I just bought a new NETGEAR Nighthawk RAXE500, set it up, 6G Wifi networks (regular and guest) are enabled and SSID broadcasting, and there's no trace of these Wifi 6 networks anywhere. I've got an iPhone 11 Pro Max and an iPad Pro, both Wifi 6 compatible, and neither of them can see these networks. I've done a factory reset and reconfigured a second time, same result. I've tried to connect manually from wifi settings on my devices, also tried through the Nighthawk app, and the Nighthawk app doesn't detect them either.
If anyone has any guidance, or if you've encountered a DOA router with no Wifi 6 working, I'd appreciate your insight.
Those Apple devices don't support Wifi6E, the 6GHz band, which is different than the Wifi6 your devices support. The only phone I'm aware of that supports the 6E 6GHz band today is the Samsung S21 Ultra. It's rumored that the next iPhone will be able to utilize the 6GHz band.
And yes, even Netgear's Nighthawk app can't see the 6GHz band yet.
the only devices that support 6E currently are the samsung S21 and the intel AX210 wireless board. But even the intel doesn't fully support it as windows hasn't supported the wpa3 for it or enabled it in public views of windows. So to get it working on windows requires work-arounds to get it functioning.
Its a bit of a pointless band currently. I usually recommend the RAX200 or RAX120 to people until more devices support 6E
Re: No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500
I understand that not many devices support 6E, and that band won't be reachable by most current devices. But the RAXE500 is supposed to be backward compatible, and support not only 6E and Wifi 6, which iPhone 11+ and iPad Pro support. I'm not seeing that.
Re: No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500
The RAXE500 supports Wifi6, which used to be called 802.11ax, as well as earlier flavors of Wifi like 802.11g, 802.11n (now called Wifi4) 802.11ac (now called Wifi5). All of these earlier versions run on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.
On my Samsung S20FE, my wifi icon has a "6" next to it. As is typical, Apple doesn't want you to be "bothered" by anything technical like that so they don't tell you. Run some speedtests and then go into the router's UI and navigate to Advanced, Setup, Wireless Setup and uncheck the Enable AX.... box.
If your speedtests now are appreciably slower, you will know that the devices were connecting with Wifi6.
Re: No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500
Tested both with AX enabled and disabled -- no difference in speed whatsoever. As for the iPhone displaying "6" or not with its connection speed -- Apple has never hesitated to display anything which implies faster performance. They were displaying the "5" in 5G on the iPhone before that was even a known thing.
Re: No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500
Believe what you want but Apple does not display an indicator for a Wifi6 connection.
What does the speedtest show when you're connected to the 5GHz Wifi band?
What is the download speed for your Internet plan? If it's not higher than what an 802.11ac connection can go, then the 802.11ax speed test won't be any different.
Re: No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500
Ok, so that's easily attainable under 802.11ac (Wifi 5), which is why when AX is enabled the speeds don't change.
And again, Apple hides "techie" info like what the actual connection rate is to your router. On my S20FE I can see that the connection rate to the RAXE500 is 1.2Gbps. If I disable AX, it then shows a connection rate of 866Mpbs. Note, these are max connection rates to the router, not actual speed test numbers through the Internet connection.
Bottom line, there's no reason that your Wifi6-capable phone isn't making a Wifi6 connection to the RAXE500 but since your Internet plan isn't capable of delivering Wifi6-level speeds it really doesn't matter anyway.
Re: No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500
I guess we can leave it at this -- given the circumstances, maybe there ought to be a self-contained means to verify functionality on the hardware. There's really no detailed debug logs or much of anything you can do to verify internally what's going on. It could be something as simple of an internal service not loading properly (like happens on every OS ever), but there's no way to tell.
Re: No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500
Think what you want.
But except for some odd intuition you have that it's not connecting as a Wifi6 device, you've got zero evidence that it isn't. You were confused about Wifi6E and what we told you your phone can't do Wifi6E, then you just decided that it also wasn't doing Wifi6.
Perhaps there's some app that will show you the info about your wifi connection that Apple refuses to. Or it may be that Apple blocks them from showing it.
Re: No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500
"Think what you want."
It isn't a subjective matter, and the entire point of this post was to try to find some verifiable evidence somewhere that it is working, and that is very clear from the original subject of the post: "No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500".
There are numerous reviews of this router out there (going back as long as nearly 2 years) saying that iPhone 11+ and iPad Pro+ support Wifi6, even if iOS devices do not support 6E bands yet. There is no indication I'm aware of on these devices (both of which I'm using to connect) to tell that Wifi6 is in play. There's no noticeable speed difference that I can detect. Neither the Nighthawk app nor the RAXE500 admin console appears to provide a way to verify this to my knowledge.
One other mention -- I'm no expert on the associated 6E protocol, but connecting to 6E isn't necessarily the same issue as seeing the SSID broadcast. It may be that if your device doesn't support 6E, it won't see 6E the SSID broadcast either, but then again, it could be that the SSID broadcast should be seen and network displayed, you just can't successfully connect to it with a device that doesn't support 6E.
What I want to think is that the thing is working as advertised, based on some data metric. I had no luck on my own, and so I chose to reach out to the community and anyone else which might have had a shared experience.
FWIW, I contacted NETGEAR support two days ago about this, and the support rep was stumped too, after spending 45b minutes on the phone trying various things which didn't work, he was out of answers too. He told me he'd be back with a verdict in 24 hours, and I have had no contact back since. So it isn't just me -- this is NETGEAR themselves without answers.
It's pretty simple -- if when all is said and done, since I've dropped ~$800 on a new router, I want to do my due diligence to make sure it is working as advertised. I've owned enough NETGEAR equipment over the last 20 years (and have 2 other Nighthawk routers deployed as well) to know faulty equipment and faulty software isn't unusual. In fact, I have already found several bugs in the RAXE500 admin console and the Nighthawk app from this testing alone. So given that I have observable bugginess in the hardware-software ecosystem, it doesn't seem a stretch that there could be an issue here. There should be a way to confirm that isn't the case.
Re: No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500
"There are numerous reviews of this router out there (going back as long as nearly 2 years)"
You're clearly in some parallel universe because the RAXE500 was announced on Jan 11th 2021 in this one.
"There is no indication I'm aware of on these devices (both of which I'm using to connect) to tell that Wifi6 is in play."
As discussed, something Apple doesn't want you to know.
"There's no noticeable speed difference that I can detect."
As discussed, it's because your Internet plan isn't fast enough to give the faster speeds that your phone is capable of. You could have bought an 802.11ac router, not Wifi6 or Wifi6E, and your phone would still give the same speed.
"Neither the Nighthawk app nor the RAXE500 admin console appears to provide a way to verify this to my knowledge"
Personally, I think the app is a steaming pile and yes, perahps the web UI should show connection rates. There are a ton of things I would love to see added to the UI but Netgear has to decide how valuable some of the more techie stuff would be to the avg consumer and if it's worth the costs to code it.
"What I want to think is that the thing is working as advertised, based on some data metric."
As discussed, blame Apple for not giving you the only data metric that actually means anything in your case, the connection rate. Since your Internet plan isn't capable of taking advantage of Wifi6 speeds it would be a moot point anyway. Hey look, I'm connected at 1.2Gbps.....oh, my download speed is still 330Mbps.
"So it isn't just me -- this is NETGEAR themselves without answers."
A phone support "tech" doesn't have an answer that's not in their flowchart and they don't do what they promise? SHOCKER!
"So given that I have observable bugginess in the hardware-software ecosystem, it doesn't seem a stretch that there could be an issuehere. There should be a way to confirm that isn't the case."
There is, just not with the devices you own. Or if someone brought over their Wifi6-capable Andriod and showed you the proper Wifi6 connection rate, would you still not be convinced?
Just crurious, what country are you in? Netgear has been the only source of this router and they were selling it for $550 US.
Re: No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500
@tonydi I appreciate the responses. There were some good pieces of factual info imparted, again thanks.
The RAXE500 is an expensive device -- really skirts the border of the "consumer" label, if not beyond it. There are a few reasonable things which should be expected of a device at this price point. I've got an enterprise-class firewall running pfSense on my network which cost just over half of what this RAXE500 does, and it makes the three Nighthawks I have look like wind-up toys. The ask here wasn't unreasonable -- just ability to verify working functionality, and/or responsive support with an explanation / resolution. As of yet, neither has materialized. My aim with my original post was to connect with others interested in the same thing.
No worries, I've requested a refund. Best to all....enjoy your networking journeys....
Re: No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500
Appears we have a lot of misunderstandings here, some are caused by the really (in my opinion stupid) change in common marketing terms with a 4G, 5G, and soon probably 6G for mobile - and WiFi 5, WiFi 6, and WiFi 6E networks in the industry.
The RAXE500 has three WiFi radios: a 2.4 GHz, a 5 GHz (these two makes it a WiFi 6 system), and a third 6 GHz (what makes is it a WiFi 6E system). Everything does operate based on the IEEE 802.11ax-2021 standards (short 802.11ax). The backwards compatibility is in the 802.11ax standard, which does allow operating 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11a clients - permitting these WiFi clients don't struggle on the additional bits on air coming along with the Mesh and 802.11ax capabilities and the security mechanisms allowing - to operate on the 2.4 and 5 GHz radios.
The WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E are marketing terms just adding confusion. A WiFi 6E capable client is typically able to work on the 6 GHz, the 5 GHz, and on the 2.4 GHz band - this could be seen as backward compatibility in the connecting band. A 6 GHz WiFi 6 radio on an access point or router will only allow a 6 GHz capable client to associate - there is no backward compatibility for supporting 5 GHz (and even less 2.4 GHz) clients on this radio. The compatibility for other band clients is added by dedicated radios - essentially a WiFi 6 system in the router. WiFi 6E does "just" add a third radio operating on the 6 GHz band. It's presence won't change anything for your existing WiFi 6, 5, 4, ... and older clients.
Re: No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500
You are absolutely right Apple does not show the 6 I have a 2020 iPad and the RAXE500 an it does not show anything but the wifi symbol now on the other hand my Samsung note 20 shows the 6 next to the WiFi symbol.
Re: No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500
Ok, I am a little afraid to jump in here... I have the issue but nothing to do with Apple. When I scan for APs I see the SSIDs for both the 2.4g and 5g bands but not the 6g.
My laptop was upgraded with a Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6E AX210 160MHz. One of the posts in this thread said Windows does not support WPA3 yet but would that prevent the modem from simply seeing the 6g broadcasted SSID? For a moment I change the 6g from WPA3 to Enhanced Open but I still was unable to detect the signal.
It seems reasonable, especially at the cost and effort to connect at 6E, that I try to deterine if it is 1. Not supported by Windows 10 regardless of the 6E wifi card. 2. A configuration issue on the laptop, OS or WIFI driver. 3. My RAXE500 is not either working properly or not ready for prime time.
Anyone else able to detect the SSID for 6g using Win10 and a Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6E AX210 160MHz? Thanks.
Re: No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500
Until Win10 21H1 is available (which is any moment now) you also have to make a Registry change for the AX210 to work. Now, 21H1 is supposed to have this change already built in but I haven't seen anyone confirm it for the release version.
So if you have a late enough version of the AX210 driver (22.40.0) I'd wait for 21H1 and see what happens. If it doesn't work then I can post the registry hack (or Google is your friend).
Re: No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500
Amen....at the price class (and for that matter all routers should allow this), there should be a way to verify function on the router itself, see internal service logs, etc.
Re: No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500
I have similar issues. I upgraded a desktop with a pcie intel ax210. At the moment I do not know how to get it to connect to the 6g band. I'm confused on what to do
Re: No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500
Here's a link that spans the earliest attempts to get 6E to work and follows it through to the current situation where Microsoft is adding support in the latest Windows Insiders builds.
The thing you're probably missing (guessing, since you didn't mention what you've tried) is the Registry edit.
All that being said, at this point I think the best move for most people is to wait for the new Win10 21H1 update to get pushed to your machine. Some are already getting it, in fact, I just built a new machine last night that got it.
It should have the necessary drivers (the one that is linked to near the end of that forum thread) to handle 6E without any Registry hacks. I'm not clear if this will also provide WPA3 support, so if it doesn't, you'll need to use Enhanced Open.
Re: No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500
I will close the loop on my original questions with a personal conclusion. Your milage may vary. Based on all the insight given by Tonydi (Thanks), I did testing to address the questions from my original post.
After doing the registry edit I was able to detect the 6g broadcasting SSID but still had issues connecting. I then read where someone had extracted the wifi driver from a pre-release of the next windows 10 patch. It seems the regedit with the pre-release driver is working for people. Keep in mind the "hack" is just adding a DWORD to the right spot in the registry. I op'd to undo the regedt and ultimately follow Tonydi's advice. I will wait for the patch. I'll check but I imagine it will simply add the same DWORD and apply an updated driver.
However, from my testing I was able to answer my original questions. 1. My RAXE500 is working fine. 2. My install of the Intel 6E laptop wifi card is working fine. 3. It is my OS that needs to catch up for me to experience true 6E.
If any of you choose not to wait and do both the regedit and find the pre-released driver, please confirm that it worked.
Re: No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500
I can confirm that the Win10 update does not use the Is6GhzBandSupported DWORD. Once I got the update I went back and removed that entry from the Registry and I can still connect to the 6G band.
Re: No trace of Wifi6 networks on Nighthawk RAXE500
Hmmm.... I just got the 21H1 update today. The Intel 6E driver is the same as before: 22.40.0.7. I still do not see the SSID for the 6G. Did anyone that ran the update get a newer driver?
