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What Does “6-Stream WiFi Router” Mean?
I want a WiFi router that can broadcast on at least 4 SSIDs. The lingo is a bit confusing. Does “6-Stream” in the Nighthawk® RAX50 AX6 6-Stream AX5400 WiFi Router mean it can have 6 SSIDs? https://...
Stream means how many MIMO antennas are running 2.4 and 5Ghz at the same time. 6x6 would be what this means here.
The most you'll ever see out of a dual band is two SSID broadcasts. Tri band router you can get 3 SSID broadcasts. Broadcasts is the SSID name for the 2.4 and 5Ghz radio frequencies. Most of the time Smart Connect is a feature that combines the 2.4 and 5Ghz SSID names into one SSID Name broadcast for both 2.4 and 5Ghz frequencies.
cyberbiker wrote:
I want a WiFi router that can broadcast on at least 4 SSIDs. The lingo is a bit confusing.
Does “6-Stream” in the Nighthawk® RAX50 AX6 6-Stream AX5400 WiFi Router mean it can have 6 SSIDs? https://imgur.com/a/uu1o9LI
If not, what verbiage should I look for that indicates how many SDIDs a router has?
Do not become a victim of marketing hype, it is a moving target to avoid! Some background reading material here:
https://www.duckware.com/tech/wifi-in-the-us.html
Scroll down to Appendix Q: What 'Stream' means.
Also, scroll down to Appendix N: Beware tri-band marketing hype.
Do you want all four SSIDs to be broadcasting on the same frequency band? (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz) If yes, you are going to have a difficult time obtaining that in one single router. Recommend you rethink your requirements.
What are you actually trying to accomplish?
Kitsap wrote:
What are you actually trying to accomplish?
The all important question.
Answering that may be a revelation.
Many times people have turned up here asking for some capability or another only to find that there are much better ways of getting to their real destination than going off on some wild goose chase.
As to four SSIDs, no one has mentioned the Guest word.
But not knowing the ultimate goal, who knows where that could fit in?
- I would want one SSID exclusively for my devices. Two others would be guest networks for 2.4 G and 5G. The fourth work would be for some other people for whom I’m providing service. The security protocols would vary.
cyberbiker wrote:
I would want one SSID exclusively for my devices. Two others would be guest networks for 2.4 G and 5G. The fourth work would be for some other people for whom I’m providing service. The security protocols would vary.This is why I'm asking this all over. How do you want the segregation done? All four SSIDs should connect to the same network, same IP subnet, ...? The "guest" network term is yet another lazy marketing term, the capabilities are varying widely.
cyberbiker wrote:
Two others would be guest networks for 2.4 G and 5G.That feature is built into most Netgear routers, including the RAX50.
The fourth may be harder to come by.
cyberbiker wrote:
I would want one SSID exclusively for my devices. Two others would be guest networks for 2.4 G and 5G. The fourth work would be for some other people for whom I’m providing service. The security protocols would vary.A very good starting point. Like schumaku says, Guest networks are a lazy marketing term that varies significantly from brand to brand and from model to model within a brand. The functionality and security of the service you are trying to provide would have to be better defined. Does this service only include internet access or does it include services like setting up a wireless printer or IoT devices like smart speakers or etc.
Back to your original question, a "six stream" router would most likely include connections to the newer 6 GHz frequency band. Not really a good fit to meet your requirements.
- I’m a retired senior who lives in a large house with 10 units. Some of my very senior housemates are not very IT savvy so I’m providing free WiFi service to all (and some Internet usage instruction) in hopes they find the access to knowledge and entertainment enjoyable.
The connected devices will be a mixture of smartphones, tablets, laptops and smart TVs — probably a total of fewer than 15 devices on the Guest SSIDs.
I need to retain one smart (2.4 & 5G) SSID for myself and have offered the Guest 2.4G and 5G SSIDs to everyone else using a single password.
Based on what you all have said, I guess I’ll plan to leave everyone else on the Guest 2.4G and 5G password protected SSIDs.
Thanks for the counsel.
My setup: Spectrum broadband > Spectrum DocSis 3.1 eMTA EU2251 Voice Modem > Netgear RAX50 AX5400v2
