[Solved] 802.11ax worse than 802.11ac with mt76 driver?

[anon11662642]

You can add these WiFi 6 (AX) options and retest.

Add these options in the "wireless" file on the WiFi 5/6 GHz device/radio and then reboot the router:

	option he_bss_color '8'
	option he_su_beamformee '1'

It is recommended to set the BSS coloring to "8" and enable this beamforming option for Wi-Fi 6 (AX) to work correctly, because it is not enabled by default in OpenWrt and several people in that thread say that adding those options improved their WiFi 6 (AX) connection:

@diogenes

This worked for me.

Adding the lines for he_bss_color & he_su_beamformee seem to allow my iPhone / iPad to connect successfully at a distance with AX enabled.

WiFi 5 (AC) beamforming options enabled by default in OpenWrt:

openwrt/openwrt/blob/master/package/kernel/mac80211/files/lib/netifd/wireless/mac80211.sh#L300-L303

WiFi 6 (AX) beamforming options enabled by default in OpenWrt:

openwrt/openwrt/blob/master/package/kernel/mac80211/files/lib/netifd/wireless/mac80211.sh#L416-L418

⠀

P.S. Also check which is the best channel with the maximum transmission power in your country to use in the 5/6 GHz WiFi radio with this command: iw phy

@daniel

Output power varies depending on the country code set and also radio hardware. Here with ETSI (PT) country code:

			* 5180 MHz [36] (23.0 dBm)
			* 5200 MHz [40] (23.0 dBm)
			* 5220 MHz [44] (23.0 dBm)
			* 5240 MHz [48] (23.0 dBm)
			* 5260 MHz [52] (20.0 dBm) (radar detection)
			* 5280 MHz [56] (20.0 dBm) (radar detection)
			* 5300 MHz [60] (20.0 dBm) (radar detection)
			* 5320 MHz [64] (20.0 dBm) (radar detection)
			* 5500 MHz [100] (26.0 dBm) (radar detection)
			* 5520 MHz [104] (26.0 dBm) (radar detection)
			* 5540 MHz [108] (26.0 dBm) (radar detection)
			* 5560 MHz [112] (26.0 dBm) (radar detection)
			* 5580 MHz [116] (26.0 dBm) (radar detection)
			* 5600 MHz [120] (26.0 dBm) (radar detection)
			* 5620 MHz [124] (26.0 dBm) (radar detection)
			* 5640 MHz [128] (26.0 dBm) (radar detection)
			* 5660 MHz [132] (26.0 dBm) (radar detection)
			* 5680 MHz [136] (26.0 dBm) (radar detection)
			* 5700 MHz [140] (26.0 dBm) (radar detection)
			* 5720 MHz [144] (13.0 dBm) (radar detection)
			* 5745 MHz [149] (13.0 dBm)
			* 5765 MHz [153] (13.0 dBm)
			* 5785 MHz [157] (13.0 dBm)
			* 5805 MHz [161] (13.0 dBm)
			* 5825 MHz [165] (13.0 dBm)
			* 5845 MHz [169] (13.0 dBm)
			* 5865 MHz [173] (13.0 dBm)

So only channel 100...140 have full power (here for me, it may well be different for you if you are located in a different regulatory domain)