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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.
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.
No Quad band routers out there persae. However only router I know that has 4 separate SSIDs, 1 Main WLAN SSID, A separate 6Ghz SSID, separate IoT SSID and Guest Network SSID is the Orbi 960 series. This is only a Tri band router. 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz and 6Ghz. The RAXE500 is a Triband as well same 3 frequencies on the RAXE however the SSID can be spearate for the main WLAN so you could have 3 separate SSIDs for 2.4 and 5Ghz and then one for the 6Ghz radio. Making 4. If you disabled the Smart Connect feature on the RAXE. Smart Connect can't be disabled on Orbi mesh.
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.
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: 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.
@cyberbiker wrote: 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.
Something to think about, for a modest investment you could purchase a refurbished Wi-Fi router from Amazon and configure it as a wired access point. You would need an Ethernet cable between the RAX50 and several feet of space (separation to avoid Wi-Fi interference) to the access point. This would give you a couple of more SSID's and Ethernet ports.
@cyberbiker wrote: 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.
You should have used the tag cyberbikerhero given that self imposed task.
You are getting into the sort of territory where "business" equipment kicks in, the sort of thing they use in bars and places to provide wifi access for customers.
With that many people on the system, you might be able to persuade them to contribute to the cost of something that would give you more control over what is going on. If you don't mind being fall guy, you can then give yourself boss man rights.
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.
If you get the right kit, you might be able to get away with no password for these less than savvy users. I have never understood why cafes, for example, insist on having complicated and meaningless passwords. (I have failed in my attempts to get our local pub to use something meaningful as a password.)
We’re in a crowded neighborhood so I do want to restrict access, lest the router gets overloaded. The Nighthawk app permits me to see how many devices connect and what the Mac addresses are. I imagine most in the house have smart phones, some have tablets and few have smart TVs.
Thanks to all for the tips. For the time being I’ll stick with permitting password access to the Guest 2.4 and 5G SSIDs to see how many connections they get and what the traffic volume is. Though I’m not financially constrained, there’s little point in making this more of a hardware project than is needed. Time will tell. ********** My setup: Spectrum broadband — Spectrum DocSis 3.1 eMTA EU2251 Voice Modem — Netgear RAX50 AX5400.
