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[ktriebol]

I have a DIR-880L router on order. I think it will meet my modest needs nicely. I have read the user manual and have been giving some thought as to how the SSID is handled with this router. The manual shows that you are to assign separate SSID's and passkeys for the 2.4GHz band and the 5GHz band. I can live with that, but my preference would be just to have one SSID and leave it up to the DIR-880L to automatically assign clients to the most suitable band based on the capability of the client. I don't know if that can be done on this router, though. One thought I had was to assign the same SSID and passkey to both bands thinking that only one SSID would then be broadcast. Would that work? Are there any other tricks that might result in a single SSID while still using both bands?

[FurryNutz]

You'll need to give a new SSID name however they need to be different. However you can help users figure out what radio to select by doing this:
SSIDname 2.4Ghz for the 2.4Ghz radio
SSIDname 5Ghz for the 5Ghz radio.

[ktriebol]

Thanks for the info, FurryNutz. I wonder why band assignment isn't automatic? I am not intimately familiar with other modern routers, but I think they have this capability. Was it just too hard to write this capability into the router?

[FurryNutz]

With all the different devices out there and what they support, it would be really hard to do it that way. Also how devices are set up and designed and coded also effects how they work along with WiFi signal, channels and security, ah, would be a nightmare. So just having two different SSID names is best. You can use the same PW on each, just the names need to be different is all.

[Doctor Doom]

If you would like you can use the exact same SSID and passphrase for both bands. Since the 880L supports band steering, it will automatically put the clients in the preferred band.

2.4 only client = 2.4 band
5 only client (rare) = 5 band
2.4/5 dual band client = preference goes to 5ghz band and may switch depending on load, signal etc

The only downside which is small is it's completely automatic and you have no control over. In most cases this should be a non issue.

[FurryNutz]

I recommend using different SSIDs on each frequency and same PW on each. You could name the SSIDs so you 'd know which one was which.    SSID 2.4Ghz and SSID 5Ghz.