@maclighter 

 

Hi,

 

If there are two walls in between, then transmit power is important.

 

Can you please tell us if your AXE75 is a US version or an EU version (or any other version) and what channel number is used on the 5 Ghz band?

 

 

  @woozle it's an EU verision.

 

2.4 Channel 8

5 & 6 GHz Auto

 

I checked with WiFi Analyser on Windows and it showed no competing channels in the area.

  @maclighter 

 

Here is a short explanation why the channel number in the 5 GHz band is important.

 

European (EU) regulators have limited the maximum mean equivalent isotropically radiated power (short E.I.R.P) for the 6 GHz Wi-Fi band to 200 mW (23 dBm).

The 5 GHz band is split into different segments. For channels 36 to 64 the maximum EIRP is limited to 200 mW as well, but in the segment of channels 100 to 140 the maximum EIRP is a whopping 1000 mW (30 dBm).

 

Therefore, if you'd like to compare the router's performance in the 5 GHz band vs. the 6 GHz band and through walls, then you need to verify that the router's 5 GHz Wi-Fi is broadcasting on channels 36 to 64, as otherwise it would be a rather unfair comparison. Best would be to set a channel manually, because if left on the "Auto" setting the router could potentially change the channel at any time.

  @maclighter 

 

1. The WiFi signal strength of 5GHz and 6GHz you said before is not so good. As you can see at 

 

-67 dBm	Very Good	Minimum signal strength for applications that require very reliable, timely delivery of data packets.	VoIP/VoWi-Fi, streaming video
-70 dBm	Okay	Minimum signal strength for reliable packet delivery.	Email, web
-80 dBm	Not Good	Minimum signal strength for basic connectivity. Packet delivery may be unreliable.	N/A

 

2. When traversing a certain distance or great walls of a certain thickness, the attenuation of WiFi signal: 6Ghz > 5Ghz > 2.4GHz.

So maybe your devices are too far from the router or there is a block between the devices and the router. Make sure you are testing the signal in a place not too far from the router.

 

3. There is a powerful tool named "inSSIDer" for PC that can help you figure out which channels are free, so you can change to that channel as an attempt. In the mobile phones, you can choose another tool named "WiFi Analyzer" with the same function. If you would provide some screenshots of alike tools, I am willing to help.

  @Dooooo OK so I did some homework following your comments.

I removed the antenna extension and placed the antenna on the back of the PC. Surprisingly this improved the signal. I had used those cables, knowing there was a loss per metre, but it got the aerials out of the cable mess around the PC. On pondering this, I'm guessing the short cables increased the transmission distance and actually put more metalwork in the way of the signal, plus the inherent cable loss. 

 

@woozle I set fixed channels, no overlap with other Wifi in my vicinity. I'm not sure it improved anything as only 2.4GHz was overlapping with another router. Both 5 & 6GHz can only use CH 36-64.

 

So now I get in comparison: -

Freq	CH	dB	Download	Upload	CH	dB	Download	Upload
2.4GHz	8	-65	30	28	9	-53	24	27
5Ghz	Auto	-75	320	67	48	-66	212	38
6Ghz	Auto	-78	143	68	69 PSC	-62	110	68

Note speeds vary with time of day, but I think it's clear there is still a drop off in 6GHz compared to 5GHz.

 

Whilst I have all my PC stuff in the same room and my printer too there are no crazy things like Microwaves either close to the PC or router or in between.

Here's a screen shot from Wifi Analyzer:-

 

 

What channel width are you using? 20Mhz or 40MHz or 80MHz ...? Perhaps you could check it.

  @Dooooo 

Device manager for the AXE5400 PCI-e is set to Auto for each Channel. It has options for each to set 20MHz only.

 

Router shows: -

2.4GHz 20/40MHz, other options for 20 or 40

 

5GHz 20/40/80/160 MHz, other options for 20, 20/40, 20/40/80

6GHz 20/40/80/160 MHz, other options for 20/40/80

 

 

  @maclighter 

 

I agree that the performance of the 6 GHz Wi-Fi and the 5 GHz Wi-Fi (using channels 36-64) should be rather similar.

 

The setting "20/40/80/160 MHz" just means that the router will switch between those four channel widths as it pleases.

 

Is there a way to have the "WiFi Analyzer" you are using to display the channel width currently used by the router? Or does the webGUI of the AXE75 somewhere display the currently used channel width? 
If not, can you check with another Wi-Fi scanner or analyzer that does display this information?

 

And thanks for the hint about the AXE75 only supporting the 5 GHz channels 36 to 64. I was considering to get this model a while ago, but now knowing this I am happy that I held back.

 

  @maclighter 

According the picture you provided at the bottom, is your WiFi named BT-P8CP96? If so, do you directly connect your device to your BT-P8CP96_6G WiFi to get 6G signal? 

 

And the picture below shows the 6G channel is 0, quite abnormal. The 6G channel range can be found in https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels at the 6GHz section. 36 or 64 are also impossible.

 

The first picture you provided is the 2.4GHz situation. Is there 5GHz and 6GHz situation? 

 

As your concern to 6GHz download speed, the download speed depends on not only the router but device's capability. The download speed is proportional to the number of antennas in the device. 

  @Dooooo 

My router is set for 6G to be Channel 69 with PSC turned on (Router interface says "When PSC (Preferred Scanning Channel) is enabled, only channels with higher connectivity will be reserved to ensure 6GHz device connections.")

Yes my Wifi is the BT number, left over from the previous BT Router, I have three separate channels set up for 2.4/5/6 GHz to avoid smart devices splitting across 2.4/5G making a smart home inoperable.

Yes I have to specifically select 6G to join.

Wifi Analyser says 6G is Channel 0 whatever I select in the Router for the 6G channel.

 

Yes there is a separate graph for 5GHz, below. Connecting to 6GHz gives the same graph and Wifi analyser says the API can't deal with bandwidth due to some limitation.

 

2 Antennas in my PCI-e card.