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Forum Discussion
Wifi 6 Range
Hello, In order to dump my Netgear D7000 and look for an upgrade, I do need to be truly convinced about Range ... So far, my searches about Wifi 6 range improvements ...have been unsuccessful .....
JamesD7000 wrote:Where can I find adequate and comparative info about Wifi 6 ...?
If you do find any actual data, please post the links. I have a suspicion that unless WiFi 6 does some "magic" the actual area covered and signal levels will be almost identical to WiFi 5. The reason: Radio signal strength at the antenna is limited by the FCC (and similar bodies in every country). Here's a link to one summary: https://w.wol.ph/2015/08/28/maximum-wifi-transmission-power-country/ Signal strength is a function of both the radio and the antenna. So, a 1,000mW signal is 1,000mW period. If a higher gain antenna is used, the radio strength must be reduced.
I did find it interesting that in the US, the 5G channels Orbi uses for "user connections" have a much lower maximum signal strength than the channels Orbi uses for "backhaul connections". Makes sense because a "good" WiFi backhaul signal could result in less overlap in the user 5G space.
WiFi 6 certainly has major improvements over WiFi 5 (see: https://www.howtogeek.com/368332/wi-fi-6-what%E2%80%99s-different-and-why-it-matters/ ), but signal strength and area covered do not seem to be among them.
Also both AC and AX modes run on 5Ghz. 5Ghz is and can be effected by building materials, i.e. concrete and metal. Wood not so much however still has some impact vs 2.4Ghz. Nature of the beast with 5Ghz.
