Wi-Fi 6 Support

Is the Floodlight V2 Wi-Fi 6 capable? It wasn’t specifically specified in the Amazon description nor could I see any reference to AX in the specs. Based on that, I’ll assume that it is not. I know the Cam V4 is.

Unfortunately, Amazon is not as thorough as I would like. I noticed details missing before and I had to visit the vendor’s site for clarification.

I don’t think it is. I’m not seeing 802.11ax listed in a test report for Wyze Cam Floodlight v2, whereas it is specifically noted in a report for Wyze Cam v4.

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The V4 is the first and only Wyze product that officially supports WiFi 6 protocols so far.

Keep in mind even the v4 is only 2.4ghz AX, not 5ghz. There are some improvements with 2.4ghz AX but they aren’t anything massive. The cameras do not need more throughput than the Wifi4 2.4ghz that most of them have.

It was my understanding that supporting WiFi 6 on 2.4GHz would still make it have fewer dropped connections, better streaming quality (especially for those of us with lots of cameras, particularly if we stream several at a time in groups or the liveview), and faster response times as well as overall network efficiency. It may not be dramatic, but still noticeable, particularly for people with heavy congestion.

Not dramatic, but still noticeable. I read some articles a while ago where they did a lot of testing this out on networks with tons of IoT devices on 2.4GHz and found WiFi 6 routers (compared to those without WiFi 6) all made their network noticeably more stable even when all the IoT devices themselves didn’t officially support WiFi 6. I would assume if they do support WiFi 6 it would be even better.

But yeah, most of the benefits come from the 5GHz range improvements.

I’m now using WiFi 7 routers. :slight_smile:

Honestly a lot of the benefit to 2.4ghz AX is that they finally had to redesign the chipsets they’ve been using for 15+ years.

The standard does have much better coexistence and congestion management, but you only get the full benefit if all your devices are AX. As soon as you put an N on there, not only do you severely decrease the throughput of the whole network (negating much of the benefit of being able to have a ton of IOT devices sharing it) but you also don’t get nearly the full benefit of the new congestion and coexistence functionality. I guess an analogy would be a broken down car in the middle of the highway, with a cop standing right at it directing one car to the left, one to the right. Not only do they not have to listen, but you’re doing it too late so traffic still backs up behind it. It is still better than leaving everyone to their own devices, at least he’s helping a bit. But if everything supports AX, the cop is now standing a mile down the road, and can push buttons to raise and lower blockades forcing cars into the lane he wants them to go in. They don’t have to slow down much, and they can’t ignore him.

So yes, there is a benefit, but having old stuff mixed with new will minimize it. I still think the biggest benefit is the better noise filters and higher quality oscillators that are now available and are used in these new chipsets. Not only that, but 4x4 2.4ghz is more commonly available on AX, not that there are many 4 stream 2.4ghz clients out there, but that’s 4 antennas and 4 distinct streams allowing even a single stream client to have more choice to lock onto the best signal for it, improving range and also throughput.

I’m waiting for the Asus RT-AX88U pro to come down in price. 4 stream 2.4ghz and 5ghz and built in VLAN support (I’m currently doing it with linux scripts, would be nice to just have it native in the GUI). I think the extra stream will help get a bit better signal to some of my more distant cams, especially when there are now 4 antenna to orient in slightly different directions rather than 3. There are some other models that separate the antennas and have 4x 2.4ghz and 4x5ghz which will yield a bit better signal (dual band always sacrifices a bit to do both) but they’re pretty crazy expensive, big, ugly, and have all these gaming features that I have no use for.

No need for Wifi 7 here. 6ghz not needed and combining bands for super fast throughput also not something I need. It aggravates me that they still haven’t been able to pick a standard for seamless roaming (was supposed to be in both Wifi 6 and 7, and many routers do implement one or the other, but most client devices don’t support it, or support a different standard than the router).

Edit - not sure what’s with the long winded posts today…

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Haha, that’s me almost every day

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Here in Canada the TUF-AX6000 is currently on sale for CAD $150 which is a pretty good deal. Too bad it isn’t supported by Asuswrt-Merlin, but it is Openwrt supported as it is using Mediatek MT7986A SoC (just like GL.iNet GL-MT6000).

RT-AX88U Pro lowest price was around CAD $230 at Staples.

RT-AX86U Pro is on clearance sale for CAD $120 at The Source (Radio Shack / Circuit City) because they are rebranding to Best Buy Express. It is practically out of stock everywhere.

I prefer to stick with the Broadcom ones but Mediatek seems to have been performing well in many of their routers. Merlin only supports Broadcom but I also just trust their chipsets a bit more. That being said I’ve seen the AX6000 cheap here as well (as well as a few other models).

Actually not bad, bit cheaper than here (though it was down to $200 US with trade in at Best Buy, still too high for my tastes :slight_smile: )

Good price on that router, only reason I’m not getting that one is 3 stream 2.4ghz vs 4 stream. Now whether that is enough difference to matter, who knows, but can’t hurt. You still have Radio Shack and Circuit city or did they both get bought by that company? Circuit city died here like 20 years ago (there is an online site that bought the name I think) and Radio Shack a few years back (also still online but not actually them, someone bought the name also). I hear there is one US Radio Shack left in Alaska, but that may be gone by now.

My RT-AC1900 (RT-AC68U variant) was like $30 on clearance at Walmart back in like 2017, so my bar is set pretty high (or I guess, low). I would probably jump on the 88U pro if it falls to $100.