Router band steering cut one laptop’s Wi-Fi speed in a home test

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  A two-week home test found that an ASUS router’s band-steering feature often put one Samsung laptop on the slower 2.4GHz Wi-Fi band.

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  The laptop’s median download speed was 63Mbps during the reported seven-night test, and its lowest result was 41Mbps.

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  On the three nights it stayed on 5GHz, it recorded speeds above 250Mbps.

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  The router switched bands during two video calls, freezing the author’s image for about four seconds each time.

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  The article says the router’s steering decisions were based largely on signal strength and link speed, not the activity the user was about to do.

Who

XDA writer Shivansh tested the feature using a Samsung Galaxy Book4 laptop.

What

ASUS Smart Connect band steering often placed the laptop on 2.4GHz, where it recorded slower speeds than on 5GHz.

When

The article was published on October 10, 2026. The test is described as lasting two weeks, with results reported for seven nights.

Where

At the author’s desk, with an ASUS TUF Gaming AX4200 router two rooms away.

Why

The router’s steering rules considered factors such as signal strength and link speed. The article says the router could not know what the user was about to do.

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