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AP6 6GHz and the band steering checkbox in Sophos Central

Wayne Folta

The checkbox for an AP6 420E says: "Band steering: Dual-band capable wireless clients will be steered to 5 GHz by default."

Is this just old phrasing, or does it only apply to 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, but not 6 GHz? Or is it no longer necessary with WiFi 6E?

In other words, if I turn it on, will it steer 6GHz-capable clients to 6GHz? Or at least to 5GHz where they'll discover 6GHz? Or is it not necessary with an WiFi6/6E client, and it's a leftover from the Wifi4/5 days?



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[edited by: Wayne Folta at 2:11 PM (GMT -7) on 26 Sep 2024]
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  • 0

    Hi  ,

    Thank you for reaching out to the community, Only devices that support WiFi 6E can connect to the 6 GHz WiFi, devices that only support WiFi 6 can only use 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi.23

    Thanks & Regards,
    _______________________________________________________________

    Vivek Jagad | Team Lead, Global Support & Services 

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  • 0 in reply to Vivek Jagad

    Yes, I get that part. The purpose of band steering, as I understand it, is to push devices towards the higher-speed band, when they are capable of both. This has historically been from 2.4GHz to 5GHz -- obviously only if the client supports 5GHz, and a client can push past the steering and insist on 2.4GHz operation if it wants (even if it's capable of 5GHz operation).

    I was just wondering how this works in the Wifi 6E world of the 420E. Is it no longer operable? Does it only steer from 2.4GHz to 5GHz? Surely it wouldn't push 6GHz down to 5GHz, right? But would it steer 5GHz to 6GHz (assuming the client is capable of both)? I think I've read that there's some provision in the standards for clients to find Wifi 6E APs on the 5GHz band and then jump up to the 6GHz band, since the 6GHz space so large. (But this is not traditional band steering, which is more of a trick.)

    Just saw the setting and it's phrased as old-school Wifi 5 and was wondering.

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  • 0 in reply to Vivek Jagad

    Yes, I get that part. The purpose of band steering, as I understand it, is to push devices towards the higher-speed band, when they are capable of both. This has historically been from 2.4GHz to 5GHz -- obviously only if the client supports 5GHz, and a client can push past the steering and insist on 2.4GHz operation if it wants (even if it's capable of 5GHz operation).

    I was just wondering how this works in the Wifi 6E world of the 420E. Is it no longer operable? Does it only steer from 2.4GHz to 5GHz? Surely it wouldn't push 6GHz down to 5GHz, right? But would it steer 5GHz to 6GHz (assuming the client is capable of both)? I think I've read that there's some provision in the standards for clients to find Wifi 6E APs on the 5GHz band and then jump up to the 6GHz band, since the 6GHz space so large. (But this is not traditional band steering, which is more of a trick.)

    Just saw the setting and it's phrased as old-school Wifi 5 and was wondering.

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