Smart Connect vs same SSIDs

[jlparsons]

Hi all, I have a couple of Netgear wifi ac access points which have "Smart Connect". This puts out one SSID and uses both 2.4 and 5ghz frequencies, stating that the access point chooses which to use for best effect with each client device. My question is this - how is this actually different to setting both bands to the same SSID? I can't find any documentation or comparison and I don't understand how a Smart Connect router would inform the client device which band to use - my understanding was that this is always chosen by the client device? Am looking to move to a single ax access point but this doesn't have the Smart Connect feature. It does have band steering however, which I assume will accomplish similar.

 

[Caged]

It's probably just a fancy name for a feature where the 2.4GHz radio will reject the first couple of auth requests from a client in the hope that it picks 5GHz with a bit of logic to remember the clients that keep trying 2.4GHz so it doesn't reject them in future.

At a guess, "band steering" is exactly the same feature just with a name that the marketing department hasn't gotten to. There might also be some logic to try and nudge clients onto the nearest APs rather than being sticky.