I have a dumb question, how do you tell if you’re connected to WiFi 6 with an iPhone 12 or any device? I recently installed and set up a RBK753. Both AX bands are enabled and I set the CTS values to 2347. Am I missing something or am I confused. I called NG support and they said it was automatic but I cannot tell any difference. Orbi app shows that I am connected to 5 ghz?
Ya theres not a great way to tell the actual mode a device is connected at unless that device supports the reporting and displaying of the actual connection rate. Someting that iphones and pads don't do. Laptops can depending upon the OS features.
You can load up wifi sweet spots app and see the live connection rate at the phone using this app. Though understand that iphones and most mobile phones only support 2x2 antenna configuration so the connection rate seen on 5Ghz that the Orbi AX support of 2400Mpbs may not be seen on most phones. It's the limitation of this 2x2 antenna support that causes this. If you have a device that supports 4x4 antenna configuration, then you should need near 2400Mpbs connection rates on those devices. My ASUS GT-AX11000 which supports 4x4 antenna configuration in wireless brige mode sees 1800-2400Mpbs depending on distance.
WiFi 6 (802.11ax) would be just the mode. Technically WiFi 6 is "just" a superset of the earlier standards - it's not something you connect to.
Netgear has chosen to show a small subset of the information on the consumer systems, for the average user it's not of a particular interest. For the Netgear SMB wireless access points (WAC5xx and WAC6xx), the connection mode can be accessed from the Insight management.
Alternate way to see the mode used would be checking the wireless client. Windows 10 or MacOS have this information visible. Unfortunately, iOS and Android 11 (talking of the "real" one as on a current Pixel phone) doesn't show this information to the user. Another possible reason for iOS could be the OS restrictive nature, so it might be not accessible in any easy manner.
Though understand that iphones and most mobile phones only support 2x2 antenna configuration so the connection rate seen on 5Ghz that the Orbi AX support of 2400Mpbs may not be seen on most phones. It's the limitation of this 2x2 antenna support that causes this.
The same 2x2 antenna config does also apply to the most common WiFi 6 capable clients. Intel AX200/AX201 - a popular module on many notebooks - is 2x2 only, but claims speeds up to 2402 Mb/s link rate - this does require 160 MHz bandwidth. Even Apple does only list max Wi-Fi PHY link rate 1201 Mb/s for their current WiFi 6 capable products as per the the Mac Deplyoment Reference appendices for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.
For the records again: WiFi 6 and 6E are made for concurrent throughput - not for the brute force single device max speed.
