Mesh with 6 GHz backhaul?

[Chippy_boy]

Hi folks

I have a bit of a problem in that my Asus XT8 mesh system (wireless backhaul) is not playing nicely with my new Sony HT-A9 home theater system which uses 5Ghz WiFi for communication between the speakers. I have tried forcing the XT8s to different channels but this doesn't seem to help and usually ends up with my backhaul dropping back to 2.4GHz, i.e. a disaster.

It occurred to me that a WiFi 6E 6GHz backhaul would completely fix this, leaving the Sony kit free to do its thing without interference.

Can anyone recommend any 6E mesh systems? I guess Asus could be an option bu if I go this route, it's likely to cost a grand or more for 3 or 4 units so I would like to consider all options.

Unfortunately wired backhaul is just not an option and I don't think power line would work either.

 

[tgl]

Well, ASUS' ET8 is exactly like the XT8 except the third (backhaul) radio is 6GHz not 5GHz. So if you prefer the devil you know to the devil you don't, that seems like the obvious choice for you. I doubt you're going to find any bottom-dollar 6E gear yet, so this is going to be a pricey exercise in any case.

My advice: hire a professional electrician to find a way to run wired backhaul for you. It'll likely cost around the same amount, and you will be enormously better off.

 

[Tech Junky]

For a grand you have options. It just depends on how you do things. You could go wired which is the best option. You go actual APs and tie them together over WiFi like the Netgear ones that run $360/ea. The cheapest option would be to hardwire the HT system.

 

[Chippy_boy]

Well, ASUS' ET8 is exactly like the XT8 except the third (backhaul) radio is 6GHz not 5GHz. So if you prefer the devil you know to the devil you don't, that seems like the obvious choice for you. I doubt you're going to find any bottom-dollar 6E gear yet, so this is going to be a pricey exercise in any case.

My advice: hire a professional electrician to find a way to run wired backhaul for you. It'll likely cost around the same amount, and you will be enormously better off.

Thanks - yes, the ET8 is the obvious option.

Regards the wired backhaul, unfortunately it really is not a option at all. We've recently spent $$$ on having the lounge decorated and it is immaculate without a wire in sight. There's no way on this God's earth the Mrs would sanction carving up the wallpaper or carpet or indeed anything else, to get an ethernet cable across the room to where the Sky Q box is. And wireless has been working flawlessly for 1 year plus... until Saturday :-(

 

[Tech Junky]

carving up the wallpaper or carpet or indeed anything else

Put the cabling in the 5th wall.

 

[Chippy_boy]

Put the cabling in the 5th wall.

Not really sure what that means

 

[Chippy_boy]

For a grand you have options. It just depends on how you do things. You could go wired which is the best option. You go actual APs and tie them together over WiFi like the Netgear ones that run $360/ea. The cheapest option would be to hardwire the HT system.

Thanks. The problem is my ISP's modem (Virgin Media) is in the office. My Sky Q main box is in the lounge on the other side of the large-ish house. The Sky Q box needs a decent network connection so it can stream content to various Sky Q mini boxes all around the house. I cannot move the Sky Q box to the office (obviously) and I cannot move the router to the lounge either. And running a cable between the two would be extremely difficult, disruptive and costly with the work and re-decorating required.

Everything has worked perfectly for over a year. I have multiple TVs on Sky Q mini boxes in other rooms, all connected with short ethernet cables to either XT8 mesh modes, or wireless access points. It's been great - I have great WiFi speeds (500 mbit+) in every room and the TVs are rock solid with never a glitch. I don't ever have to reboot, it just works (providing I don't switch firmware too often!)

 

[thiggins]

Is this really a problem? 5 GHz should have plenty of bandwidth to accommodate low bitrate audio in addition to other traffic.

Do the speakers really use Wi-Fi? If yes, do they need to be connected to the network or do they have their own connection?

 

[Chippy_boy]

Is this really a problem? 5 GHz should have plenty of bandwidth to accommodate low bitrate audio in addition to other traffic.

Do the speakers really use Wi-Fi? If yes, do they need to be connected to the network or do they have their own connection?

Well, it's a problem at the moment until I can fiddle about with it some more to get it working reliably. To be honest I am not sure whether the speakers use WiFi specifically (I think they do) but they certainly communicate at 5 GHz radio frequency and can (automatically) set themselves to different "channels", so it would seem like it. They do not need to connect to my WiFi however - they just do their own thing. You plug them in, turn them on and it 2 seconds the green light comes on saying they are connected to the mother ship. There's no fiddling about with WPA2 or passwords or anything though - it's all automatic.

 

[thiggins]

From some searching, it looks like it is using Wi-Fi.

You're not alone. There is a long AVSForum thread about the Sony system. The search below takes you to some specific pages.

Sony HT-A9 5 Ghz interference avsforum - Google Suche

Switching to 6 GHz for backhaul may not solve your problem since your other devices use 5 GHz. It could be the traffic to the Sky Q mini box is the culprit if you do not have a mesh node near where the Sony is. You could try getting a longer HDMI cable and moving the Sky Q box. Or at least make sure it is not sitting right next to any of the speakers.

I know this doesn't help, but you probably would have been better off using a speaker system that connected via Bluetooth.

 

[Tech Junky]

Not really sure what that means

Ceiling.

 

[Chippy_boy]

From some searching, it looks like it is using Wi-Fi.

You're not alone. There is a long AVSForum thread about the Sony system. The search below takes you to some specific pages.

Sony HT-A9 5 Ghz interference avsforum - Google Suche

Switching to 6 GHz for backhaul may not solve your problem since your other devices use 5 GHz. It could be the traffic to the Sky Q mini box is the culprit if you do not have a mesh node near where the Sony is. You could try getting a longer HDMI cable and moving the Sky Q box. Or at least make sure it is not sitting right next to any of the speakers.

I know this doesn't help, but you probably would have been better off using a speaker system that connected via Bluetooth.

Thanks for your input.

To clarify though, I don't use WiFi for the Sky Q or Sky Q mini boxes, i.e. I don't use their own WiFi. My Sky Q main box and most of the Sky Q minis are connected via ethernet, to local XT8 mesh nodes. So there's no WiFi coming out of the Sky kit - I have it switched off in the setup menus.

The interference is definitely from my 5GHz backhaul. I know this because if the XT8 drops back to 2.4 GHz backhaul when I mess with channel numbers, the interference vanishes.

And regards Bluetooth speakers, absolutely, but sadly the HT-A9 uses WiFi and that's the system I wanted. I am sure there's a solution, I just need to figure out how. Seems that close proximity to the XT8 (rather than 5GHz channel congestion) is the biggest issue.

 

[Chippy_boy]

Ceiling.

I see, thanks. Wires dangling from the ceiling doesn't sound very appealing to be honest. Unless we're back to chiselling plaster and re-decorating again, i.e. square one.

 

[Tech Junky]

You put the APs on the ceiling.

 

[ColinTaylor]

@Chippy_boy Have you seen this discussion:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Soundbars/comments/vop7sv

It looks like you can use a normal WiFi scanner app to determine which channel(s) the Sony is using and then set your XT8s to use a different channel. The interesting part was reference to a setting on the Sony called "RF Channel".

HT-A9 | Help Guide | [Speaker Settings]

• [RF Channel]
  You can minimize interference with other wireless devices.
  [On]: Normally select this. The speaker system automatically selects the better channel for transmission. This is the stronger mode for wireless interference.
  [Off]: The speaker system selects a channel from the limited frequency band to prevent external wireless interference. If sound dropping occurs while [On] is selected, it may be improved by selecting [Off].

 

[Chippy_boy]

You put the APs on the ceiling.

Won't work. Sky Q boxes will not connect to third party WiFi networks - they need ethernet, or their own WiFi.

 

[Chippy_boy]

BTW, I have since managed to bump the HT-A9 onto channel 149, which is well away from my 80Mhz bandwidth 5GHz backhaul and also front haul. But the front right speaker is still prone to dropouts and breakup. It seems to be VERY dependent upon how close it is to my XT8. If I move it a foot further away, it's MUCH better, almost perfect. But unfortunately I am very limited in possible locations for the XT8. I'm going to have to experiment and see what works best.

Thanks everyone