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Wifi 6 Questions

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thewizard1241

Regular Contributor
Hello everyone,

I just had a few wifi 6 questions before i purchase new routers.

1: I have a max speed of 70mbps and i understand getting a wifi 6 router on such low speeds wont make a difference, however I was thinking more for load purposes when theres tonnes of different devices, would it be beneficial? I only have 2 wifi 6 smart phones and 1 wifi 6 router, the rest are wifi 5 AC, would they also benefit from the load? By load i mean the OFDMA feature

2: I was thinking of getting 2 AX86u's or perhaps 1 AX86u and 1 AX82u in a mesh format, could you suggest a better secondary router with the AX86u?

3: My family complain about slowish internet on the 2.4ghz network, what is the best way to prevent network slow downs? I only keep high priority devices on 5ghz such as cameras so i dont really want regular devices using that channel. (I use bandwidth limiter on hungry devices such as TV's and consoles btw)



Thats all thanks
 
1: I have a max speed of 70mbps and i understand getting a wifi 6 router on such low speeds wont make a difference, however I was thinking more for load purposes when theres tonnes of different devices, would it be beneficial? I only have 2 wifi 6 smart phones and 1 wifi 6 router, the rest are wifi 5 AC, would they also benefit from the load? By load i mean the OFDMA feature
OFDMA is supposed to improve airtime efficiency. But there are so many variables that you have to evaluate the benefit for yourself.
AC devices can benefit if AX reduces airtime use for the two AX devices. But, again, it's unlikely you'd see a benefit in real-world use.
3: My family complain about slowish internet on the 2.4ghz network, what is the best way to prevent network slow downs?
2.4 GHz is a very crowded band. So the slowdowns are likely due to competition for bandwidth with everyone else using the channel you are on.
The best way to avoid network slowdowns in 2.4 GHz is to use 20 MHz bandwidth and stay on channels 1, 6 or 11. You have to experiment to find the channel that works best for you. But don't be surprised if there is no good solution.
 
OFDMA is supposed to improve airtime efficiency. But there are so many variables that you have to evaluate the benefit for yourself.
AC devices can benefit if AX reduces airtime use for the two AX devices. But, again, it's unlikely you'd see a benefit in real-world use.
2.4 GHz is a very crowded band. So the slowdowns are likely due to competition for bandwidth with everyone else using the channel you are on.
The best way to avoid network slowdowns in 2.4 GHz is to use 20 MHz bandwidth and stay on channels 1, 6 or 11. You have to experiment to find the channel that works best for you. But don't be surprised if there is no good solution.

Would you suggest setting up a 5ghz mesh instead? Or how about smart connect? Have you had any good experience with smart connect at all?
 
If low signal levels are causing use of 2.4 GHz, yes, using a mesh system can help, IF the mesh nodes can get good backhaul (the Wi-Fi connection among mesh nodes) bandwidth. If building construction (stone, concrete) or improper mesh node placement (too far between) chokes down backhaul bandwidth, your devices will see a nice strong signal from the mesh nodes, but could get slow speed.
Read the "Closing Thoughts" section of this article:
 
If low signal levels are causing use of 2.4 GHz, yes, using a mesh system can help, IF the mesh nodes can get good backhaul (the Wi-Fi connection among mesh nodes) bandwidth. If building construction (stone, concrete) or improper mesh node placement (too far between) chokes down backhaul bandwidth, your devices will see a nice strong signal from the mesh nodes, but could get slow speed.
Read the "Closing Thoughts" section of this article:

The backhaul performance should be fine due to them being hooked up with wired ethernet. The signals for 2.4ghz are actually quite strong but then tends to either slow down a bit or completely hang for 15 seconds or so. It doesnt do this on the 5ghz band
 

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