Standard Power & 2 New Hardware Ver for BE98 Pro

[jixiangyuan]

It seems that ASUS plans to add automatic frequency coordination (AFC) to the BE98 Pro to achieve standard power via a future firmware update.

There are also two new hardware versions, V2.5 and V2.7, with V2.7 adding a Barometric pressure sensor to the router, not sure what the purpose of this is.

Source: https://fccid.io/MSQ-RTBE6M00/Letter/C2PC-Letter-7445487

 

[Volt]

... with V2.7 adding a Barometric pressure sensor to the router, not sure what the purpose of this is.

Looks like a barometric sensor is used by AFC for elevation determination. For example, the Qualcomm site states the following: "Qualcomm AFC Geolocation Service offers a cloud-based barometric/pressure sensor calibration service and 3D buildings database-based elevation determination."

Who would have thought that the day would come when Wi-Fi routers would be equipped with barometers!

 

[Poseidon]

Just ordered the BE98 Pro from Best Buy. Arriving tomorrow.

Is there a way to get the latest v2.7 hardware version if an older one is shipped out instead? Can Best Buy locate routers with specific hardware versions?

 

[jixiangyuan]

Looks like a barometric sensor is used by AFC for elevation determination. For example, the Qualcomm site states the following: "Qualcomm AFC Geolocation Service offers a cloud-based barometric/pressure sensor calibration service and 3D buildings database-based elevation determination."

Who would have thought that the day would come when Wi-Fi routers would be equipped with barometers!

But I don’t think barometers are compulsory to achieve AFC, as ASUS (or at least one of their staff) promised to bring AFC to all their existing Wi-Fi 7 routers.

Also, I thought you only need planar coordination information to compare with the database to get AFC. I’m not sure how the elevation information is useful. Could you not get standard power at the same location but at different heights?

 

[jixiangyuan]

Just ordered the BE98 Pro from Best Buy. Arriving tomorrow.

Is there a way to get the latest v2.7 hardware version if an older one is shipped out instead? Can Best Buy locate routers with specific hardware versions?

Don’t think so. I don’t think V2.5 or V2.7 is on the market yet. You can find the hardware version on the outside of the box and on the label on the router. You might want to go to a store and buy it there.

 

[Poseidon]

BE98 Pro arrived today. Hardware version 2.0 (manufactured date of 2024). I assume this is the most current/latest version?

 

[SmileySince1993]

But I don’t think barometers are compulsory to achieve AFC, as ASUS (or at least one of their staff) promised to bring AFC to all their existing Wi-Fi 7 routers.

Also, I thought you only need planar coordination information to compare with the database to get AFC. I’m not sure how the elevation information is useful. Could you not get standard power at the same location but at different heights?

Maybe not compulsory to achieve AFC, but it might improve the result/accuracy, especially for buildings with several floors?

Anyhow, it appears that FCC has this as a requirement for some reason. (I have not read through the actual whitepaper from Bosch (yet), but I was intrigued by the info in this thread about barometric pressure sensor added to the GT-BE98 Pro router, and did a bit of research and stumbled over this link/documentation, see link below.)

From the link :

"Whether at home, in the office, or on the go, we rely on Wi-Fi to connect devices wirelessly in countless places. Wi-Fi 6E/7 has been adopted by many countries to reduce the growing demand for congestion, improve bandwidth and increase speed. Wi-Fi 6E/7 providers are required by FCC regulation FCC-20-51 to report to the AFCs the height above ground of Wi-Fi APs operating at the higher SP power level and in 6 GHz spectrum. For access point installers and system operators, a solution that provides an automated method for recording the vertical location of access points is needed to meet the FCC requirement in a cost-effective manner. One way to address this challenge is to use a barometric pressure-based solution that is able to provide the exact value of the height above the ground for each Wi-Fi AP. Learn more about how our sensing solutions BMP581 and BMP580 can be used for this use case and download the whitepaper presented by NextNav and Bosch Sensortec."

Link to Bosch whitepaper description : https://www.bosch-sensortec.com/white-paper-vertical-location-service.html

That said : I don´t know anything about what kind of sensor that Asus will but into their products, it might be from another vendor than Bosch!

Wbr Smiley

 

[RMerlin]

That said : I don´t know anything about what kind of sensor that Asus will but into their products, it might be from another vendor than Bosch!

ICP-20100, if plans haven't changed.