Please provide more 5GHZ wifi channel options - restricting to channels 36-48 is too limiting

Please... Let's get the legal stuff straight here for the people who are coming to read this. DFS Law in the US does NOT restrict manufacturors from creating devices that operate in the DFS/TPC bandwidth in Channels 50 - 144. It merely states that DFS SENSING is required on devices that can operate in these ranges. Channel 144 was only *just* added for WiFi use in 2013 with the emergence of 802.11ac, so there is still some ambiguity around the law in other countries. However, in the United states, 5Ghz devices may freely operate in channels 32-48, and 149 - 165 WITHOUT DFS sensing or other restrictions. Furthermore, a vendor may configure their device to operate in the DFS/TPC range so long as that vendor provides DFS SENSING intelligence that can dynamically change channels to prevent interference with government radar systems.

There is a great chart and explanation on the following wiki:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels#United_States

I have two old TP-Link access points and a Linksys WRT access point that both allow me to select channels 149 - 165. And you only have to do a little research to find other routers that offer DFS sensing technology that will uniquely change channels "on the fly" to prevent interference. These routers allow operation in the DFS/TPC range, are sold in the United States, and they all comply with the current US laws. 

It is obvious that Netgear has decided to forego the more costly solution of adding DFS technology and sidestep the DFS sensing matter altogether by simply not allowing their customers to select any channels above 48 in the 50 - 144 range. And it looks like the other unrestricted range (149 - 165) is reserved for their 5GHz wifi backhaul, so we cannot select any channels in that range either. If they are going to reserve the higher unrestricted channels for backhaul, then they should include DFS sensing technology to allow us to use the channels in the DFS/TPC range. At the very least, allow us to disable wifi backhaul and use the higher, unrestricted channels ourselves.

I freely admit... this is on me for not having done my usual research in the first place. Normally, I heavily vet a new product before I buy, and I did not do that this time. I assumed that this Netgear product would have the same functionality as my older TP-Link and Linksys routers. It does not.

In retrospect, I should have figured that out on my own.The 5GHz backhaul had to go somewhere, and Netgear reserved the higher, unrestricted 5GHz channels for this use.  But, the fact that Netgear has taken this route undeniably makes this product less useful for those of us in 5GHz crowded neighborhoods.

I hope that Netgear reads this and at least provides us the ability to disable wifi backhaul so we can opt to use those higher, unrestricted channels ourselves in more crowded neighborhoods. I realize this may not be an option for folks who rely on the wireless backhaul with their satellites. But those of us using wired backhaul should have the option of disabling the wifi backhaul altogether and using those channels ourselves.

Thanks!

---

Thunderstory  wrote:
This thread somehow makes it sound like Netgear could just go ahead and ignore these regulations and open up the whole range from 50 to 100+ for users to pick from manually. "Break the law or I will never buy anything from you again!!!" Ooookay...

Thank you for that clarification.

I thought that these "Ideas" were essentially bogus and ill-informed.

Back in the real world ....

It is surprising that people have 5 GHz issues, given the limited range of this band.

Perhaps the "Idea" should be to ask Netgear to come up with ways to allow people to avoid interference and make best use of 5 GHz wifi.

The laws in Europe, the US, Canada, Japan and pretty much everywhere else specify that you must never allow manual selection of channels above 48. Everything from 50 and up is DFS/TPC, meaning that WiFi routers are allowed to borrow them via auto selection but must let go of them the split second any interference is detected. There can be no user control.

This thread somehow makes it sound like Netgear could just go ahead and ignore these regulations and open up the whole range from 50 to 100+ for users to pick from manually. "Break the law or I will never buy anything from you again!!!" Ooookay...

What does the law allow? These things are covered by local regulations.

I replaced an old, cheap TP-Link Archer Wifi AP that had the option to manually use more 5GHz channels than this expensive Orbi mesh system I just bought from you guys. Furthermore, I don't care about the wireless backhaul. I use a wired Gigabit Ethernet backhaul. Please listen to your customers and give us the ability to use more of the 5GHz channels. I'm going to have to return this and go back to using two separate wifi APs...

Just bought this router to realize that I can't go higher than channel 48.

NETGEAR please allow higher 5G channels. It is crucial as today all the 5G is overcrouded.

Thanks

****Come on Netgear - please at least respond to this idea!***

It nearly 2 years now since I logged it on this forum and it's still showing as a 'New Idea' and numerous people are asking for this feature.  It is just taking the piss out of your customers when you don't even have the courtesy to repsond to ideas, let alone implementing them.   I even logged a support ticket to chase for an update and even that was been closed by Netgear, even though they never provided an answer on the status of this request and what they were going to evaluate it.   Probably closed by some facelace support manager who want to improve his customer metrics by closing off open tickets, even when they know the customer's issue is not resolved!

I'm NEVER buying netgear again - the product is rubbish, the support useless, they don't answer questions posed in their own ideas forum and also expect you pay extra (nearly £100 per year!) to get support after owning a product for only 3 months! 

Netgear... I payed over £300 for this package and I constantly get my Sky Q WiFi mesh system interrupting with the Orbi’s mesh system. Purely because the Orbi currently has such limited channels  and in consequence it is constantly clashing with the Sky Mesh system!!!!

The only way to get around this is to lower the 80MHz to 40MHz on the Sky Q so the 5GHz channel is away from the Orbi’s 5GHz channel ; however this just slows down my Sky Q system and becomes a real pain to me and my family.

As also mentioned by other users, the Orbi backhaul interrupts with my neighbours Orbi backhaul and they clash.

For a high end system I really did except the Orbi to have more 5GHz channels! 

Please add channels between 50-70 as this would make many user’s experience much better and make the Orbi more attractive! Sadly I’ve currently been advising my friends not to get the Orbi for this very reason!

I would do something otherwise you will lose your USP.

Please take action!

Regards,

Aaron

This is definitely a needed requirement.

I can't escape my neighbour's 5ghz network with the choices given.