Sky Router with WiFi 6 (IEEE 802.11ax)

[seandrews]

When will Sky bring out a Sky Router with WiFi 6 (IEEE 802.11ax)???

[GD1]

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@seandrews wrote:

When will Sky bring out a Sky Router with WiFi 6 (IEEE 802.11ax)???

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Unfortunately this is not the kind of info Sky give out, no one on the fourm will know.

[jamesn123]

@seandrews 

Probably a good while yet. If your into that kind of thing you should be looking at using your own router

[JPR007]

@seandrews As much as always with things tech...the next thing is a must have....but....you really aren't missing out a lot by not having wifi 6 at the moment. 
Though the number is growing, the amount of devices that actually can make use of it is still very limited. For the vast majority here in the UK, the actual inbound internet speed of 80Mb tops on an FTTC connection is far more the limiting factor. What are you going to do on your WiFi devices that necessiatates WiFi transfer rates of 100'S into 1000's megabits per second...

They will release one in time, but I wouldn't loose too much sleep over it at the moment, and as @jamesn123 mentioned, if speed is that crucial, you shouldn't be relying on ISP grade kit🤓

[TimmyBGood]

@seandrews 

There's a useful article on ISP adoption of WiFi6 here:

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2021/02/first-hints-of-future-wifi-6-bt-smarthub-3-broadband-r... 

[seandrews]

Apparently WiFi 6 is much better in older homes with thick or lots of brick walls, more stable and less dropouts.

it's not just for the speedy fibre to the home connection that won't come to most places in wales till around 2050

[jamesn123]

@seandrews 

WiFi 6 range is the same as WiFi 5, they use the same frequency. WiFi 6 is better for throughput and managing congestion but not range. Then you have WiFi 6E which has even less range than WiFi 5 & 6!

[TimmyBGood]

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@seandrews wrote:

the speedy fibre to the home connection that won't come to most places in wales till around 2050

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https://www.openreach.com/news/openreach-full-fibre-broadband-plans-set-to-upgrade-415000-more-rural... 

[mae-3]

@jamesn123 

Wifi 6 means better sensitivity of the receivers at both ends when operating in that mode, eg: wifi 6 client and router and hence greater range and better penetrations through walls. In tests that I've done the range has increased by about 50% with a wifi 6 client and router compared to wifi 5 client on the same wifi 6 router. The test was done on iPhone XR (Wifi 5) and iPhone 12 Pro Max (Wifi 6).

[jamesn123]

@mae-3 

My point was that WiFi 6 will offer hardly any benefit over WiFi 5 when it comes to wall penetration. How you are seeing a 50% improvement is beyond me and must be wrong or something to do with the difference in antenna configuration on the iPhone XR vs 12 pro max. In my home I dont see any range improvement, only throughput. There is a good article here that shows signal strength differences between WiFi 5 & 6, although WiFi 6 comes out slightly ontop it is quite negligible. 

[mae-3]

@jamesn123 

If you search on Google for 'wifi 6 sensitivity and better beamforming' it discusses the benefits of the new modulation methods with wifi 6 on the edge concerning range and through walls.

And what client device are you using to test wifi 5 and wifi 6?

I've just tested the speed and throughput again through two walls the coverage on wifi 5 for the iPhone XR run out at 15-17 metres and iPhone 12 Pro Max at 30 metres. I agree that the Wifi 6 equipment that I'm using is more modern than the iPhone XR but that's part of the point.

[add] The article you pointed to is mentioning the beamingforming and newer technology, and signal levels for wifi 6 are showing as about 3dB or slightly better which is twice the signal strength as it's logrithmic over the wifi 5 signals on 5Ghz.

[jamesn123]

@mae-3 

Samsung S10 & Samsung S21 Ultra, tested both on WiFi 5 & WiFi 6, WiFi 6 offers better throughput stability but range is almost identical through 3 walls. 

Should note that we also have an iPhone XR & Samsung Tab S5e and these exhibit the same range right up to the edge of the network. 

Without a doubt there is improvements to busy networks & beamforming but for raw range I havent seen any difference and a couple articles I've read doing real world tests dont see much difference.

[mae-3]

@jamesn123 

These are my test with a wifi 5 and wifi 6 router with the iPhone 12 Pro Max only; the network on Wifi 6 is AX SSID and Wifi 5 SSID GUEST5G. The routers involved are the Asus XT and Linksys WRT3200ACS. With WIfi 5 I had to move closer by 7 metres (-95dBM) to even pick up the signal compared to Wifi 6 and Wifi signal strength is better at a further out range by 7 metres (-80dBm).

[jamesn123]

@mae-3 

Could be a difference in DFS channels maybe?

I just tested iPhone XR vs S10 and signal was about 5-7dB different if that so not sure 🤔. I would've expected to see more info, excitement and uptake on WiFi 6 if it were that different when it came to range

[mae-3]

@jamesn123 

It could be related to the DFS channel 120 and manual none DFS channel at 153. And I'm not sure but suspect that the Asus XT is transmitting at a higher power on DFS 120 channel 5Ghz band B which is permitted compared to the none DFS channels, eg: likely 300-400mW or slightly more.

Also, the encryption on the AX SSID on DFS channel 120 is encoded with WPA3 only which includes mandatory 802.11w which is less prone to interference. AEAX3 is also the Asus XT but WPA2 AES without 802.11w and received at slightly less signal level but at 200mW.