XE3000 repeater 5 GHz iPhone does not work

admon · December 12, 2023, 7:47am

Hi there,

I am currently testing an XE3000 (mostly to help @XXXLA) and I discovered that there is something odd with repeating specific 5 GHz channels.

Setup:

XE3000 with the newest stable firmware + DFS repeating allowed
iPhone 12 Pro Max (bought in Germany, set to Germany)
All is located in Germany

The XE3000 won’t find the 5 GHz hotspot of the iPhone.

SSID	PHY Type	RSSI	Signal Quality	Average Signal Quality	Frequency	Channel	Information Size	Security	Cipher	Maximum Speed	Channel Width	Channels Range	BSS Type	WPS Support	802.11 Standards	Country Code
Test5GHz	802.11n/ac/ax	-54	86	87.4	5,745	149	394	WPA2-PSK + WPA3-Personal	CCMP	867 Mbps	80 MHz	147 - 163	Infrastructure	No	802.11d/h/i	DE

Since you can’t set a country code on the XE3000, I guess that the Wi-Fi module (/driver) isn’t able to see channels higher than a certain number or frequency?

Unfortunately, you can’t select the channel on an iPhone - you can only set compatibility mode, which will enforce 2.4 GHz (and it will work then)

–
@hansome This might be something worth a look.

hansome · December 12, 2023, 4:37pm

Do you mean the hotspot of the iPhone broadcasting on channel 149?

admon · December 12, 2023, 4:37pm

Seems to be the default channel here in Germany, at least on my iPhone. The XE3000 is not able to see it.

hansome · December 12, 2023, 4:47pm

I remember when country is set to DE, the 5G channel won’t beyond channel 140. But not sure if it’s true for xe3000, I’ll check with colleague tomorrow.

admon · December 12, 2023, 4:48pm

You can’t even set a country on the XE3000

XXXLA · December 12, 2023, 6:26pm

Also the Hotspot from Android!! The same Problem…

Dipin · December 13, 2023, 2:09am

What is the 5G WIFI bandwidth on the XE3000?

admon · December 13, 2023, 6:00am

160 MHz

But I can see other 5 GHz Wi-Fi even if they have a different one.

Dipin · December 13, 2023, 6:42am

Have you tried enable maximum compatibility on your iphone?I had a similar issue on my MT3000 and solved it by enable maximum compatibility on my iphone13.

admon · December 13, 2023, 6:45am

As I said before this will work but it will force 2.4 GHz instead of 5 GHz.

So the main question is why the XE3000 isn’t able to see channel 149?

Dipin · December 13, 2023, 7:49am

I also had the problem of not being able to see channel 149 on my MT3000. But when I waited for 1 minute and refreshed the list of available networks, I was able to see it.

admon · December 13, 2023, 7:49am

I’ll try again, but I am pretty sure that I waited long enough

I’ll keep you informed!

admon · December 15, 2023, 10:13am

@Dipin I tried it again and waited 5 minutes. All other devices here can discover my iPhone sending on channel 149 - but the XE3000 still does not recognize it. Any idea?

– Edit –
It tried it with my AX1800, and it was perfectly aware of the iPhone on CH 149.

– Edit2 –
Now I am sending Wi-Fi on my AX1800, on CH 149 as well.

SSID	PHY Type	RSSI	Signal Quality	Average Signal Quality	Frequency	Channel	Information Size	Security	Cipher	Maximum Speed	Channel Width	Channels Range	BSS Type	WPS Support	802.11 Standards	Country Code
AX1800-CH149	802.11n/ac/ax	-46	90	91,1	5,745	149	250	WPA2-PSK	CCMP	867 Mbps	80 MHz	147 - 163	Infrastructure	No	802.11d/e/i/y	US

So the country code of the AX1800 is US by default. When we change it to DE the channel list will not list channel 149. That might be the problem here.

Forcing it won’t work:

Fri Sep  8 08:31:24 2023 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan1: interface state UNINITIALIZED->COUNTRY_UPDATE
Fri Sep  8 08:31:24 2023 daemon.notice hostapd: Frequency 5745 (primary) not allowed for AP mode, flags: 0x1
Fri Sep  8 08:31:24 2023 daemon.err hostapd: Primary frequency not allowed
Fri Sep  8 08:31:24 2023 daemon.warn hostapd: wlan1: IEEE 802.11 Configured channel (149) or frequency (5745) (secondary_channel=1) not found from the channel list of the current mode (2) IEEE 802.11a
Fri Sep  8 08:31:24 2023 daemon.warn hostapd: wlan1: IEEE 802.11 Hardware does not support configured channel
Fri Sep  8 08:31:24 2023 daemon.err hostapd: Could not select hw_mode and channel. (-3)
Fri Sep  8 08:31:24 2023 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan1: interface state COUNTRY_UPDATE->DISABLED
Fri Sep  8 08:31:24 2023 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan1: AP-DISABLED
Fri Sep  8 08:31:24 2023 daemon.err hostapd: wlan1: Unable to setup interface.

In Germany channel 149 is only allowed for registered service providers or devices with less power - like a personal hotspot on your phone. So, while it’s not allowed to send on this channel with a router - it should be still possible to connect to.

Maybe there is a bug within the XE3000 which will ignore those channels by default if the countrycode of the Wi-Fi is DE??

Dipin · December 15, 2023, 11:55am

I confirmed the issue of XE3000 channel 149 with R&D,it should be that the Band4(149-165) of XE3000 is not open in DE.

admon · December 15, 2023, 12:48pm

So something that could be fixed? Or something that is simply impossible?

The XE should see 149, since it’s perfectly allowed to use it. But it does not see it.

WolfP · December 15, 2023, 4:22pm

afaik the channels of band 3: 5725 - 5875 MHz ( 147,
151, 155, 167) are allowed in GB only within EU.

admon · December 15, 2023, 4:24pm

Main problem: A travel router (which is used to … travel) should be able to see all bands or you should be able to modify the country. Both does not work currently.

admon · December 27, 2023, 10:06am

So, just a quick follow-up:
We found the main cause - which is that the country code for the XE3000 (and X3000 as well) is hard-coded inside the configuration partition. So it’s nothing you can easily change - at least not without knowing the commands.

After trying with @Dipin we were able to change the country code and enable the XE3000 to see Wi-Fi band 149. So that’s some case for R&D now.

Unfortunately, I cannot share the commands with the community as they may affect regulations. We will therefore have to wait for an official solution.