Dennis Nicholls
Senior HTF Member
Poor Dave's thread went sideways into a WiFi6 discussion.
WiFi6 aka 802.11AX spec was released in 2019 and products started appearing the following year. Prices were in the $200+ range until recently when you could now buy a WiFi6 router for around $100. Promising longer throw at higher speeds, WiFi6 may be an alternative for more complicated mesh systems.
I posted the following debug info in Dave's thread but want to put it here for more widely viewing. I bought a TP-Link AX55 router off Amazon for $114. Installation was quick once I remembered their browser-based setup went to a phony URL built into the router itself ( tplinkwifi.net ). It doesn't actually access a site on the Web.
My "emergency backup" Android phone has now been checked on the 2.4GHz band with the AX55. The TCL smart TV works really well at 5GHz. So the only issue I had to troubleshoot was that my old laptop doesn't see the Wifi from the AX55 on either channel, although it does see all my neighbors' routers.
I found a helpful note in the FAQ for the AX55. https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/2303/ Intel discovered that older drivers for their wifi modules can't hack 802.11ax signals so they have posted updated drivers that do support it. I had installed an Intel 7260 module into my old laptop to give it AC Wifi capability, and it was on an older driver. I had to drag it into my office and connect it with a cable so I could download the new driver.
The Intel support page is at https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...-fi-drivers-for-intel-wireless-adapters.html? Intel wifi modules were used all over in laptops, e.g. Dell, so this information may help others.
Updating the driver for the Intel 7260AC module to version 18.33.17.1 did the trick. The old laptop now talks wifi6 with the router.
WiFi6 aka 802.11AX spec was released in 2019 and products started appearing the following year. Prices were in the $200+ range until recently when you could now buy a WiFi6 router for around $100. Promising longer throw at higher speeds, WiFi6 may be an alternative for more complicated mesh systems.
I posted the following debug info in Dave's thread but want to put it here for more widely viewing. I bought a TP-Link AX55 router off Amazon for $114. Installation was quick once I remembered their browser-based setup went to a phony URL built into the router itself ( tplinkwifi.net ). It doesn't actually access a site on the Web.
My "emergency backup" Android phone has now been checked on the 2.4GHz band with the AX55. The TCL smart TV works really well at 5GHz. So the only issue I had to troubleshoot was that my old laptop doesn't see the Wifi from the AX55 on either channel, although it does see all my neighbors' routers.
I found a helpful note in the FAQ for the AX55. https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/2303/ Intel discovered that older drivers for their wifi modules can't hack 802.11ax signals so they have posted updated drivers that do support it. I had installed an Intel 7260 module into my old laptop to give it AC Wifi capability, and it was on an older driver. I had to drag it into my office and connect it with a cable so I could download the new driver.
The Intel support page is at https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...-fi-drivers-for-intel-wireless-adapters.html? Intel wifi modules were used all over in laptops, e.g. Dell, so this information may help others.
Updating the driver for the Intel 7260AC module to version 18.33.17.1 did the trick. The old laptop now talks wifi6 with the router.
