@Alex4161 That information is not documented anywhere, at least not in anything available publicly to us. Are you using Pods? If so, the XB6 might use the lower 5 Ghz channels so that WiFi clients are more likely to connect to Pods.
I don't have Pods in my setup and when I last had WiFi enabled on my XB6, it auto-selected channel 157.
In reality, using a lower channel with a lower power level is not entirely bad. Remember that the WiFi Access Point is only one side of the connection. At the other end, you may have a mobile device with a low-power transmitter that may not be able to maintain a stable connection even if the Ignite gateway is using a higher-frequency/higher-power 5 GHz channels.
I actually try to use lower-power 5 GHz channels to minimize interference to my neighbours.
@Alex4161 With the Ignite WiFi Hub active, you will lose access to some configuration settings in the XB6 gateway's web management UI. However, if you don't have any Pods installed or associated with your account, you should still be able to configure the 2.4 and 5 GHz WiFi channels either through the Ignite WiFi mobile app or by logging into https://ignitewifi.rogers.com/
Hello, @Alex4161
I have tested this on my end using various methods and there does not seem to be a way to adjust the channels on the WiFi bands. The modem will automatically determine the best channel based on its environment.
I have tested this with band steering on and off and it is still greyed out in the XB6 admin page as well as the Ignite WiFi Hub app. You will need to use a third-party router in order to make specific changes to the WiFi channels. While these setups do work with Ignite TV for many customers, it is not one that is recommended or supported by Rogers.
I know this may not be the answer you were hoping to hear. 😞
RogersTony
@RogersTony is there an Auto Channel enable/disable in the wifi settings? If so, have you tried this with the Auto Channel disabled?
If the XB6 modems are all locked into the lower 5 Ghz channel range, that would explain why customers have been complaining about poor wifi performance of these modems. Locking the XB6 modems into the lower 5 Ghz channel range results in a max conducted power output of 200 milli-watts. The higher channel range, 149 to 165 has a 1 watt max conducted power output.
The submissions to Industry Canada for these modems can be seen here:
https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Ignite-TV/XB6-Channels-and-Power-levels/m-p/448135#M3409
Note the lower power levels in the 5.18 to 5.24 Mhz range for channels 36 to 48 and the higher output levels for the 5.745 to 5.825 Mhz range for channels 149 to 165. Those power levels reflect the transmit power levels as required by Industry Canada.
The power levels can also be seen in the following Semifio page:
https://www.semfionetworks.com/blog/5ghz-band-channel-availability-in-canada
So, if the XB6 wifi channels and pods channels (?) are locked into the lower 5 Ghz channel range, that could definitely pose problems for those customers with large modem to device distances. If you're a XB6 user, you should probably be annoyed to say the least. I can think of more appropriate words.
If you're anyone else, you should be overjoyed as its less competition in the higher 5 Ghz channel range.
Personally speaking, as someone who doesn't use an XB6, I'm very happy. If it never gets fixed, all the better.
Ok, so now for the question, @RogersIan how does this ever pass company testing? Or, if its seen in the pre-release testing, why isn't this brought up in the instructions for the modems, as in "Note to customers: XB6 modems are restricted to the lower 5 Ghz channels which reduces the maximum operating range from the modem".
Just to note, the U.S. FCC allows a max conducted output power of 1 watt in the lower 5 Ghz band, so, if Comcast designed the modem's firmware so that they were limited to lower 5 Ghz channels, as long as you're a U.S. customer, it won't matter to you. If you're a Canadian customer, its a big deal as it results in a greatly reduced operating range from the modem.
I leave it for @RogersIan and @RogersTony to sort this out and present the results to the customers.
@Datalink All that @RogersTony said is that the channels cannot currently be set explicitly in the app.
The XB6 is perfectly capable of using the higher channels. I am currently using my own "unsupported" WiFi gear and have my XB6 configured to use one of the DFS channels so that I do not take away prime spectrum from others. (I do not use the Ignite WiFi Hub web site or mobile app.)
There are also cases where using the higher-powered channels causes more harm than good. Setting higher-power channels on an AP is unhelpful if the WiFi client has a weak transmitter. If a link can be maintained, it will use an encoding with a very low data rate that will consume more air time when the device is transmitting or receiving data. WiFi is a shared collision domain. Only one device can transmit on a channel at a time; others have to wait for clear airspace. If you have too many actively-transmitting devices with marginal connections, it will kill your WiFi performance. I'm not saying that the higher-power channels do not have their purpose. They do, but they can also often cause more problems than they solve.
I don't know why Auto channel selection would select the lower (and lower-powered) channels. Auto channel selection also has its purposes, and you really do need to use it if you have a mesh network with many Pods.
@RogersTony Here's another problem:
There is no way to completely disable WiFi on the XB6. Even when I do, it still has several hidden WiFi networks active, even when the XB6 has Bridge Mode enabled. I am not happy about this but I try to make the best out of a bad situation by setting WiFi channels that others nearby would not want to use. (When I disable WiFi, it will continue to use the channels that I selected for those hidden networks.) At least that way, even when I am needlessly producing traffic on a channel, I am not using the best available channel and am not preventing other nearby APs from auto-selecting an optimal channel. HOWEVER, I can only explicitly set a WiFi channel on the XB6 when WiFi is active... and now, it appears that this is no longer possible.
Hello,
I logged in to my modem and it looks to be using channel 157 now:
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