WiFi 6E Same SSID across all Bands

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Level 1

28 points

WiFi 6E Same SSID across all Bands

Hi,

Just bought a Mac mini M2 and our Cable Provider is also sending us a new router with WiFi 6 Capabilities. Reading the Apple 6E Guidelines, they suggest that to get the best out of WiFi 6 by using 6E all Bands should have the same SSID.

Up until now we've designated the two Bands we presently have as (Our SSID name)5G & (Our SSID name)2,4G. We did this to be able to easily see which Band a device is attached to, as we have a variety of Android phones, iPads, Windows & Mac Computers & other WiFi & Airplay devices throughout the House & Office and want of course to be able to easily check what Band they are on, especially after device updates & restarts (Some devices just seem to love to go 2,4 GHz, even when 5 GHz is full bar & available, after they are restarted). The Mac mini & my wife's soon-to-arrive new PC are/will be the only WiFi 6 capable devices in our place.

If we gave the 5G & 6 Bands the same SSID name, & left the 2,4GHz Band "as is", does this "break" how 6E works, or is that enough?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts / suggestions! 😊

Posted on Feb 19, 2023 11:28 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,338 points

Feb 20, 2023 1:47 AM in response to Peachtree55

Either your router has a Wi-Fi 6E radio, or a Wi-Fi 6 radio. If the latter, your Wi-Fi 6E devices will still receive the 802.11ax signal but not operate at the full Wi-Fi 6E performance potential. I have a Synology RT6600AX (Wi-Fi 6) router and my M2 Mac mini pro is located 20 feet away with a 55-in TV and a wall between it and the router.

Since I have several devices that are Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n), Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), Wi-FI 6 (802.11ax) and two that are Wi-Fi 6E (also 802.11ax), I decided to configure all of these on one 5Ghz/80hz SSID. There is a separate 2.4 Ghz 802.11g/n SSID for other uses. I could have created a single Wi-Fi 6 SSID, but didn't want the extra administrative annoyance. That M2 Mac mini pro typically receives 1200 Mbps connection rates, though these do vary.

Your router will determine what you can do…

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Answer 2

Peachtree55 Author

Level 1

28 points

Feb 20, 2023 2:43 AM in response to VikingOSX

Thank you - I had missed the fact that 6E has a different radio, & is not just a part of WiFi 6! the Router we will get is WiFi 6 not 6E, so that's great - I can stay with the way we run it now without any "Could have done this" pangs!

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