Wireless channel selection missing in expert mode?

[Adster]

Hello

I was having some issues with my modem/router THG-3000, so I did a factory reset. However, now there is no option to select the wireless channels in expert mode. I need to manually select my 5GHZ channel to achieve max speeds on my wireless.

Was this removed by a recent firmware update or is my router bugged?

Thanks for any help.

[radumamy]

Good Morning @Tash,

Thank you for reply. Unfortunately Vodafone's solution for improving the service doesn't quite add up with what user's have installed at home. 

The reason we have to split SSIDs is because we want to ensure some devices remain connected on the fastest link possible. 

I have 2 Amazon FireTV 4K 2nd Gen boxes (older devices, but Amazon's most powerful hardware to date) and these do not support channel 100. So when the router scans for a free channel, it jumps to "preferred" channel 100 and connection drops on both boxes or I ends up with 2.4GHz. So goodbye decent 4K streaming. 

We would like more professional features added to the router and giving users control to manage their own hardware. I guess that's why the router comes with a basic and expert level of configuration. 

Perhaps we could have the channel selection option reinstated via the GUI and for an extra improvement, allow us to select the range of channels WiFi Doctor can potentially connect to, or disable it completely. 

I'm quite happy for basic mode to have Vodafone's WiFi Doctor enabled as "most users" will be quite happy with its default setup, but the expert mode needs to release control back to the user (as per original design). 

If that's not possible, I guess some of us will just have to use a 3rd party router and avoid Vodafone in the future. 

I'm quite happy to have the WiFi Doctor service turned off, so I'll be contacting Live Chat straight away. 

Hope to hear from you / Vodafone soon. 

[Stephen1985manu]

Hi what did u do in the end because i can't get the same device to even pickup the 5ghz signal or when the signals are not split it won't pickup any signal 

[nandroidia]

I''ve just sent a DM on Twitter as the live chat was just spinning.  Let's see how many agents it takes to understand that I want it turned off and if they even know about the 'new service'.  I really don't understand what Vodafone's issue is with allowing customers to choose to have control over their own set-up...I get that some people play around with things and end up causing problems but we're not all idiots, so please allow us to decide!

[andrew_c]

It's good to hear from you Tash - but i would like to add weight to the comments of others.  

I have a personal, though not overly complicated set up.  It requires a number of (wds) routers to connect to the main Vodafone router to allow me to get good service in the garden and other parts of the house - you might be aware that a lot more people are home working.  It allows me to access a small DLNA server.  Some of the wds routers cannot handle automatic changing of channels from the main router - so i need a static channel for that reason.  This results in nothing working but the main router.  

This situation, that was been working fine for me for at least a year, has caused me a lot of headaches and I don't really see why I should be calling up some contact centres (cost you and I time/money) when this is a perfectly easy situation to resolve.

[vigom]

I think one of the problems with Vodafone agents and also managers (ie "I'm going to escalate your request to my manager") is that most of them don't even know what we are talking about. They are like bots repeating some kind of mantra they have been fed – this is at least my experience. Last time I was so desperate that I even asked if I was talking to a bot.

[Cynric]

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@vigom wrote:

They are like bots repeating some kind of mantra they have been fed – this is at least my experience. Last time I was so desperate that I even asked if I was talking to a bot.

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Like many service desk operations they are probably following a script and/or flow-chart. Deviate from the norm and they cannot help and have to escalate it.

[mark_newbs]

@tash,

interesting feature.  how does wifi doctor cope with interference from Zigbee channels overlapping with 2.4GHz?

I rang a 191 operative, they knew nothing of WiFi Doctor, then denied it could be turned off.

[Mark]

Hey @mark_newbs, As the Wi-Fi Doctor service has the ability to look at a larger data set than just a local scan, the decisions made with band steering and channel changes are much more informed. As the Zigbee and WiFi channels only cross over a small number of frequencies, I'm sure this interference has been taken into consideration and won't cause any problems.

[Cynric]

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@Mark wrote:

Hey @mark_newbs, As the Wi-Fi Doctor service has the ability to look at a larger data set than just a local scan, the decisions made with band steering and channel changes are much more informed. As the Zigbee and WiFi channels only cross over a small number of frequencies, I'm sure this interference has been taken into consideration and won't cause any problems.

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I think I'd like to see some details about this "Wi-Fi Doctor" and what it can do. Perhaps you'd be kind enough to give us a link to a specification of its capabilities. 

[andrew_c]

As someone who works in data analytics, I'm confused why you'd need national data to infer what's best for my very, very local needs. I'll go elsewhere when my contract is up.