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Cannot select channels manually on AX6000 WiFi Range Extender
Hello, I seem not to be able to set 2.4 & 5ghz channels manually in the setup of my AX6000 WiFi Range Extender (EAX80). I have manually selected the channels on my router (6 & 161), but the exten...
Set your 5ghz channel width back up. Again, 5ghz doesn't broadcast as far so taking up the full 80/160hz width isn't as impactful as when doing it with 2.4ghz. You'll take a significant speed hit with it set down. Not sure who gave you the info to turn it down for 5ghz. It can sometimes help with 2.4ghz but tends to help when everyone in the area does it, not just 1 person.
And again, in extender mode, you can't select the channels for the extender. it HAS to use the channel the router is on.
And the "optimal" channel for 5ghz isn't always the highest one. it does tend to have a little higher throughput but if you were worried about that little bit extra, you woudn't have narrowed your channel width.
so set the 5ghz back to ull 80/160 width that your router support, and then use the lower channel.
Thank you for the help plemans!
So what you are saying is that it might be the channel width that causes the problems? Right now my router is on a dynamic 20/40hmz setting because I wanted a lower frequency to avoid interference from surrounding wifi APs in my apartment building. Does the AX6000 then only accept a higher width, such as 80mhz? Could this be the problem?
Cheers,
Massimo
I think you're confusing subjects.
1. The router and the extender have to be on the same channel.
2. The channel width is what sets the link speed and max possible throughput. Not sure what router you have but to hit a 4800mbps link speed on the extender, you'd need the width set at 160hz (and need to be fairly close to the router to hit full link speed). At 20/40hz, you'd only hit 600-1200mbps link speed optimally.
3. Apartment living is a struggle for wireless. You can set your 2.4ghz at 20/40 but set the 5ghz at the max width. 5ghz doesn't broadcast as far or through as much materials so is better for apartment living.
Maybe we should go over what issues you're actually having instead of making guesses? you asked about selecting channels but didn't fully go over why you were asking and the prior post indicated you were having some type of speed issue.
So what all devices are you using? (router, device testing on, etc)
And what all issues are you having?
I appreciate your thorough help here plemans!
Let me see if I can illustrate this a tad better:
I have had things not connecting properly over Wifi - among those a NAS, a Sonos sound system and more. Dropouts in connections in general.
I have a Nighthawk router (with DD-WRT) at my primary internet connection in my living room, and the Nighthawk extender in my office. I did some snooping around, figuring out what I could do. One suggestion was to try to lower the channel width as much as possible in order to get a stronger signal throughout, so I lowered it on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz. 5GHz was set to "Dynamic (20/40 MHz)" and 2.4GHz to "Full (20MHz)" in DD-WRT on my router. Then I searched for the strongest wireless channels in my apartment and found those to be channel 161 for 5GHz and 6 for 2.4GHz respectively. I configured these in the router as well. So now my setup in the router is as follows:
[5 GHz/802.11ac] - QCA9984 802.11ac:
Wireless Network Mode: AC/N-MixedChannel Width: Dynamic (20/40 MHz)
Wireless Channel: 161 - 5805 MHz
[2.4 GHz TurboQAM] - QCA9984 802.11ac
Wireless Network Mode: Mixed
Channel Width: Full (20 MHz)
Wireless Channel: 6 - 2437 MHz
Now, my extender has no problem connecting to the 2.4GHz network, but it cannot connect to the 5GHz one. It simply cannot accept the wireless channel (161), but insists on using only certain channels, such as channel 44, and won't let me change them. This results in the extender only utilising the 2.4GHz band - also for its own transmission of 5GHz.
I hope that clarifies it a tad more..? Again - thank you for your invested time in this!
Cheers,
Massimo
Set your 5ghz channel width back up. Again, 5ghz doesn't broadcast as far so taking up the full 80/160hz width isn't as impactful as when doing it with 2.4ghz. You'll take a significant speed hit with it set down. Not sure who gave you the info to turn it down for 5ghz. It can sometimes help with 2.4ghz but tends to help when everyone in the area does it, not just 1 person.
And again, in extender mode, you can't select the channels for the extender. it HAS to use the channel the router is on.
And the "optimal" channel for 5ghz isn't always the highest one. it does tend to have a little higher throughput but if you were worried about that little bit extra, you woudn't have narrowed your channel width.
so set the 5ghz back to ull 80/160 width that your router support, and then use the lower channel.
Thank you plemans for your insights. I now realise that I need to strike the right balance for the 5GHz width whereas I just need to leave the 2.4GHz alone. It makes sense that I need to beef up 5GHz so that clients don't just take the 2.4GHz over it because they think it gives them the best performance. I will try turning it up to 80MHz again (with lower channels like 44 as the extender insists on using) and see if interference will persist, perhaps testing 40MHz as a last resort. Good food for thought. Thank you!