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Axe11000 and ax11000 aimesh

unitedflow
Level 7
I have a question and was hoping I can get some help. So I'm using the axe11000 and ax11000 in aimesh. Axe11000 is the main and ax11000 is the node with ethernet backhaul. I understand that I lose the 5ghz-2 band for backhaul but in my wireless devices I see a 6ghz band that I'm able to connect to with my Samsung note 20 ultra and my quest 2. When I connect with my note 20 ultra on Verizon it says the band is unprotected(in Verizon protection app). And the second concern is I thought the note 20 and quest 2 even though they're wifi 6 and not 6e I'm still able to connect to the 6ghz(6e) band. Any thoughts on these two concerns would be appreciated.
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10 REPLIES 10

Saltgrass
Level 13
If you have the latest firmware update for the AXE11000, you should be able to run the 6 GHz radio with the WPA-3 security.

There is a setting to use Ethernet Backhaul only.
Maximus Z790 Hero,
Intel i9-13900k
Intel BE200

Saltgrass wrote:
If you have the latest firmware update for the AXE11000, you should be able to run the 6 GHz radio with the WPA-3 security.

There is a setting to use Ethernet Backhaul only.
so me being able to connect to the 6ghz with my note 20 and quest 2 even though they're not wifi 6e isn't a mistake? Are those devices using 5ghz on the 6ghz band? Sorry I'm not very technical with networking. And yes I'm running thr latest firmware and I have ethernet backhaul enabled. Thx!

Saltgrass
Level 13
If your phones do not have 6e then they cannot connect to a 6 GHz radio. It gets confusing but one thing you might notice is the AXE11000 does not treat the 6 GHz radio the way the others are treated. Certain info sections incorrectly define it or only show 2.4 and 5 as the AX11000 does. The attachment shows one place but there are others.

89446
Maximus Z790 Hero,
Intel i9-13900k
Intel BE200

Saltgrass wrote:
If your phones do not have 6e then they cannot connect to a 6 GHz radio. It gets confusing but one thing you might notice is the AXE11000 does not treat the 6 GHz radio the way the others are treated. Certain info sections incorrectly define it or only show 2.4 and 5 as the AX11000 does. The attachment shows one place but there are others.

89446
My available wifi bands in my phone and quest 2 to connect to shows (power is the name od my wifi, power(2.4), power 5g, and power 6(which I'm assuming is 6ghz). I can connect to all those wifi bands from my note 20 ultra, and I connected to power 6 on my quest 2. Something is odd.

Saltgrass
Level 13
Everything mentioned below was because of the Mesh node Backhaul Ethernet which could still see the networks even though the radio was turned off. Now that I have turned off the mesh node, my iPhone can no longer see the 6 GHz network...
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I am still trying to understand this so I have been comparing what my systems are showing. I can see the 6 GHz SSID on one system but cannot connect to it. So, if an SSID is being broadcast, you can see it.

On Cell phones, in this forum there is an example of a phone connected to the 6 GHz network and there was a special icon that showed up when you were actually using that radio. You probably don't see any such icon but just the SSID. I will try to find that thread, it was several months ago.

I am on my iPhone and it is currently showing me connected to the 6 GHz radio. Since this phone is also not 6 GHz capable, I have to assume the SSID is being accessed through the 5 GHz radio.. I just changed all my passwords for each band and the iPhone still show connected to 6 GHz even when using the new password...

I just don't know. The iPhone does not show connection properties related to Wi-Fi Band.. I am going to order a Wi-Fi analyzer that might help clear some of this up..
If you have a Mesh node, it really confuses things because you can disable the Wireless on the router and still see the networks through the Backhaul..
Maximus Z790 Hero,
Intel i9-13900k
Intel BE200

TechGuy42
Level 9
unitedflow wrote:
I have a question and was hoping I can get some help. So I'm using the axe11000 and ax11000 in aimesh. Axe11000 is the main and ax11000 is the node with ethernet backhaul. I understand that I lose the 5ghz-2 band for backhaul but in my wireless devices I see a 6ghz band that I'm able to connect to with my Samsung note 20 ultra and my quest 2. When I connect with my note 20 ultra on Verizon it says the band is unprotected(in Verizon protection app). And the second concern is I thought the note 20 and quest 2 even though they're wifi 6 and not 6e I'm still able to connect to the 6ghz(6e) band. Any thoughts on these two concerns would be appreciated.


This sounds EXACTLY like my issue here and here...

To troubleshoot; set all three bands to different SSIDs; for example 2.4GHz name it "FBI VAN" ... then 5GHz name it "CIA VAN" ... then 6GHz name it "DEA VAN" or whatever you want to name them, just make sure they all have different names so you know which one is 2.4, which is 5, and which is 6

Once you do this, I suspect that your non 6e devices will no longer see the 6GHz but will see the name as an open network broadcasting from 5GHz

Please let me know because I'm working with ASUS to troubleshoot the same issue

TechGuy42 wrote:
This sounds EXACTLY like my issue here and here...

To troubleshoot; set all three bands to different SSIDs; for example 2.4GHz name it "FBI VAN" ... then 5GHz name it "CIA VAN" ... then 6GHz name it "DEA VAN" or whatever you want to name them, just make sure they all have different names so you know which one is 2.4, which is 5, and which is 6

Once you do this, I suspect that your non 6e devices will no longer see the 6GHz but will see the name as an open network broadcasting from 5GHz

Please let me know because I'm working with ASUS to troubleshoot the same issue

I'll try tomorrow. And what are you using to see the 5ghz open network? On the wifi analyzer app it shows the 6ghz as open which is weird(I need a password to connect to it), but on the wifiman app it shows that band as locked(closed padlock).

unitedflow wrote:
I'll try tomorrow. And what are you using to see the 5ghz open network? On the wifi analyzer app it shows the 6ghz as open which is weird(I need a password to connect to it), but on the wifiman app it shows that band as locked(closed padlock).


I can see the open network on any device i want; old cell phones, laptops, tablets, and new cell phones too, including wifi analyzer app

The thing is, I dont have any wifi 6e devices so I've turned off the wifi 6 radio entirely. As far as I understand, wifi 6 is actually broadcasted from the 5GHz radio (while wifi 6e is whats actually using the 6GHz radio). This is the reason for making 3 separate SSIDs (one for each radio) so you can actually see whether or not you're picking up wifi 6e from the mesh node.

Whats happening is the AXE is misconfiguring the mesh nodes and somehow trying to use the 6GHz settings for the 5GHz radio on the node... problem is, the node has no 6GHz radio so it gets confused and broadcasts an open network that should be secured.

I've mentioned that this is quite the security flaw because I cant imagine how many others like us are using mesh but unlike us have not noticed the open network. That open network gives full access to the rest of the network, for example; if someone parked outside or one of your neighbors wanted to look at your computers or any files open to the network, they can see and even control devices as if they were given the WPA2 passwords

Unfortunately I've been going back and forth with ASUS support for weeks. Each time, someone new responds telling me they are escalating the issue or send some copy and pasted response that addresses nothing of my issues which makes it obvious they havent even read the feedback I sent.

Edit for clarification; your node client AX11000 does not have a 6GHz radio:
2.4GHz AX: 4x4 (Tx/Rx) 1024 QAM 20/40MHz, up to 1148Mbps
5G-1Hz AX: 4x4 (Tx/Rx) 1024 QAM 20/40/80/160MHz, up to 4804Mbps
5G-2Hz AX: 4x4 (Tx/Rx) 1024 QAM 20/40/80/160MHz, up to 4804Mbps

This confirms the node cannot possibly broadcast the 6GHz settings and thus the security risk

TechGuy42 wrote:
I can see the open network on any device i want; old cell phones, laptops, tablets, and new cell phones too, including wifi analyzer app

The thing is, I dont have any wifi 6e devices so I've turned off the wifi 6 radio entirely. As far as I understand, wifi 6 is actually broadcasted from the 5GHz radio. This is why i suggested making 3 separate SSIDs (one for each radio) so you can actually see wether or not you're picking up wifi 6 from the mesh node.

Whats happening is the AXE is misconfiguring the mesh nodes and somehow trying to use the 6GHz settings for the 5GHz radio on the node... problem is, the node has no 6GHz radio so it gets confused and broadcasts an open network that should be secured.

I've mentioned that this is quite the security flaw because I cant imagine how many others like us are using mesh but unlike us have not noticed the open network. That open network gives full access to the rest of the network, for example; if someone parked outside or one of your neighbors wanted to look at your computers or any files open to the network, they can see and even control devices as if they were given the WPA2 passwords

Unfortunately I've been going back and forth with ASUS support for weeks. Each time, someone new responds telling me they are escalating the issue or send some copy and pasted response that addresses nothing of my issues which makes it obvious they havent even read the feedback I sent.

On my phones, a mix of Android and apple it shows as locked. I need to enter the password I set when setting up the router to enter the 6ghz band.