Shivansh Raj Srivastava conducted a week-long test at his home desk in October 2026, using the same router and laptop setup to compare automatic band selection against manual configuration. He noticed a dramatic drop in performance when the router decided which Wi-Fi band to use, with speed tests showing only a fraction of the expected throughput. The experiment aimed to understand how consumer routers handle band steering in real-world conditions.
The router in question supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, and Shivansh typically manually connects to the 5 GHz band for faster speeds during work and streaming. For this test, he disabled manual selection and allowed the router’s band steering feature to choose the connection automatically. Each day, he ran multiple speed tests at the same time and location, recording download and upload speeds. Over seven days, the average speed when the router chose the band was just 20% of what he usually sees when manually locked to 5 GHz, with frequent drops to the slower 2.4 GHz band despite strong 5 GHz signal availability.
The router’s band steering algorithm appeared to prioritize connection stability over speed, switching to 2.4 GHz whenever it detected minor fluctuations in signal strength, even when the 5 GHz band remained viable. Shivansh observed that the router would often revert to 2.4 GHz during peak usage times, possibly due to congestion avoidance logic that misinterpreted network load. He noted that the laptop’s Wi-Fi adapter and drivers were up to date, ruling out client-side issues. The router’s firmware had no user-accessible tuning options for band steering sensitivity, leaving him unable to adjust its behavior.
Based on this test, automatic band selection on this router model does not reliably deliver optimal performance for bandwidth-heavy tasks. Shivansh concluded that for activities like video conferencing, large file transfers, or gaming, manual band selection remains the better choice unless the router offers advanced customization. He suggests users test their own setups, as results may vary depending on router model, firmware, and home environment. Until routers improve their decision-making logic, he recommends disabling band steering for critical workstations.
Did Shivansh try restarting the router during the test? Yes, he restarted the router midway through the week to rule out temporary glitches, but the speed performance remained consistently low when band steering was enabled.
Was the 5 GHz band actually available during the test? Yes, signal strength readings showed the 5 GHz band was strong and stable throughout, yet the router frequently switched away from it without clear trigger.
Could other devices on the network have influenced the router’s choice? Shivansh confirmed no other devices were actively downloading or streaming during his tests, minimizing external interference as a factor.