XT8 Wireless Backhaul almost useless in UK

[DaiBakes]

So for the past while I've been using a single XT8 as my main router, with two XD6 as the nodes and this has been rock solid.

I saw a good deal for an XT8 twin pack on Amazon so jumped at the opportunity to upgrade my setup to full XT8 and 5Ghz-2 dedicated backhaul. However, I seem to be in an area where frequent RADAR just plays havoc with the mesh. Regular downgrades to the 2.4Ghz band for the backhaul, very slow to recover back to 5Ghz-2 (if ever) etc etc.

Of course, here in the UK the only channels that the XT8 presents for the 5Ghz-2 band are all DFS (100 - 140) due to regulatory constraints:

At this point, it seems the best route for stable wireless backhaul is to simply return the XT8 twin pack and stick with the XD6 since they use the 5Ghz-1 band for backhaul (granted, they are only dual band so there is a penalty there).

However, it would seem Ofcom have tried to address this in the UK, and have approved the removal of DFS restriction on the 5725-5825MHz spectrum - https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0036/198927/6ghz-statement.pdf

Any idea why Asus haven't opened this up for us here in the UK? It would pretty much eliminate everyone's wireless backhaul issues if we could select these channels

 

[ColinTaylor]

Any idea why Asus haven't opened this up for us here in the UK? It would pretty much eliminate everyone's wireless backhaul issues if we could select these channels

You'd have to ask Asus to get a definitive answer as to why. Historically Asus has always used the same "EU" Wi-Fi region for routers sold in the UK and EU. I guess it's just easier/cheaper for them, especially prior to the Ofcom change. Technically there's nothing to stop them manufacturing a UK only model, but then there are also minor rules differences between EU countries and they don't make specific models for those either.

Try using a fixed channel from 100 to 112 and a fixed bandwidth of 80Mhz.

 

[DaiBakes]

You'd have to ask Asus to get a definitive answer as to why. Historically Asus has always used the same "EU" Wi-Fi region for routers sold in the UK and EU. I guess it's just easier/cheaper for them, especially prior to the Ofcom change. Technically there's nothing to stop them manufacturing a UK only model, but then there are also minor rules differences between EU countries and they don't make specific models for those either.

Try using a fixed channel from 100 to 112 and a fixed bandwidth of 80Mhz.

Thanks for the heads up, I hadn't realised the region was shared with the EU. I wonder if there are any mesh systems on sale in the UK that can use the newly released bands.

For the fixed channel on the 80Mhz band, why could this be better? They are also DFS channels, or are some channels less susceptible to RADAR than others?

 

[ColinTaylor]

For the fixed channel on the 80Mhz band, why could this be better? They are also DFS channels, or are some channels less susceptible to RADAR than others?

It really is a case of "YMMV", but channels 120 to 128 are used by weather radar systems. So that creates additional problems on top of the normal DFS issues. Using channels 120 to 128 also means that the 5GHz start-up wait (CAC) time is 10 minutes rather than 1 minute. Because of that it was (is?) quite common for some routers to not even enable those channels at all.

 

[DaiBakes]

It really is a case of "YMMV", but channels 120 to 128 are used by weather radar systems. So that creates additional problems on top of the normal DFS issues. Using channels 120 to 128 also means that the 5GHz start-up wait (CAC) time is 10 minutes rather than 1 minute. Because of that it was (is?) quite common for some routers to not even enable those channels at all.

I set the XT8 nodes up again and followed your guidance, and so far it's been solid on the 100/80 for the past 6 hours.