WiFi 6 and compatibility

[Liver]

Opinions on using a WiFi 6 compatible AP with older WiFi APs (non 6)? Will I still have the benefits of 6 if the entire system isn’t 6?

I’d go all 6 but I don’t want the cost, and certain parts of the house are not used as much.

Or should I wait to adopt 6? Currently I have iPhones and iPads. Everything else is wired.

I think it’ll be overkill, but I need opinions.

The WiFi 6 signal will not penetrate 8 inches of rebar reinforced concrete.

 

[Dreamerbydesign]

Wifi standards are all backward compatible. So your devices should all work fine. If you do not need the increased bandwidth and speed, there may not be a reason to upgrade. It most likely will not make a difference on a phone/tablet.

 

[Liver]

Wifi standards are all backward compatible. So your devices should all work fine. If you do not need the increased bandwidth and speed, there may not be a reason to upgrade. It most likely will not make a difference on a phone/tablet.

I am seeing that as well. I do not think I need 802.11ax. I am in the process of a new home build, and I do not have enough AP to cover the house.

It’s the perfect time to upgrade.

 

[Dreamerbydesign]

I am seeing that as well. I do not think I need 802.11ax. I am in the process of a new home build, and I do not have enough AP to cover the house.

It’s the perfect time to upgrade.

Yes in that situation it is the way of the future, backward compatible and will not hurt to install wifi 6.

 

[Liver]

I’m going to put this project on hold. I want WiFi 6 but I also want it POE and mesh would be great.

Netgear is the only solution I found that has all of that. However to get mesh to work, it’s a $10 a year per device used in the mesh. So every AP and the switch costs $10 a year.

 

[Nicklebon]

I’m going to put this project on hold. I want WiFi 6 but I also want it POE and mesh would be great.

I am in the process of a new home build, and I do not have enough AP to cover the house.

It’s the perfect time to upgrade.

Confused. If you're in the process of new construction why would you choose mesh over a proper AP layout? Mesh is just a kludge to get around proper AP placement. Build it correctly now while you can do so easily.

 

[GotNoRice]

Opinions on using a WiFi 6 compatible AP with older WiFi APs (non 6)? Will I still have the benefits of 6 if the entire system isn’t 6?

When you have multiple access points with the same SSID, your devices will hop from one to the other automatically depending on which has the best signal. There is nothing wrong with mixing newer and older APs, but a client device will still be limited to the capabilities of the AP it's actually connected to, and that will change as it hops from one to the other. You could use different SSIDs on each access point and/or each frequency band to give you more granular control over which client devices are connecting to what, but it's not always worth the extra effort.

I would recommend putting your best AP near to where most people are likely to use it, and use your other APs to help fill-in dead spots.

 

[Liver]

I’m going to make a new thread because I am completely out of my league.