Does Wifi6 help non-wifi6 devices at all?

[a-seus-am-i]

I've been doing a little reading on it, but was wondering if you had a wifi6 router if that benefits the older devices much. I know the speed won't apply, but what about the other benefits of wifi6 like OFDMA? I'm just interested if wifi6 would improve other aspects of my home network and make it more efficient. I've been contemplating moving to Unifi with a couple of APs but was wondering if I should wait to see if wifi6 is worth it. Thanks.

 

[thiggins]

You can get some idea of what WiFi 6 routers do with AC devices by looking at this review. Short story is that you will probably not see any significant improvement in range or speed if you are upgrading from a good 4 stream AC router.

OFDMA must be supported on AP/router and device side. Even then you will likely see improved total bandwidth use only with four devices and with small packet sizes. I will be putting up an article about OFDMA soon, after I confirm that ASUS really does support OFDMA in the RT-AX88U's latest firmware.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

OFDMA along with WPA-3 is supported on the AX58U. At least the option is in the UI.

 

[a-seus-am-i]

So it seems like wifi6 isn't helpful unless you have wifi6 devices as well. If that's the case, it's not really worth waiting for that for me. Thanks all!

 

[thiggins]

OFDMA along with WPA-3 is supported on the AX58U. At least the option is in the UI.

Is the OFDMA enable/disable shown for both bands?

 

[Deleted member 22229]

Is the OFDMA enable/disable shown for both bands?

Yes there is a drop box to choose disable or enable. The default is enable.

EDIT: The OFDMA appears to only be under the 5 ghz radio professional tab. I don't see it under 2.4 ghz.

 

[Marin]

Yes that is the case for AX88U as well.

 

[thiggins]

Yes there is a drop box to choose disable or enable. The default is enable.

EDIT: The OFDMA appears to only be under the 5 ghz radio professional tab. I don't see it under 2.4 ghz.

I've confimed via packet capture that OFDMA is not enabled on 2.4 GHz. This is required for WiFi Certification. So I've asked ASUS for an explanation.

 

[Pak Kriss]

Now I'm curious. Which packet capture setup/hw/sw you use?

I've confimed via packet capture that OFDMA is not enabled on 2.4 GHz. This is required for WiFi Certification. So I've asked ASUS for an explanation.

Sent from my SM-T805 using Tapatalk

 

[thiggins]

Now I'm curious. Which packet capture setup/hw/sw you use?

Intel AX200 on Linux (Windows does not support monitor mode).
If you are just looking for HE management frames, you can use any adapter.

Check this blog for details.

 

[Pak Kriss]

Intel AX200 on Linux (Windows does not support monitor mode).
If you are just looking for HE management frames, you can use any adapter.

Check this blog for details.

Thanks for clear answer

Sent from my SM-T805 using Asus RT-AC86U & Merlin 384.13

 

[RMerlin]

I've confimed via packet capture that OFDMA is not enabled on 2.4 GHz. This is required for WiFi Certification. So I've asked ASUS for an explanation.

I know it's deliberately disabled by Asus and not a bug - there is a comment in the webpage code explaining that OFDMA was being disabled for the 2.4 GHz band.

function setOFDMA(){
        // 2.4 GHz does not support so far
        //document.form.wl0_ofdma.disabled = false;
        document.form.wl1_ofdma.disabled = false;
        if(band5g2_support){
                document.form.wl2_ofdma.disabled = false;
        }
}

 

[coxhaus]

So RMerlin you can try it and see if the underlining code supports it. Have fun.

 

[thiggins]

I know it's deliberately disabled by Asus and not a bug - there is a comment in the webpage code explaining that OFDMA was being disabled for the 2.4 GHz band.

OFDMA support in both directions and both bands is required for WiFi6 certification. I have asked ASUS why they have disabled 2.4 GHz OFDMA in a Certified product.

 

[RMerlin]

So RMerlin you can try it and see if the underlining code supports it. Have fun.

I have no AX client.

Sent from my SM-T720 using Tapatalk