3 ms·

Oh no. I haven't even upgraded to WiFi 7 yet!

LoganDark 1mo ago
I have a Wi-Fi 7 AP and this confused some members of my family that didn't even know it went higher than 6. I thought it was pretty funny
- avhception 1mo ago
  My family doesn't know that the WiFi AP is not the DECT base. They understand when I tell them, but that's gone after a week. They use the words WiFi (or, as we say in Germany, WLAN) and "Internet" almost interchangeably. At work, too. "Internet kaputt" can mean anything from "my device is broken" to "our ERP app is not doing the right thing / responding too slow".
  - warpech 1mo ago
    That is true everywhere. I think operating systems could do a better job at informing about the health of the internet connection in words the user understands. What seems to be the current bottleneck: Your router does not respond. Turn it off and on. This comes close: https://www.getapp.com/all-software/a/breakdown/ https://www.getapp.com/all-software/a/breakdown/
  - MrGilbert 1mo ago
    You can’t blame them, though. I live in the industry for over 25 years now, and when 5 Ghz wifi got introduced, and started to live alongside 2.4 Ghz with all the different protocols, I was like: "Nah. Screw it." I honestly have no idea what the current hot stuff in terms of wifi is.^^
    - avhception 1mo ago
      Yeah, I guess I draw the line at the workplace. Some of these "Internet kaputt" cases turned out to be a rejected login to our bespoke ERP website.
  - lucb1e 1mo ago
    > They use the words WiFi (or, as we say in Germany, WLAN) and "Internet" almost interchangeably. I was helping our neighbor with WiFi issues. They asked at some point if a "WLAN-Kabel" would solve the issue :) The sad part is that they realized the mistake a minute later, and since I didn't say anything but just answered the question (I understood what they meant, no point correcting the technicality), they assumed that I was just laughing at them behind their back / internally. Turns out once again that tech is as much social as it is technical, and I really struggle with people who think everyone else is hiding something (they vote accordingly, let's say)
    - avhception 1mo ago
      It really doesn't help that a part of our attention-economy has hopped on the "what (the government/big tech/car company) doesn't want you to know!11" bandwagon and constantly feeds into this notion that there is this great ominous evil cabal working against you.
      - lucb1e 1mo ago
        Yeah exactly :/
BlackRabbit1 1mo ago
You are not missing too much. One of the core features (MLO) is currently mostly scam. APs/Clients negotiate the protocol (and it shows up in the status) but doesn't it to either increase robustness or bandwidth (by combining/switching between two frequency bands). Also the driver quality is a huge mess. (We tested it using the latest generation Cisco Enterprise gear but also with Prosumer stuff like Ubiquiti or TP-Link) But honestly: we need WiFi-8. It finally brings infrastructure-controlled roaming which is super important for any VoIP service.
- LoganDark 1mo ago
  It sounds like you're talking about throughput aggregation, which indeed no device currently supports. Not even Apple's most recent devices have any sign of it, except that M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pro models are tested for simultaneous transmission on 2.4+5GHz and 2.4+6GHz: https://mrncciew.com/2026/03/17/macbook-pro-m5-wi-fi-7-missing-4096-qam-320-mhz/#comment-90720 https://mrncciew.com/2026/03/17/macbook-pro-m5-wi-fi-7-missi...
  - gpt5 1mo ago
    UniFi UDB-Switch has throughput aggregation for 5GHz + 6GHz.
  - gib444 1mo ago
    5GHz? Surely you mean 5000000kHz ;P
  - SweetSoftPillow 1mo ago
    > which indeed no device currently supports Aren't devices with Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200/BE202 are supporting that? As well as latest Samsung phones?
    - BlackRabbit1 1mo ago
      AFAIR: the BE200/B202 only have one radio. So no parallel streams on two frequencies. But they are the best cards around if you want to play with Wifi-7 on Linux. But always go for the latest wireless-next kernel + firmware blobs. Also they are not compatible with AMD mainboards (go for Qualcomm then).
manmal 1mo ago
The upgrade to 6E was a big jump in my network (Wifi7 Unifi Wall AP). On the same spot, the M3 MacBook (6E) has basically zero lag over VNC, while the M1 MacBook (6) has a noticeable lag. It’s a bit mind blowing how big the difference is.
- InvaderFizz 1mo ago
  That is likely because of AWDL and your WiFi card doing channel hopping to listen between packets. Set your channels to 6/149/37 and the lag will probably vanish. Exactly because of this, I only run those channels, even across multiple APs. In Europe, you may need to use 44 instead of 149. There is currently no good way to keep AWDL off other than a script that just turns it off every 200ms, because of course Apple. Also, not always an option with work issued Macs.
  - amluto 1mo ago
    My favorite thing about AWDL is that AirDrop barely even works between Apple devices that are right next to each other.
silisili 1mo ago
Not missing much. I feel like it's in many ways misguided. 6ghz ftw because 5ghz penetrates too much and causes noisy neighbor problems. Well, from my experience, 6ghz doesn't penetrate at -all-. So unless you live in a barndo or studio apartment, it's mostly an exercise in frustration.
lucb1e 1mo ago
Is 6 even ubiquitous for you? I bought my first WiFi 6E device this year, specifically because I want it to be future-proof and work well outside of the house (like on a conference), but all other phones, laptops, desktops, and access points are on 802.11ac. It's going to take a while to reap those benefits at home, and that's assuming we ever get FTTH and want to pay for a 1gbps uplink in the first place (on LAN with WiFi 5 I currently get several hundred mbps, almost regardless of distance until it drops off the network completely, and our uplink is 40mbps, the fastest we can get on VDSL here)

I have a Wi-Fi 7 AP and this confused some members of my family that didn't even know it went higher than 6. I thought it was pretty funny

avhception 1mo ago
My family doesn't know that the WiFi AP is not the DECT base. They understand when I tell them, but that's gone after a week. They use the words WiFi (or, as we say in Germany, WLAN) and "Internet" almost interchangeably. At work, too. "Internet kaputt" can mean anything from "my device is broken" to "our ERP app is not doing the right thing / responding too slow".
- warpech 1mo ago
  That is true everywhere. I think operating systems could do a better job at informing about the health of the internet connection in words the user understands. What seems to be the current bottleneck: Your router does not respond. Turn it off and on. This comes close: https://www.getapp.com/all-software/a/breakdown/ https://www.getapp.com/all-software/a/breakdown/
- MrGilbert 1mo ago
  You can’t blame them, though. I live in the industry for over 25 years now, and when 5 Ghz wifi got introduced, and started to live alongside 2.4 Ghz with all the different protocols, I was like: "Nah. Screw it." I honestly have no idea what the current hot stuff in terms of wifi is.^^
  - avhception 1mo ago
    Yeah, I guess I draw the line at the workplace. Some of these "Internet kaputt" cases turned out to be a rejected login to our bespoke ERP website.
- lucb1e 1mo ago
  > They use the words WiFi (or, as we say in Germany, WLAN) and "Internet" almost interchangeably. I was helping our neighbor with WiFi issues. They asked at some point if a "WLAN-Kabel" would solve the issue :) The sad part is that they realized the mistake a minute later, and since I didn't say anything but just answered the question (I understood what they meant, no point correcting the technicality), they assumed that I was just laughing at them behind their back / internally. Turns out once again that tech is as much social as it is technical, and I really struggle with people who think everyone else is hiding something (they vote accordingly, let's say)
  - avhception 1mo ago
    It really doesn't help that a part of our attention-economy has hopped on the "what (the government/big tech/car company) doesn't want you to know!11" bandwagon and constantly feeds into this notion that there is this great ominous evil cabal working against you.
    - lucb1e 1mo ago
      Yeah exactly :/

BlackRabbit1 1mo ago

You are not missing too much. One of the core features (MLO) is currently mostly scam. APs/Clients negotiate the protocol (and it shows up in the status) but doesn't it to either increase robustness or bandwidth (by combining/switching between two frequency bands). Also the driver quality is a huge mess. (We tested it using the latest generation Cisco Enterprise gear but also with Prosumer stuff like Ubiquiti or TP-Link) But honestly: we need WiFi-8. It finally brings infrastructure-controlled roaming which is super important for any VoIP service.

LoganDark 1mo ago
It sounds like you're talking about throughput aggregation, which indeed no device currently supports. Not even Apple's most recent devices have any sign of it, except that M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pro models are tested for simultaneous transmission on 2.4+5GHz and 2.4+6GHz: https://mrncciew.com/2026/03/17/macbook-pro-m5-wi-fi-7-missing-4096-qam-320-mhz/#comment-90720 https://mrncciew.com/2026/03/17/macbook-pro-m5-wi-fi-7-missi...
- gpt5 1mo ago
  UniFi UDB-Switch has throughput aggregation for 5GHz + 6GHz.
- gib444 1mo ago
  5GHz? Surely you mean 5000000kHz ;P
- SweetSoftPillow 1mo ago
  > which indeed no device currently supports Aren't devices with Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200/BE202 are supporting that? As well as latest Samsung phones?
  - BlackRabbit1 1mo ago
    AFAIR: the BE200/B202 only have one radio. So no parallel streams on two frequencies. But they are the best cards around if you want to play with Wifi-7 on Linux. But always go for the latest wireless-next kernel + firmware blobs. Also they are not compatible with AMD mainboards (go for Qualcomm then).

manmal 1mo ago

The upgrade to 6E was a big jump in my network (Wifi7 Unifi Wall AP). On the same spot, the M3 MacBook (6E) has basically zero lag over VNC, while the M1 MacBook (6) has a noticeable lag. It’s a bit mind blowing how big the difference is.

InvaderFizz 1mo ago
That is likely because of AWDL and your WiFi card doing channel hopping to listen between packets. Set your channels to 6/149/37 and the lag will probably vanish. Exactly because of this, I only run those channels, even across multiple APs. In Europe, you may need to use 44 instead of 149. There is currently no good way to keep AWDL off other than a script that just turns it off every 200ms, because of course Apple. Also, not always an option with work issued Macs.
- amluto 1mo ago
  My favorite thing about AWDL is that AirDrop barely even works between Apple devices that are right next to each other.

silisili 1mo ago

Not missing much. I feel like it's in many ways misguided. 6ghz ftw because 5ghz penetrates too much and causes noisy neighbor problems. Well, from my experience, 6ghz doesn't penetrate at -all-. So unless you live in a barndo or studio apartment, it's mostly an exercise in frustration.

lucb1e 1mo ago

Is 6 even ubiquitous for you? I bought my first WiFi 6E device this year, specifically because I want it to be future-proof and work well outside of the house (like on a conference), but all other phones, laptops, desktops, and access points are on 802.11ac. It's going to take a while to reap those benefits at home, and that's assuming we ever get FTTH and want to pay for a 1gbps uplink in the first place (on LAN with WiFi 5 I currently get several hundred mbps, almost regardless of distance until it drops off the network completely, and our uplink is 40mbps, the fastest we can get on VDSL here)