WiFi 6 indicator behavior on phone

[dscline]

I just recently got my first WiFi 6 router (RT-AX68 used as an access point). Since then, I've noticed a little 6 next to the WiFi symbol on my phone (Samsung S20U). Strangely though, it seems to be there even when I at least think I'm connected to one of my older AC routers. All of my access points share the same SSID and password on the 5ghz band. Therefore I can't tell from my phone's native wifi manager which AP I'm connected to. I've been relying on the Access Point view in WiFi Analyzer to know which one I'm connected to. In the attached screenshot, it shows me connected to the AP on Ch 161,which is my RT-AC68 router, yet the "6" is shown on my phone's panel. The AX router is the one on Ch 48. Is the "connected" indicator in WiFi analyzer not to be trusted, or does anyone know if that 6 just shows up if there is is one in range, even if not connected?

 

[L&LD]

With a single SSID, it is only remembering the capabilities of the RT-AX68U (possibly because you first connected to it).

It can't know that that same SSID doesn't have that hardware capability with all your network equipment though.

 

[dscline]

With a single SSID, it is only remembering the capabilities of the RT-AX68U (possibly because you first connected to it).

An interesting side note... I just got a new phone, and in the initial step of choosing a network to connect to, it showed the little "6" next to the HardeeNET entry. I was in the same room as I was when I took the screenshot above. It SHOULD have chosen the AC router on ch 161, as that is in the same room, not the AX router that is the furthest away of the three. Once I got all my apps installed, checked WiFi Analyzer, and it indicated it was connected to the correct (closest) AC router. So it SEEMS to just show the 6 as long as there is a wifi AP within that SSID group. At some point I might get curious enough to see if I can get far enough away from the AX router, but still in range of the AC router, to see what it does.

 

[intr0]

Also remember that "WiFi 6" includes WPA3 for enhanced wireless security, which, even many mobile devices - Apple in my personal experience; I assume Android devices such as your own do as well - released 3+ years ago (judging from an iPad 6th gen bought used at the time) that have no AX support do support WPA3 thanks to iOS14+. I am mindful of security features such as WPA3; if it's of lesser import to yourself, I apologize for wasting your time & please ignore / delete this post if need be.

 

[dscline]

Also remember that "WiFi 6" includes WPA3...

I haven't set these up for WPA3. I've read other posts (but haven't confirmed myself) that WPA3 can induce some delays when roaming from one AP to another. Improving roaming has been one of the driving factors behind the changes I've been making lately. We're both working from home these days, and live in a poor cell signal spot, so we rely a lot of WiFi calling. I've had some issues when talking and walking around the house, so that's my area of focus right now. Once I have a good baseline, I can experiment with WPA3 to see if it doesn't introduce any issues.