hub 3 for the benefit of TT and customers.

[KeithFrench · Accepted solution]

Strictly speaking, it is not the router changing channels. Wi-Fi optimisation is part of TalkTalk's remote diagnostic system that uses TR-069 to monitor the state of the router's Wi-Fi health. It is not a Sagemcom product; it is developed by a 3rd party company.

Originally, TalkTalk would permit disabling Optimisation, but this is no longer possible. 

Your best bet is to consider replacing old Wi-Fi adapters that cannot utilise the DFS channels, as they will never be compatible with Wi-Fi 6/WPA3. However, I can understand any reluctance to do this, but you will be losing out on WiFi performance/security enhancements brought in, particularly since Wi-Fi 6 was ratified in February 2021.

[rgbargey]

Hi Keith,

Many thanks for the swift response. In my case some of my older dual-band devices have just had to connect on 2.4GHz. So not disasterous, but I really do think Sagemcom have been too clever with their firmware. Every other router I have ever set up (Netgear, TP Link, Asus, Huawei etc) has stayed on the selected channel. Most people who set up specific channels do so for good reason after they have analysed their RF environment or have knowledge of the devices they want to connect. Maybe TT don't want to ever change  this aspect of their firmware, but I remain convinced that the inability to set a particular channel will cause unnecessary problems for some users (and TT Support). And why let users "set" a channel if they can't!

But genuine thanks for your comment.

[KeithFrench]

This is all down to Wi-Fi Optimisation, which can no longer be disabled. You are running the current firmware. For a long time, Wi-Fi Optimisation would not allow use of the DFS channels at all, which drastically limited the channels available to it, 36 - 48. However, as you say, the cheaper Wi-Fi adapters do not support these channels. 

All I can suggest is that you see if the optimisation process learns that some of the devices that you have cannot work within the DFS range & it then restricts you to the channels either side of the DFS range.