AX 2.4G Any future?

[Gar]

Missed this as a possible improvement to 2.4G and wondering if it will take off.

What is the benefits of 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 6? | TP-Link

What is the benefits of 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 6?

www.tp-link.com

Causing issues but might be workable. From Netgear CS:

"2.4Ghz is just another frequency that some devices can use, if there dual band supporting. AX mode on 2.4Ghz is just another mode that, if devices support this mode on 2.4Ghz, can use this mode. Not all devices support this mode. May cause some problems as well.

Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Set CTS to 2347. Set Short preamble instead of Long preamble modes. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s). Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings

Then try enabling AX mode on 2.4ghz. You don't have to have this mode enabled on 2.4Ghz all the time as well."

 

[L&LD]

Any questions here?

This future has been here for a while now.

 

[RMerlin]

Depends on your clients.

Personally, I always treat the 2.4 GHz band as a legacy band. A lot of IoT devices only support 2.4 GHz, and these often use older wifi interfaces that will have compatibility issues when dealing with more modern Wifi features, like Airtime Fairness or Beamforming. Therefore, it's generally best to keep the 2.4 GHz band configured with any advanced features disabled to ensure optimal compatibility with these older/cheaper clients.

Also, the 2.4 GHz band might have better coverage, however it will also have slower speeds due to the large amount of radio interference in that frequency, plus the fact that most of the time you will be limited to 20 MHz channel width. I can't remember the last time I've seen a stable 40 MHz connection established on the 2.4 GHz band. That means almost a quarter of the speed of the 5 GHz band.

 

[aex.perez]

Agreed with @RMerlin and @L&LD

I got two Androrid Tablets I picked them up cheap on Amazon thinking because they listed WiFi6 that they had 5Ghz, they didn't (surprise to the seller, they refeunded me and let me keep them) but they do support 802.11ax on 2.4Ghz and they've been working them in AX mode on my AX88 (with a stable 40 MHZ channel width) for well over a year now. I use them to montor my Nest cams and they work just fine for that.

I don't get the Tx/Rx rates of my AX Latops on 5Ghz and 160 Mhz channel width (2402/2402) but they do the job just fine for their intended purpose, but it's a very limited market/use case I agree. I just figured out a way to make use of them getting the most out of them, the best way possible that work in my envronment. I'm fortunate to live where I have very stable WiFi with little interference across both bands.

Your Mileage may vary

 

[Piotrek]

however it will also have slower speeds due to the large amount of radio interference in that frequency

Usually, with WiFi 6 (AX) connection on 2.4 GHz and 20 MHz channel, I get a speed of about 200 Mbps (test on phone and notebook).

 

[sfx2000]

Personally, I always treat the 2.4 GHz band as a legacy band. A lot of IoT devices only support 2.4 GHz, and these often use older wifi interfaces that will have compatibility issues when dealing with more modern Wifi features, like Airtime Fairness or Beamforming. Therefore, it's generally best to keep the 2.4 GHz band configured with any advanced features disabled to ensure optimal compatibility with these older/cheaper clients.

these are good points to consider - especially since many of these IoT chipsets are WiFi4, and limited capability - there are certain vendors (Espressif) that have firmware issues with older releases that have been troublesome in the past...

Also, the 2.4 GHz band might have better coverage, however it will also have slower speeds due to the large amount of radio interference in that frequency, plus the fact that most of the time you will be limited to 20 MHz channel width. I can't remember the last time I've seen a stable 40 MHz connection established on the 2.4 GHz band. That means almost a quarter of the speed of the 5 GHz band.

Only within the last 6 months or so, I've seen growth at scale for WiFI6-oriented IoT chipsets, and they may not be speed demons, the IoT field is more focused on things like power savings and overall efficiency...

I don't think there's a hard-set rule of thumb regarding WiFi6 in 2.4GHz - it's supposed to be backwards compatible, but as many have noted, interoperability is the main challenge - and there it's both on the AP side as well as clients...