Poll - what is the oldest level of 2.4Ghz Wifi currently in use

[sfx2000]

Checking to see where we are with legacy devices for 2.4GHz...

Yes, this leans into the WPA support poll, along with IPv6 support

 

[user114514]

Similarly, I force 11ax and WPA3 on 2.4GHz and set the bss basic rate to 24, 36, 48, 54. this keeps my bssload within 20% most of the time, even at 40MHz bandwidth.

 

[Tech9]

keeps my bssload within 20%

This is not how Wi-Fi works. The channel is not for your exclusive use and Channel Utilization is not in your control. What you did with 802.11ax only is severely limiting the compatibility, high minimum basic rate is severely reducing the range, 40MHz channel bandwidth is additionally reducing the range plus increasing interference for almost the entire band. Your Wi-Fi is basically incompatible with >90% of currently available IoT devices and potentially increasing the noise floor for everyone else around you.

 

[user114514]

This is not how Wi-Fi works. The channel is not for your exclusive use and Channel Utilization is not in your control. What you did with 802.11ax only is severely limiting the compatibility, high minimum basic rate is severely reducing the range, 40MHz channel bandwidth is additionally reducing the range plus increasing interference for almost the entire band. Your Wi-Fi is basically incompatible with >90% of currently available IoT devices and potentially increasing the noise floor for everyone else around you.

1. BSS Load refers to the QBSS Load reported by the AP. In my environment, there are virtually no SSIDs operating on channels 7–13.

2. I don’t have any IoT devices, and all my devices support at least ax, so I don’t need to worry about compatibility.

3. higher basic rates do not limit effective coverage. Even if the AP sets 24 Mbps as the minimum rate, STAs can still fall back to lower rates to send mgmt frames when SNR is low. You can verify this with tools like apstats. This does reduce the effective propagation distance of beacon frames, but I clearly don’t need such a large coverage area.

4. under an 11ax/be-only environment, using 40 MHz does not truly reduce coverage. Non-data frames are transmitted only on the primary channel anyway. For data frames, when SNR isn’t extremely low, using lower MCS can compensate for the increased SNR requirements from 40 MHz. Moreover, HE Spatial Reuse, OFDMA and EHT Preamble Puncturing are sufficient to avoid potential interference.

 

[Tech9]

1,2,3 - cabin in the woods?
4 - ~3db signal level difference

 

[user114514]

4 - ~3db signal level difference

So you only need to reduce the MCS by a few levels to offset the extra 3db. The doubled bandwidth is more than enough to offset the throughput loss from reducing the MCS index. It looks like you never consulted https://mcsindex.net.

You are clearly just repeating information that is outdated from years ago and have never really put your brain into it or put it into practice.

 

[Tech9]

We have regularly someone beating the physics with wireless settings, nothing new.

 

[user114514]

If you insist on becoming the WiFi Pope and redefining communication theory in your imagination and ignoring reality, then there is nothing I can do to stop you from doing so.

 

[Tech9]

Okay, different question for you - if you don’t care about range and compatibility and all your clients are with minimum AX support… why you even have 2.4GHs radio enabled? Home routers still offer 2.4GHz band exactly for range and compatibility, no?

 

[user114514]

Okay, different question for you - if you don’t care about range and compatibility and all your clients are with minimum AX support… why you even have 2.4GHs radio enabled? Home routers still offer 2.4GHz band exactly for range and compatibility, no?

Who says I don't care about range? I just don't care about excessive coverage that serves no purpose.

The bottleneck for effective WiFi range is the uplink. Any extra downlink range beyond that is meaningless, and increasing the basic rate helps reclaim that waste.

In my case, there are some dead zones for 5GHz and 6GHz. While the downlink may still be acceptable, the uplink can become unstable. I use 2.4GHz specifically to ensure uplink stability in these zones, and with 11be devices, MLO can seamlessly achieve this.