Can't get 2023 MacBook Pro to use WiFi 6E/6GHz w\ WAX630E

Dear. tarsiers.  

Thank you for using NETGEAR forums. 

Can you also post the Mac OS version you are using? Check if there are any newer OS updates available.

 1) What is WAX630E SSID security? Is it WPA3-PSK or WPA2/WAP3-PSK (Transition mode) ?

 2) To isolate the issue, I would suggest the following.

  2.a Create a “Test6Ghz” SSID with WPA3-PSK and only 6Ghz radio enabled.

Check if the Mac book Pro can scan and associate it.

If that works, That means 6Ghz is working.

2.b Forget the SSID on the MacBook; enable the same SSID on 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz, and 6Ghz.  

If the Macbook now chooses 5Ghz instead of 6Ghz, then client-side logic prefers 5Ghz for some reason.

2.c Forget the SSID on MacBookthe and change the SSID to WPA2/WPA3 transition mode; enable it on 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz and 6Ghz

  Check which SSID the MacBook joins. 

Other factors affect which radio the client device will choose.

Please make sure in NETGEAR Insight UI,  

For 6Ghz, PCS channels are enabled.

Max TX power is set for AP.

Here are Apple articles on how their clients behave.

How do devices decide which radio/SSID/AP to Join?

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202831

https://support.apple.com/en-in/HT213433

https://support.apple.com/en-in/HT202068

Apple recommends WPA3-PSK and enables the same SSID on all radios. This gives the best security.

But if you have older clients that do not support WPA3, you can enable WPA2/WPA3 transition mode.

In the NETGEAR test team experience, we have observed that some legacy clients get into issues even in WPA2/WPA3 transmission modes (older IOT devices that do have frequent driver updates). 

If there are too many types of Wi-Fi devices (8 years or older), we recommend having two SSIDs. one for legacy clients and another one for faster and more modern clients.