Wifi 5ghz band - supported channels?

Answered
Daniel Hummer
  • Edited

Hello,

with respect to my node 2i and the supported 5GHZ Wifi band: Are all possible channels supported there?

The 5 GHZ band supports the "standard" chanels 36, 40, 44, 48 as well as  the "reserved "upper channels 52, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128, 132, 136, 140 which need to take care of DFS (dynamic frequency selection) to give priority to radar signal detection (the channels may vary per country), so that the router needs to switch to another channel in case radar signals are detected.

Are the "upper" DFS channels also supported by bluesound, especially when my router is set to "auto channel selection"? 

My impression is that this is not the case.

When initially setting up my new node 2i in the 5GHZ band the Wifi-channel was 124 and it was not recognized/found. When setting the router to a "standard" channel (eg. 40) the set-up eventually succeeded.

Then, when re-setting the router to a DFS channel (eg. again 124), the node 2i could not be found on the network again (neither being recoginzed in the ios app nor via the Mac app). This only succeeded again when setting the router back to one of the lower "standard" channels.

So it this observation correct or are actuall all channels be supported in the 5GHZ band?

I very much hope that all channels will be supported as in the higher channels a better operating distance and a higher data throughput can be achieved.

Thanks and best regards

Daniel

 

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Comments

5 comments

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  • Official comment
    Tony W.
    Product Support Manager

    Hi Daniel

    Thanks for the feedback and sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Based on our investigation here, we suspect this is only affecting the Player when it is in upgrade mode - I am escalating this issue to our support crew and they can help further...

     

  • Daniel Hummer

    Hello Tony

    thanks for your reply. 

    I think this issue is not specific to the player‘s upgrade mode. 

    When I now change my 5GHZ channel to one of the upper DFS channels the node 2i will not be found by any Bluesband app (iOS / Mac). In fact, looking up the connection table on my router shows the node 2i as not connected. When I switch back to a lower channel it shows up again (almost immediately). Thus currently I am forced to set the router to a fixed channel. 

    Best regardS

    Daniel

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  • Daniel Hummer

    Hello, 

    for those interested in the outcome on this topic, below please find the answer given upon the created internal support request:

    -----

    "Hello Daniel,

    Thank you for your extended patience and getting back to me with the update.

    After running through some tests here in our Bluesound lab, the "upper" DFS channels on the 5Ghz band are not supported on our Bluesound Players. Therefore, in this case I would advise setting the DFS channels manually to 48 and under. 

    I do apologize for any inconvenience. I really appreciate your feedback as we are always developing our BlueSound Players alongside with our BluOS Controller App, continuing to expand on its features and deliver a more customized and Hi-Fi listening experience.

    I will forward your input to our Quality Assurance Team for further research and consideration.

    Hopefully this helps."

    ---

    Best regards

    Daniel

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  • Lasse Mandrup

    Thank you! This has helped me indeed on my Soundbar 2i. I use 5GHz only, as it feels more stable and runs faster at my home.

    DFS channel was set to auto, and the Soundbar 2i could connect straight out of box. But the problems began, when the first update was started. The Soundbar 2i simply wouldn't go any further and got stuck in upgade mode. So I had to update via USB-key to get the latest firmware. I thought it was a one-time-only problem.

    And it repeated for 3 times, with the next firmwares. Same problem. Now I began to be worried!

    I then took it back to the retailer, to get a replacement (as Bluesound Support told me it might was a hardware fault). The player was upgraded with the latest firmware, and they told me to wait for the next firmware, in order to test it out in their store.
    At home I was able to grab a firmware version (3.6.6) which was a previous version for the latest 3.6.12, and loaded it to the Soundbar 2i.

    And now I changed the channel steering from Auto to 44, with Channel with set at 40 MHz.

    I connected the Soundbar 2i to my network, and it asked to upgrade after the setup. And IT IS RUNNING THE FIRMWARE UPDATE upgrading from 3.6.6. to 3.6.12!!!

    To Bluesound Support:

    I won't say, that I am disappointed about the support, but when 99% of all customers, that are using 5GHz have set their channel at AUTO from their provider, I see this as a BIG issue, not telling the customers this is an issue.

     

     

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  • Tony W.
    Product Support Manager

    Hi Lasse

    Thanks for the feedback. Your real concern should be with your ISP or router manufacturer as this is not a Bluesound issue per se as all IoT appliances that operate in North America must follow these guidelines. The channels we do not support are not allowed to be supported in North America under FCC regulations.

    Thank you for your understanding.

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