New iPad Pro Includes Special Mode to Turn Off Wi-Fi 6E

[Makosuke]

I haven't read up on the details of Wifi 6E, but if the iPad's OS is smart enough to use the fastest band that's available from any given location, I can see why this would be required.

As someone who doesn't own any 6E gear, though, I'm really curious if macOS and/or iOS do this for earlier Wifi versions. I have long used a different network name for my 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, since in practice I get substantially slower speeds on 2.4GHz (perhaps in part due to interference from close neighbors), and my house is small enough that 5GHz covers it.

At some point I realized that if I gave both networks the same name, my devices would usually connect to the 2.4GHz one, which slowed LAN traffic substantially. If the OS is smart enough to hop back and forth automatically now, that would sure be nice.

 

[escargot3]

wifi 6e and wifi 6 can achieve the same speeds. 4800 Mbps maximum if 4x4 antennas are used

While true in theory, in practice it’s a different story, and especially with Apple devices.

First of all, Apple hasn’t shipped a client with more than 2x2 since before the ASi era, so we are already down to 2400 Mbps maximum. Furthermore, Apple does not allow any of their client devices to use 160MHz wide channels on wifi 6, so all wifi 6 Apple devices are limited to a theoretical max of only 1200 mbps.

Since Apple is allowing 160 MHz wide channels finally with wifi 6E devices for the first time, (and the increased spectrum of the 6GHz band makes this a much more feasible situation) they have the capacity to be twice as fast as any of Apples 6-only devices, operating up to 2400 mbps. This is quite an important milestone, because it is the first time that wifi can potentially be faster than wired gigabit Ethernet in real world use (for an Apple client device).

 

[escargot3]

I have a 6e network. It primarily puts almost all of my items into the 5GHz network.

Which router setup are you using?

 

[Fandroid killer]

The new iPad Pro models announced last week are the first Apple devices to support Wi-Fi 6E, which uses the 6GHz band to enable faster and more reliable Wi-Fi connectivity. In a new support document, Apple explains how the feature works.

To create a Wi-Fi 6E network, Apple says you need a Wi-Fi 6E router that also has its 2.4GHz or 5GHz bands enabled. For the best Wi-Fi performance, Apple recommends using a single network name across the router's 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands. Otherwise, the iPad Pro identifies the network as having "limited compatibility," with Apple warning that the "overall experience with some activities over the network might not be as expected."

If you experience any issues with a Wi-Fi 6E network, Apple says you can turn off Wi-Fi 6E mode for that network, and the iPad Pro will no longer use that network's 6GHz band. To do so, open the Settings app, tap on Wi-Fi, tap on the name of the network you are connected to, tap on Wi-Fi 6E Mode and toggle it off. However, Apple says this setting appears only for Wi-Fi 6E networks that use a single network name for all bands.

The new iPad Pro was released today and also features the M2 chip, new hover functionality for the Apple Pencil, ProRes video recording, and Bluetooth 5.3.

Article Link: New iPad Pro Includes Special Mode to Turn Off Wi-Fi 6E

Wtf is this ipad?? Only 12% performance uplift while draining battery faster than the m1 iPad. Its like they took the same exact m1 chip, clocked it higher, and rebranded to m2. Storage speeds remain exactly the same. Memory speed exactly the same. Where is the increased memory bandwidth as they claimed? The build feels cheap. It feels like cheap plastic, unlike the m1 that feels more premium material. It also scratches easier. I just bought it and already a scratch on the bottom corner of the frame. They used cheaper materials on this. Who would get this over the m1🤦‍♀️ same exact camera. Same modem. Same selfie cam face ID unit, same display, same speakers, same mic. It's no wonder there's so much stock available

 

[Rafterman]

I use seperate SSIDs because I like ot know what band I'm using. Most of the time, 2.4 is fine. Biut sometimes, when I have a lot to download (like setting up the new iPad M2 with 30GB of Kindle books to download), I switched to 5 or 6 to get the extra speed. It makes quite a difference vs 2.4. But with a single SSID, you can't tell what band you are on.

 

[MacBH928]

Is this an issue with Wifi6E technology or Apple has a buggy implementation?

They wouldn't have to explain anything if they'd still make AirPort routers. I'll be the first to buy if they'd ever start making routers again.

The Tim Cook airports might not be as good as the SJ airports. I never used them, what was special about them? I will make a big guess and say the antennas in there are bought from the regular brand names like Netgear and Linksys.

 

[Rafterman]

Wtf is this ipad?? Only 12% performance uplift while draining battery faster than the m1 iPad. Its like they took the same exact m1 chip, clocked it higher, and rebranded to m2. Storage speeds remain exactly the same. Memory speed exactly the same. Where is the increased memory bandwidth as they claimed? The build feels cheap. It feels like cheap plastic, unlike the m1 that feels more premium material. It also scratches easier. I just bought it and already a scratch on the bottom corner of the frame. They used cheaper materials on this. Who would get this over the m1🤦‍♀️ same exact camera. Same modem. Same selfie cam face ID unit, same display, same speakers, same mic. It's no wonder there's so much stock available

They are made from the exact same material. If you have buyer's remorse and want to return it, return it. No need to try and justify it.

 

[thatsthequy]

Can you cite a source? As I am not aware of any way to enable WPA2 on a network with 6Ghz and they require that this restriction applies across the entire SSID. So you can't have WPA2 on 5Ghz and WPA3 on 6Ghz on a network with the same SSID.

Wireless Security in a 6 GHz Wi-Fi 6E World

www.extremenetworks.com

Source: My home network.

You most definitely can. On one network I have a Nest thermostat connected on 2.4Ghz via WPA2, my iPad Air connected on 5Ghz via WPA3, and there is an available 6Ghz network (I do not have any 6E devices yet) all under the same ESSID. In fact, my Guest network does the same.

 

[KentuckyApple]

What’s a use case that requires wifi and the bandwidth that comes with 6e? I have 3x eero (wifi 5) with a wired backhaul and I get between 200-500 mbit anywhere in my house. Wired clients max out at 940mbit. I can’t see the need for wifi 6 or 6e.

 

[svish]

Interesting article. Good to know about this.

 

[max2]

Glad I got a regular Wi-Fi 6 router. I’ll wait for Wi-Fi 7 to upgrade again.

Me too

 

[Htsi]

I have kept a separate 2.4 SSID for my HomeKit devices that don’t support 5ghz. I find it simple and reliable.

 

[falkon-engine]

The new ipad pro supports 160 MHz channels on Wifi 6E for a theoretical maximum 2.4 Gbps! Performance is screaming. Connected to my router at 160 Mhz. No need for the same SSID for 6 Ghz and all other channels. Maxing out my 1 Gbps Fiber connection from behind a concrete wall. This thing is fast!

 

[SFjohn]

Best feature about this new iPad Pro is you can turn off 6E if you like, awesome! 🎭

 

[AngelYaDig]

They wouldn't have to explain anything if they'd still make AirPort routers. I'll be the first to buy if they'd ever start making routers again.

You and 2 other people.

 

[SFjohn]

so 6e doesn't work well. i'll wait for 6F.

I’ll wait for 7. 😇

 

[Rafterman]

You and 2 other people.

Actually the Airport was a fine router and one of he most reliable I ever used.

 

[darthgreen]

how about they make the wifi toggle to turn off the Wifi completely, instead of deactivating until nearby found connect

 

[Fruit Stand]

You and 2 other people.

Best Router hardware ever put on the consumer market IMO.

 

[killhippie]

I use separate SSID's as well, I have a WI-FI 6/6E router, so I would just turn off the 6E channel and use plain WI-FI 6 on 5Ghz with WPA3/WPA2 at 80Mhz which on 5Ghz supports 2400Mbps, its 160Mhz that supports 4800Mbps so using 80Mhz works fine with my iPhone and other legacy devices, current iPad Pro which is wifi 5 and the rest of my home gear that I like to place on specific channels, I have a PoE CCTV server but also in fill with some Arlo WI-FI cameras that use 2.4Ghz only and Sky TV satellite box will use 2.4Ghz only unless you use their router (which is not good) and I don't have Sky Broadband either, so that has to stay on 2.4Ghz., My Atmos soundbar is on 5Ghz as its also a chromecast device, my B&W Zeppelin wireless is on 5Ghz (older 2015 model but not the really old 30 pin one that came before that) and other stuff gets placed where I need it, I like having the granular control so having my router steering stuff is not the way to go for myself.

 

[dannys1]

Why does apple recommend using the same SSID for the different frequencies? I’ve found that it is best to have separate SSIDs for each band…

There's no reason to do that anymore - maybe a decade ago cheap 2.4ghz devices couldnt' support 5ghz networks but now you should everything under the same SSID so the devices can make use of WPA3 features and fast roaming. As soon as it's out of range of a 6ghz signal which it'll prioritise it'll move to a 5ghz signal, when it's out of range of that it'll go to a 2.4ghz signal - or it'll swap to a different AP which might be closer. You should have multiple APs with all bands on one SSID which devices can easily roam between.

 

[jezbd1997]

I ditched Airports when I moved to 802.11ac. Too slow to manage but they looked pretty.

yeah, the full restart for certain settings sucks. newer mesh seems to work a lot better.
if apple made a full airport mesh with proper roaming/band steering i would buy instantly again

 

[escargot3]

What’s a use case that requires wifi and the bandwidth that comes with 6e? I have 3x eero (wifi 5) with a wired backhaul and I get between 200-500 mbit anywhere in my house. Wired clients max out at 940mbit. I can’t see the need for wifi 6 or 6e.

Well, as WiFi 6E can easily exceed 1 gbps in real world use, and I have seen it hit 1500 mbps or more quite frequently in real world tests, that makes it between 300% and 700% faster than the transfer speeds you are used to. Surely you can see the use of that? For me, I quite regularly transfer 30 to 60GB of data between computers or devices using WiFi. I would much rather this take 5 minutes than 40 minutes. Same goes for downloading large system updates to create images etc (which as an administrator I have to do regularly).

1 gbps connections are quite readily available now, and it has never really been feasible to reach these speeds real world with an Apple device. The Wifi 6E devices from Apple are the first to be capable of actually fully taking advantage of 1gbps internet connections without having to be wired, which is especially important on a device like the iPad and iPhone that can't easily be wired. In fact, for the first time ever, 6E devices can finally reach the milestone of exceeding what is possible with gigabit wired ethernet.

Finally, Apple has not increased wireless speeds in almost a decade. They peaked with 3x3 AC in 2013 with the 13" and 15" MBPs and have actually only downgraded it since then, dropping to only 2x2 AX with all the Apple Silicon models. This especially hurt the performance on the 2.4 GHz band. So those of us who care about WiFi speeds are really clamouring for an increase here. It's long overdue, and we are looking at an almost doubling of performance after a decade of stagnation! It's very exciting.

 

[falkon-engine]

There's no reason to do that anymore - maybe a decade ago cheap 2.4ghz devices couldnt' support 5ghz networks but now you should everything under the same SSID so the devices can make use of WPA3 features and fast roaming. As soon as it's out of range of a 6ghz signal which it'll prioritise it'll move to a 5ghz signal, when it's out of range of that it'll go to a 2.4ghz signal - or it'll swap to a different AP which might be closer. You should have multiple APs with all bands on one SSID which devices can easily roam between.

I strongly suggest to not plan your network around 1 apple device. You have to think about how the other devices on your network will behave once you have one SSID. Most of them will roam to the 2.4 GHz channel and stay there ad infinitum, and you will lose the ability to steer them to the channel you want them on (5G).

If you live in a building with many neighbors, the 2.4 GHz band will suffer from interference. During the pandemic when everyone was working from home simultaneously , my now wife was using a router with just one SSID and her Roku/Apple TV would roam and stay on the 2.4 GHz band and she would sometimes have severe trouble with watching videos. The video would stutter or not load. Also, Sometimes her zoom calls would drop. Whenever she got on a zoom call she would switch off Wi-Fi and use LTE on her phone. She thought it was a network provider issue.

I told her before you call them, let me check it out. When I investigated the situation, I found that she had only one SSID, I looked at nearby SSIDs using Wi-Fi explorer and found there were 30+ networks competing for space in the 2.4 GHz band. It was crowded! As soon as I set separate SSIDs for 2.4Ghz and 5G, let the low bandwidth clients use 2.4 GHz and let the higher bandwidth clients use 5G, all the problems with video and zoom went away.

Real world experience contradicts the theory behind clients choosing the ‘best’ band. They seem to prioritize RSSI strength and not channel bandwidth or throughout. If one SSID is working well for you then use that. But for some of us, manual control is still necessary.

 

[escargot3]

I strongly suggest to not plan your network around 1 apple device. You have to think about how the other devices on your network will behave once you have one SSID. Most of them will roam to the 2.4 GHz channel and stay there ad infinitum, and you will lose the ability to steer them to the channel you want them on (5G).

If you live in a building with many neighbors, the 2.4 GHz band will suffer from interference. During the pandemic when everyone was working from home simultaneously , my now wife was using a router with just one SSID and her Roku/Apple TV would roam and stay on the 2.4 GHz band and she would sometimes have severe trouble with watching videos. The video would stutter or not load. Also, Sometimes her zoom calls would drop. Whenever she got on a zoom call she would switch off Wi-Fi and use LTE on her phone. She thought it was a network provider issue.

I told her before you call them, let me check it out. When I investigated the situation, I found that she had only one SSID, I looked at nearby SSIDs using Wi-Fi explorer and found there were 30+ networks competing for space in the 2.4 GHz band. It was crowded! As soon as I set separate SSIDs for 2.4Ghz and 5G, let the low bandwidth clients use 2.4 GHz and let the higher bandwidth clients use 5G, all the problems with video and zoom went away.

Real world experience contradicts the theory behind clients choosing the ‘best’ band. They seem to prioritize RSSI strength and not channel bandwidth or throughout. If one SSID is working well for you then use that. But for some of us, manual control is still necessary.

That is not a problem really of SSIDs though. That is just a crappy quality router. And you cannot just spend a lot and expect to get a good quality router in return either. You really have to do a lot of research and look at good reviews about the model you are considering. If you had a better router, those high throughput devices (at least if they are 4 years old or less) would stay on the 5GHz band properly

Also, this idea that the 2.4 GHz band is so congested while the 5GHz band is empty is very antiquated. Pretty much every router sold for nearly a decade now supports 5GHz, including the really crappy ones that come free from ISPs. So in apartments and other crowded areas, the 5GHz band is incredibly crowded too. That’s part of the appeal of 6E and the 6 GHz band to many people.

To me, the one big reason to split the SSID’s is because I have seen very often IoT devices, and especially printers have a lot of problems when the SSID’s are not split. But on the other hand, other users here have claimed the exact opposite was the case for them. So I think it’s a very YMMV situation. But to just blanket claim that all people should split their SSIDs, and scaring them into thinking that all their devices will be stuck on 2.4 GHz “ad infinitum” is not really great advice, IMHO. I am glad that has worked for you. But it is far from universal advice. I would go so far as to say it’s the exception, not the rule, but again, YMMV.