GT-AXE11000 hits the FCC

[quisp65]

FCC ID MSQ-RTAXJF00 Wireless-AXE11000 Tri-band Gigabit Router, ROG Rapture Tri-band Gaming Router, ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 tri-band Gaming Router, WiFi 6E ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 Tri-band Gaming Router by ASUSTeK Computer Inc

FCC ID application submitted by ASUSTeK Computer Inc for Wireless-AXE11000 Tri-band Gigabit Router, ROG Rapture Tri-band Gaming Router, ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 tri-band Gaming Router, WiFi 6E ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 Tri-band Gaming Router for FCC ID MSQ-RTAXJF00. Approved Frequencies, User...

fccid.io

Commentary?

....well it's got 5ghz DFS.... .... but don't see the entire 6ghz spectrum....

 

[RMerlin]

but don't see the entire 6ghz spectrum....

What, 6.115 GHz to 7.095 GHz isn't enough for you? Sounds plenty to me...

 

[RMerlin]

@thiggins, any thoughts on these output level?

2.412-2.462 GHz	986 mW	15C	CC, MO	1.1
2.412-2.462 GHz	998 mW	15C	CC, MO	4.1
5.18-5.25 GHz	741 mW	15E	CC, MO	2.1
5.25-5.32 GHz	242 mW	15E	CC, MO	2.2
5.5-5.72 GHz	245 mW	15E	CC, MO	2.3
5.745-5.825 GHz	991 mW	15E	CC, MO	2.4
6.115-7.095 GHz	716 mW	15E	CC, EP, MO	3.1

I find it odd that they report near 1000 mW but only for the 5.7-5.8 GHz band. The 716 mW level would be an improvement over the rest of the 5 GHz band, could that help offset the attenuation associated with the higher frequency?

 

[thiggins]

Remember that transmit power is measured and limited differently (Power Spectral Density aka PSD) for the 6 GHz channels for indoor operation. So effective power will depend on channel bandwidth used.

I don't really look at the FCC test numbers. It's how the products perform. From what I hear, 6 GHz coverage will be somewhat lower for 80 MHz channel bandwidth than 5 GHz. But how much lower remains to be seen. However, I don't think 6E will be limited to same-room operation.

 

[iwod]

Can a WiFi 6E be Certified without the support of 6Ghz ?

Xiaomi just announced a WiFi6E router. And doesn't seems to be certified with 6Ghz in any region. ( China hasn't even opened their 6Ghz Spectrum )

 

[thiggins]

Can a WiFi 6E be Certified without the support of 6Ghz ?

No. It's not eligible for Wi-Fi 6E Certification if it doesn't support 6 GHz channels.

If a device emits power in a band subject to FCC regulation, then it must be tested against applicable limits before it can be sold in the U.S. But I have seen Chinese routers sold in the U.S., even on Amazon, that are not in the FCC ID database. This isn't legal, but it would take someone to submit a report to the FCC, or maybe FTC.

 

[SoCalReviews]

Can a WiFi 6E be Certified without the support of 6Ghz ?

Xiaomi just announced a WiFi6E router. And doesn't seems to be certified with 6Ghz in any region. ( China hasn't even opened their 6Ghz Spectrum )

This past month just for the sake of curiosity I was searching for Wifi 6E adapters and noticed a number of Chinese Wifi client products that were being marketed with a model name/number with "6E" at the end... like AX3006E. Then I noticed that they actually did not support the 6Ghz band. At closer inspection it seemed these were in fact Wifi 6 clients and the "E" seemed to be used as part of the marketing name representing the word "enhanced or extreme" but it had nothing to do with official Wifi 6E with 6Ghz.

 

[HWDan]

I've been assuming that Wifi 6E routers will by default need to be tri-band routers, and this one certainly is, being a top tier router anyway.

However, anyone think (or know) that maybe the general mainstream 6E routers may still be dual band - 2.4 plus just a choice of a single channel in a combined 5/6 range? I now get the feeling that the lower to mid-tier routers will be exactly like this, still dual band.

 

[L&LD]

A fully fleshed out (i.e. 'real') AX class Wi-Fi 6E router needs three radios and three bands. Otherwise, they are just N/E routers...

But even with three radios and three bands, consumers can still get hoodwinked. While 2.4GHz may still offer the typical 1, 6, 11 (and 13, in applicable areas) channels, Wi-Fi 5 may only offer only one band (for example). Same as the Wi-Fi 6E radio too. Another way they'll take shortcuts is by doing inane streams/antennae adaptions (aka, like the RT-AX58U, for example), or simply not offer equivalent 4 antennae/4 stream support on each radio/band.

Ideally, I would want an AX+ class, Wi-Fi 6E router that had 4 antennae per radio. Yes, that would be twelve antennae, minimum. And I would want them capable of transmitting/receiving simultaneously too. That will go a long way towards addressing Wi-Fi's greatest weakness right now. Half-duplex mode and everyone else on the AP is waiting while the 'active' radio finishes what it needs to do.

A dual-band/dual-radio Wi-Fi 6E router? That is an oxymoron to me.

 

[iwod]

This past month just for the sake of curiosity I was searching for Wifi 6E adapters and noticed a number of Chinese Wifi client products that were being marketed with a model name/number with "6E" at the end... like AX3006E. Then I noticed that they actually did not support the 6Ghz band. At closer inspection it seemed these were in fact Wifi 6 clients and the "E" seemed to be used as part of the marketing name representing the word "enhanced or extreme" but it had nothing to do with official Wifi 6E with 6Ghz.

This isn't so naming trick like you mention. They actually said WiFi 6E. Launched only a few days ago.

Adding OpenWrt support for Xiaomi AX6000

Xiaomi just released their sucessor to the AX3600, the AX6000. With the main difference being WiFi 6e support and 2.5 Gbit WAN-port. Specs seems to be: Qualcomm IPQ5018 1.0GHz NPU 512MB Any hope on getting OpenWRT support for this unit?

forum.openwrt.org

Xiaomi Mi Router AX6000: a router Wi-Fi 6E service for $92

Xiaomi yesterday introduced not just the Mi 11 smartphone and MIUI 12.5 shell, but its new top-end router. What is known The novelty was termed Xiaomi Mi

gizmonova.com

And as far as I am aware 6Ghz Certification has barely started. There are none in the EU database either given Xiaomi normally launch in EU first. ( Outside of China )

And in this PDF

https://www.wi-fi.org/download.php?file=/sites/default/files/private/Wi-Fi_6E_Highlights_20200423.pdf

WiFi Alliance doesn't explicitly mention 6Ghz is required on 6E. At least that is my interpretation, only WPA3, MU-MIMO, 160Mhz, OFDMA, as that were previously "Optional" in WiFi 6 certification.

That is why this got me wondering, may be 6E doesn't require 6Ghz, at least in places where 6Ghz Spectrum has not officially opened up.

 

[thiggins]

This past month just for the sake of curiosity I was searching for Wifi 6E adapters and noticed a number of Chinese Wifi client products that were being marketed with a model name/number with "6E" at the end... like AX3006E. Then I noticed that they actually did not support the 6Ghz band.

Thanks for the heads-up. Could you please post the make/model #s of the products you found so that anyone who is tempted will be warned off?

 

[thiggins]

@iwod Thanks for your post. I went through the list of Advanced Filters on the Wi-Fi Alliance Product Finder page and in fact did not find 6 GHz operation among them.

I suppose this should not be surprising. The WFA certifies functions, not performance or adherence to RF specs.

So it appears there will be no WiFi 6E certification from the Alliance, just WiFi 6. I will try to verify this with someone from the Alliance and post back.

As with all WiFi Certifications, you need to look into the details on the Certificate to see what has actually been certified.

 

[iwod]

This isn't so naming trick like you mention. They actually said WiFi 6E. Launched only a few days ago.

https://forum.openwrt.org/t/adding-openwrt-support-for-xiaomi-ax6000-wifi-6e/83566

https://gizmonova.com/xiaomi-mi-router-ax6000-a-router-wi-fi-6e-service-for-92/

And as far as I am aware 6Ghz Certification has barely started. There are none in the EU database either given Xiaomi normally launch in EU first.

And in this PDF

[URL ]https://www.wi-fi.org/download.php?...iles/private/Wi-Fi_6E_Highlights_20200423.pdf[/URL]

WiFi Alliance doesn't explicitly mention 6Ghz is required on 6E. At least that is my interpretation, only WPA3, MU-MIMO, 160Mhz, OFDMA, as that were previously "Optional" in WiFi 6 certification.

@iwod Thanks for your post. I went through the list of Advanced Filters on the Wi-Fi Alliance Product Finder page and in fact did not find 6 GHz operation among them.

I suppose this should not be surprising. The WFA certifies functions, not performance or adherence to RF specs.

So it appears there will be no WiFi 6E certification from the Alliance, just WiFi 6. I will try to verify this with someone from the Alliance and post back.

As with all WiFi Certifications, you need to look into the details on the Certificate to see what has actually been certified.

Thank You, I asked the same question in many other places and really no one seems to care. Unfortunately those documents are not publicly available so I couldn't get to the bottom of it. Unlike say USB 4 Spec Sheet

And of course, it could also be Xiaomi just decide to use WiFi 6E terminology anyway, as they are likely not enforceable in China.

 

[ulaganath]

Not to forget the fatter the channel the lesser the range will be 6GH might suffer range though it can boost more bandwidth with limited spatial stream say 1x1 or 2x2 can hit 1-2Gigs .

AD was never famous because the range is mostly line of site even though it can hit 4.6gbps speed which is insane and need 10gig port.

I would like to see mostly next gen routers should have 2.5gbe ports replaced by 1gbe ports and must 10gb RJ45 rather SFP+ . or multigig ports . Only limiting factor is number LAG is still limited to 2 ports and not allowed for entire lan segment and 4 ports is not going to work.

It would be an argument for that one has to go for switch. But then these top end router's cant be called flagship and premium price of 400+ dollars should have everything. its understood entry level skips the multi gig and 3rd band.

 

[SoCalReviews]

Thanks for the heads-up. Could you please post the make/model #s of the products you found so that anyone who is tempted will be warned off?

Many of these used different generic make/model names and can be found at this time if you do a web search for "Wifi 6E adapters". I don't want to imply that all of these are only marketing name rip-offs and don't have some intended legitimacy. It's confusing because from the documentation some of the products I have seen have 6E in the name but appeared not to claim they support 6Ghz... in other words it seemed to only be part of the name for marketing.... and there are other products that claim to be "Intel 6E pre-certified" and claimed they will support 6Ghz but are only 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz dual band right now. They claim they will need a driver update to support 6E in the future.

It is possible that many of these will be supporting 6Ghz in the future but because of language translation problems in their own description documentation they don't properly explain that. They only say they are 2.4Ghz/5Ghz dual band. It's definitely confusing. Maybe someone else can make sense of what some of these products are claiming.

Just to be safe I would recommend getting Wifi 6E adapters from well known vendors at this time. Make sure they do have or will have 2.4Ghz/5Ghz/6Ghz tri-band support and make sure you can return them if they don't support the claims they make in the near future.

There have been similar discussions about the confusion surrounding some of the 6E spec certified adapters in other forums like Reddit, link here... Intel's Wi-Fi 6E AX210 network adapter was certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance early August

 

[thiggins]

Not to forget the fatter the channel the lesser the range will be 6GH might suffer range though it can boost more bandwidth with limited spatial stream say 1x1 or 2x2 can hit 1-2Gigs .

AD was never famous because the range is mostly line of site even though it can hit 4.6gbps speed which is insane and need 10gig port.

There is a big difference between 6E's 6 GHz and 802.11ad's 60 GHz. Yes, 6E will likely have some range reduction. But it will be nowhere near the same room only capability of AD.

 

[thiggins]

Many of these used different generic make/model names and can be found at this time if you do a web search for "Wifi 6E adapters".

I'm sorry, I didn't read your post closely enough. Yes, there are many AX210 adapters. I'm not sure if they are rebrands or knock-offs.

AFAIK the AX210 is the only 6E adapter available, just as the AX200 has been the only AX adapter. The PCIe desktop cards all have it under the hood. There seems to be little appetite for producing USB AX adapters.

When the AX200 came out, we saw a similar situation. The first of them were available only via overseas resellers. Part of the problem is that Intel doesn't sell them directly; everything comes through resellers.

I bought two AX210's from an Amazon reseller a month ago. I haven't fired them up yet since I have no 6E routers in hand...yet. It looks like the real deal, but I'm not a counterfeit expert.

A copy of the AX210's latest Wi-Fi Certificate is below. You can see it makes no mention of 6 GHz.

​

 

[iwod]

Well the good thing about AX210 is Intel specifically list 6Ghz as being supported on its spec page. UnLike some other 6E products.

Product Brief: Intel® Wi-Fi 6E AX210 (Gig+) Module

Product Brief: Learn about the Intel® Wi-Fi 6E AX2 10 (Gig+) adapter. Featuring greater network flexibility, greater speed, and reduced latency.

www.intel.com

 

[C.O.P.S]

The thing I find interesting about it is that they seem to have separated the radios by type. One radio is solely for wifi6e. Unless I'm misunderstanding. What I have noticed is a lot of people complaining that older devices aren't playing nice with the wifi6 features, the recommendations (even from asus) are to disable the wifi6 features. So having the radios separated could be the solution, which would be better than being told you have to disable the very features that were the selling point of the unit.

 

[iwod]

OK, After multiple enquiry, somehow, out of no where Xiaomi decide to remove all mention of WiFI 6E from their AX6000 Router information page. [1] ( Note: In Chinese ) And instead refers it to WiFi 6 "Enhanced" ( In Chinese as well ). So it is no longer "WiFi 6E". ( If you search Xiaomi AX6000 you will still see lots of press release and reference to it as being WiFi 6E )

Not sure if it has anything to do with my enquiry, but I surely would like to take credit for that.

So sorry for the confusion and thanks everyone for the help.


[1] https://www.mi.com/r6000