Getting started with 6GHz

Contents

Objective

Requirements

Introduction

Configuration for 6GHz SSID

Instructions for Some Key Features

Security Mode

Fast Roaming

Mesh

Tips for Common Connection Issues

Conclusion

FAQ

Objective

This article describes how to configure the 6GHz SSID for Omada APs, as well as tip instructions for Security Mode / Fast Roaming / Mesh functions. Some suggestions are also provided to help us deal with a few common connection anomalies.

Requirements

• Omada AP
• Omada Controller (Software Controller / Hardware Controller / CBC)
• WiFi6E/WiFi7 clients

Introduction

The traditional 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands have become extremely congested as the use of wireless devices surges worldwide. Meanwhile, emerging technologies such as VR/AR, 4K/8K video streaming, cloud gaming and cloud computing have elevated the requirements for wireless network, demanding higher transmission rates, lower latency, increased concurrency, enhanced network security, and improved energy efficiency. To address these challenges, the WiFi6E standard introduces 6GHz band for the first time, aiming to optimize network performance, reduce interference, and alleviate congestion. Furthermore, the WiFi7 standard significantly boosts the theoretical maximum speed form 9.6Gbps in WiFi6 to 46Gbps through advanced features like 4096QAM / 320MHz bandwidth / up to 16 spatial streams, etc., thereby greatly enhancing network throughout and shortening latency.

The 6GHz band is a globally unified block of contiguous spectrum that extends from 5925MHz to 7125MHz, doubling the total bandwidth compared to 2.4GHz+5GHz and totaling 1200MHz of available spectrum resources. The introduction of the 6GHz band provides more channel choices, including 3 channels of 320MHz, 7 channels of 160MHz, 14 channels of 80MHz, 29 channels of 40MHz or 59 channels of 20MHz, which greatly alleviates the current shortage of WiFi spectrum resources.

Currently, Omada AP has several products that support 6GHz, the following takes EAP783 as an example to briefly introduce how to create a 6GHz SSID on Omada Controller and tip instructions for some key functions when using 6GHz WiFi. Meanwhile, some suggestions are also provided to help carry out the simple troubleshooting about connection issues.

Configuration for 6GHz SSID

Step1. Log in Controller, go to site’s Settings > Wireless Network > WLAN to click Create New Wireless Network or select an existing SSID, the former is chosen as an example in this article.

Step2. Custom the Network Name (SSID), enable 6GHz in Band, and then complete the Security / Security Key or click Advanced Settings to carry out the other configurations according to your own needs. Finally, click Apply Button at the bottom of this page.

Step3 (Optional). Click the EAP783 to open its property window on Devices page, go to Config > Advanced > 6GHz to enable Non-PSC Channel.

Note:

• For a new SSID configured with only 6GHz: there are three security mode that can be configured, which are Enhanced Open / WPA-Personal / WPA-Enterprise. In addition, only WPA3-SAE is supported for WPA-Personal, only WPA3-Enterprise is supported by WPA-Enterprise.
• For an existing SSID configured with 2.4GHz/5GHz: If Security is selected WPA-Personal, when 6GHz is ticked, it will be automatically changed to WPA2-PSK/WPA3-SAE regardless of which WPA mode was previously selected. If security is selected WPA-Enterprise, it will be automatically changed to WPA3-Enterprise regardless of which WPA mode was previously selected when 6GHz is ticked.
• Preferred scanning channels (PSCs) are a group of WiFi channels that are prioritized within the 6 GHz WiFi band. Instead of scanning the entire 6 GHz spectrum for an optimal channel, 6 GHz WiFi devices scan PSCs for efficient connectivity. Setting your AP to work on a PSC channel can improve device connectivity.

Instructions for Some Key Features

Security Mode

• Currently, 6GHz SSID only supports Enhanced Open / WPA3-SAE / WPA3-Enterprise security modes, not PPSK / WPA-PSK / WPA2-PSK / WPA-Enterprise / WPA2-Enterprise;
• When WPA3-SAE and WPA3-Enterprise are selected, the PMF will be set to Mandatory and no change is allowed.

Fast Roaming

• Currently, Omada APs only support same-band Fast Roaming and 2.4GHz to 5GHz one-way cross-band Fast Roaming, but not 2.4GHz to 6GHz and 5GHz to 6GHz cross-band Fast Roaming.
• Some clients associated with 6GHz WiFi will not roam even when the received signal strength is weak. For this kind of "sticky clients", it’s necessary to configure RSSI Threshold and Non-Stick Roaming to force the AP to disconnect from them, so that these wireless clients can re-associate with other APs to get a stronger signal.

Mesh

• Omada APs support to establish a mesh network via 5GHz and 6GHz band. When a pair of APs supporting both 5GHz and 6GHz are meshed, the mesh algorithm will decide the frequency bands to be grouped together by itself, i.e., it will prioritize the band with better performance for mesh networking. If we want to force these two APs to be meshed in 5GHz band, we need to make sure that the performance of 6GHz band is lower than 5GHz, for example, set the bandwidth of 6GHz to 20MHz and so on.
• Currently, Omada APs don’t support establish mesh network in Non-PSC channel of 6GHz, i.e., when the Root AP works in 6GHz’s Non-PSC channel, the Mesh AP will not be able to mesh with the Root AP in 6GHz band.

Tips for Common Connection Issues

• For some clients, they will not be able to connect to a SSID with WPA2 encryption if they connected to it with WPA3 encryption before, unless they manually delete/forget that SSID on the client side and re-associate with the SSID. Since 6GHz only supports WPA3 and Enhanced Open, but not WPA and WPA2, to avoid this problem and degrade the client's wireless network experience, please create different SSIDs for 2.4GHz/5GHz and 6GHz as much as possible.
• Some legacy clients or IOT devices do not support WPA3 or PMF (Protect Management Frames), even if PMF is set to Disable or Capable in Controller, they still cannot connect to the relevant SSID. For this case, please create a separate SSID (with 6GHz turned off and WPA3 not set) for them.
• Compared with 2.4GHz/5GHz, 6GHz band has weaker ability to penetrate wall and smaller wireless coverage area. Under the premise of ensuring the normal use of 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks, we need to shorten the deployment distance of neighboring APs as much as possible to ensure that 6GHz clients have strong enough signal reception strength and better network experience.
• When the client cannot discover the 6GHz SSID, please check whether SSID Broadcast is enabled, whether the client supports 6GHz band, and whether the AP is working in Non-PSC channel. Some clients may not discover 6GHz networks using Non-PSC channels.

Conclusion

The above content is the brief configuration guide for Omada AP's 6GHz SSID and a few instructions of some key functions, when your client encountered some connection issues when associating with the 6GHz WiFi, please refer to this document to help you carry out the simple troubleshooting.

Get to know more details of each function and configuration please go to Download Center to download the manual of your product.

FAQ

Why can't I set the 6GHz radio to work on channel1-channel29?

Re. 6GHz channel 1-channel 29 and 5G band4 channels are close to each other in spectrum, when two radios work on these channels at the same time, the interference between them will be more serious. With the development of the technology, it is possible to support these channels in the future, please pay attention to the firmware update of the related models on the TP-Link official website, and the related changes will be introduced in the release note.